2009
- A review of Lancia Motor Club events
Classic Motor Show at the NEC 13-15 November
The annual end of season Classic Motor Show was held at the NEC in Birmingham. The Lancia Motor Club used the event to celebrate 30 years of the Delta. Cars on display included the oldest surviving Delta 1500 in the UK, an HF Turbo, 8-valve integrale, Evo 1 and Evo2 integrales, a rare Hyena, Second Series Delta HPE HF, and the latest Delta 1.9 Twin-Turbo which has recently been imported to the UK. Over the course of the weekend we welcomed seven new members to the club.
Sussex Appia drive and Lunch July 25
Goodwood Race Track was the assembly point for the Appia run and lunch.
Nine Appia cars arrived, including five berlinas, a convertible and three Zagatos.
Route sheets were provided facilitating a delightful drive around the South Downs including a section of Roman Road alongside the Roman Villa at Bignor.The destination was the small town of Storrington, where parking had been arranged, providing the opportunity for ‘Appia Chat’ and photographs of the cars. Adjacent to the car park was the appropriately named ‘Appia Restorante Pizzeria’ offering a full menu, where everyone enjoyed Pranzo con Vino. All participants agreed that it was a very special occasion thanks to the organisers, Will How and Brian Mills, and we look forward to more Appia Events in the future.
Lancia Motor Club 2009 Giro di Salopia & AGM July 10-12
Over 200 Lancias of all ages attended this years Event near Shrewsbury. A fine collection of Lancias were represented from Lambda to Thesis and almost everything in between. The club's guest speaker. Paolo Buffardi discussed with club members his memories of the cars and time spent developing them.
The Sliding Pillar Rally – Champagne region of France - 5/8 June
The 5th edition of the biennial “mainland Europe” event for Lancias featuring the famous sliding pillar front suspension ventured outside Belgium for the first time with the weekend’s base being set up just outside Reims.
After an introductory buffet on Friday night the 46 cars dating from a 1924 3rd series Lambda to a 1961 Appia series 3 ably supported by a further 15 more modern Lancias set out on Saturday morning to tackle some wonderful back roads around the Champagne region including a few miles on tracks around the edges of the vineyards which the cars coped with wonderfully of course – it also gave a few “past it” rally drivers the chance to have a bit of a go! Lunch and a Champagne tasting followed whilst cruising up the Marne on a pleasure boat. More interesting roads led back to the hotel.
After a gala dinner, participants were pleased to note that the Sunday run was rather more leisurely on slightly more sweeping roads and included the option of laps around the former French GP Reims road circuit and also included an interesting lunch break at Dormans – an old fortified castle on the Marne – the scene of many battles through the ages. A large memorial to those that fell there in 1918 when the German final attempt to break through to Paris was thwarted has been constructed in the grounds and is well worth the visit as many of the actions during that battle are recreated in miniature dioramas.
A leisurely drive back to base was followed by a farewell dinner. A last night enabled the participants to regain their strength for a final farewell breakfast.
Woking Hospice Classic Car show May 31
 Another lovely day for the Woking Hospice show, 13 cars in all this year, which broke our previous record for attendance, Aurelia spider to Beta spider, Fulvias to integrales via Appia, Aprillia and Lambda on the way!
Well done Ken Couzens for being selected to drive in the arena in your lovely Aprillia and giving some details of the history and ownership to the audience of many hundreds or more over the PA. A successful day out for all with many visitors.
Auto Italia - Brooklands 2 May
Great weather and loads of lovely Lancias, 87 were recorded may be more that were not found in the grounds of the museum, a splendid turnout, it was busy day with lots to see, hundreds of Italian cars and bikes of all types, also trade stands and many cars trying out the test hill, a very pleasant day out.
Bristol Italian Car Festival 25 April
A great number of Lancias of all models met up in Bristol in the old part of the city for the festival on Saturday, which was very well attended by Italian car and motorbike marques and had a lot of interest from the public as they passed through despite the odd showers.
Great Northern Weekend 27 – 29 March
The Great Northern Weekend was held in the Scottish Borders town of Peebles. This event is one of the most popular weekend events on the LMC calendar with members travelling from all over the UK as well as Holland. The cars present ranged from and Aurelia B20 right through to the new Delta. Over the weekend, there were many activities for members to enjoy including music and Lancia quizzes, an observation tour and a visit to Dawyck horticultural gardens at nearby Stobo. On Saturday night there was a gala dinner followed by the prize giving for the quizzes and observational tour. This was followed by some friendly chat in the bar. On Sunday members were able to explore the area before sayingtheir goodbyes and returning home.
Goodwood Trackday 14 March
A dry mainly sunny day at Goodwood this year, almost spring greeted the track day participants for the annual visit to Goodwood, an excellent turn out of Lancias, from an unusual Lambda to the latest Delta and with many different models and variants in between, including four B20s, a Stratos and Montecarlo turbo replica.
Mike Hawthorn remembered in Farnham January 25th
Mike Hawthorn, Britain’s first Formula One World Champion, died on January 22nd 1959 on the A3 Guildford bypass; not in a racing car (he had retired from Grand Prix racing immediately after winning the Championship in 1958) but in a road-going (albeit non standard) Mk 1 Jaguar 3.4.
It was umbrella weather, and many reflected on the fact that his fatal crash occurred in very heavy rain. Nevertheless, a large crowd turned out to watch more than 30 cars parade round the centre of Farnham. A C-type Jaguar was driven by Stirling Moss (whose act of great sportsmanship had brought about the overturning of Hawthorn’s disqualification from the 1958 Portuguese Grand Prix, and thus secured his championship while depriving Moss of his win) and a D type was driven by Damon Hill, both men receiving much acknowledgement from the crowd.
Apart from his liking for Jaguar, who provided him with highly modified cars, he had a great love of Lancias for road use, initially Aprilias and subsequently the Aurelia B20, and there were several examples of these rare cars in the parade.
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