The Lancia Fulvia (Tipo 818) was produced between 1963 and 1976. It was named after Via Fulvia, the Roman road leading from Tortona to Turin. Introduced at the Geneva Motor Show in 1963, it was manufactured in three variants: Berlina 4-door saloon, 2-door Coupé, and the Zagato-bodied Sport (built on the Coupé floorpan). The car in our Snapshot is the Coupé, first introduced in 1965. Road & Track described the Fulvia as “a precision motorcar, an engineering tour de force”.
The Fulvia Berlina was designed by Antonio Fessia. It replaced the Lancia Appia and shared virtually no components with it. Whilst the Appia was a rear-wheel-drive car, the Fulvia had front-wheel drive, like its sister car the Flavia. However, the Flavia had four-cylinder horizontally opposed engine and the Fulvia the traditional narrow-angle V4, first seen in the 1920s in the Lambda. The longitudinal engine was mounted in front of the transaxle. Independent front suspension used wishbones and a single leaf spring, while at the rear was a beam axle with a Panhard rod and leaf springs.
The engine was canted over at 45 degrees, and its very narrow 12-degree V angle allowed a single cylinder head to cover all the cylinders. Displacement started out at just 1091cc, but by 1973, the date of the car here, this had risen to 1298cc. Styling of both Berlina and Coupé was carried out in-house by Piero Castagnero.
Fulvias were very successful in motorsport. The Fulvia Coupé placed 8th overall on its competitive debut, the 1965 Tour de Corse. It then won the Italian Rally Championship every year from 1965 to 1973 (except 1970), and won the 1972 International Championship for Manufacturers with two rounds to spare.
There is one mystery that initially confused us: why does this UK-registered car not have the raised outer headlights that we all remember? The internet tells us that this arrangement was needed for UK regulations. The solution came from a closer look: this is a left-hand-drive model that must have been imported later.
Image displayed with the kind permission of the Haynes Motor Museum.
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