Lancia Motor Club

Hello all, I have usually owned classic cars from the 1970s, mainly Italian or British cars, and I have owned various Betas since 2012, my current one being a 1979 1600 Coupe that is in pretty good condition.  My interest in Lancias has been growing, and earlier this year I bought for the first time a car from the 1960s, a 1962 Appia Series Three.  The car is the same age as I am.

This Appia appears to have been in Germany in 2011, and may have been imported to the UK about five years ago.  The seller claimed that it had been in a museum, but I have no info as to this.  He bought the car at an auction late last year, registered it with DVLA earlier this year, had some work done on it (not very good work) by someone claiming to be a Delta specialist near Reading, and then advertised it for sale.  The car was and is in a good state in terms of bodywork and interior, both of which appear largely original, but it was in a very poor state mechanically, with everything that could perish having perished and all sorts of problems with ignition, fuel system, electrics, and brakes.  It had very ancient Michelin tyres that might well be from the 60s or 70s.   There is a 1970s looking Ford dealer oil change sticker on the driver's door shut.

Many days work over two months by the excellent Mark Compton, a mobile mechanic based in Gloucestershire whom I recommend highly for all old cars, have turned what was merely an ornament into a reliable and fun car.  

The car now has new Pirelli Cinturatos, fresh oil in engine, gearbox and differential, and many new parts.  Huge thanks to the Appia Consortium for expert advice and for rapid supply of spares, and thanks also to eBay Italia which has come up with all sorts of things.  If anyone wants the old Michelins for show purposes only, please let me know.

The car has been up to an indicated 130 km/h on the M40, but is mainly used for flitting about on A and B roads in south Oxfordshire, occasionally overtaking 40 mph dawdlers.

Next in the list: an alternator, some minor paint repairs and get the original Blaupunkt radio to work.

Current fault:  the driver's door has been stuck in the locked position since Saturday - serves me right.  I almost never lock classic cars.  

The Appia sparks joy.  Pics below, and a link to a short film that my wife, a TV director, ran up on her mobile phone last weekend.  

https://vimeo.com/471786165

The password is Appia


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Love the video...bit of Genesis with Peter on the vocals excellent. The car looks amazing well done Gerard.
Jim

Thanks!  The credit must go to Mark the mechanic, for patience and skill, and to the Appia Consortium for advice and parts support.

Congratulations! Lovely car,  :) Andrea

Much better video than my own recent efforts .... well done and don't bother with the radio, stick to Genesis on your iPod, it's great and suits your very stylish Appia

Super , underated cars - last of the sliding pillars !

Cheers!

Here is the car with one of its grand daughters, and one of its grand nieces by marriage.



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Campari and Soda -

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In the woods -

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Well done with both the car and the video.

I've not used these people but always been rather tempted by their work, http://vintagecarradio.co.uk/index.html. If you do their 21st Century upgrade you can have your original radio AND play Genesis through it.

Luv the excellent video and photos!
Good luck with the Appia!
 
Tim F

Lovely video. i recognise most roads and places on it. The Chequers at Fingest is where we had our wedding reception in 1988.I was also an AA Patrol in that area too, bought back nice memories. We enjoyed our S2 Berlina

The Chequers has a great kitchen at the moment.  That network of roads in between Henley and Watlington, only 40 miles or so to the west of London, gives the lie to those who claim that motoring in the UK is no longer fun.    The scenery of the Chiltern Glacial valleys and the beech woods that adorn them is some of the most lovely in southern England.  JRR Tolkien walked those woods and drank beer in those pubs in his weekends during his long career as an Oxford Don.  Oxfordshire where he worked and Warwickshire where he grew up are The Shire.   

I had a happy childhood in the 60s and 70s.  For me, classic cars are time machines.  They connect me to my childhood.  My family were not affluent, so they did not have Italian cars, but any car from that period transports me to that period.  My love of BL cars connects me to my late father, who was a design and production engineer in BL, and to my late uncle, who was a toolmaker in BL.   My love of Italian cars and motorbikes is a reflection of the quality of Italian design and engineering, and of Italian attitudes to life.

I was a weekly commuter from Aylesbury to Reading around 1980 and the run from Watlington down through Nettlebed to Sonning Common on the B481 was absolutely glorious.

Forty years on, the roads in that area are still fun to drive.

Excellent work. Great colour too

The car is usually grey, but in some lights it looks blue.   I must say that the Appia has been a revelation - it's such a pleasant car to drive.  I am just off out to drive it in the dark, just for the Hell of it.

Mild beefetta:  The wiper blades from the Consortium have pinged off for no obvious reason.  First one (vanished into a hedge), then a week or so later the other (located lying on the road).   I have bought a new pair from eBay.  I do not know if Mark the Mech or I have missed some secret fitting technique peculiar to Appias.

The car is off to Jersey for a month in a week or two.  Jersey roads suit a small classic car.


Engine shot -

(https://thumbsnap.com/sc/7o644oWW.jpg)

Set dressing -

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Hi Gerard
Just noticed your horn ring is bent it should be in the same plane as the wheel.
Clarkey

It sticks in place sometimes.  It usually sits along with the wheel.

Do all Appias have such LOUD HORNS?

Yes, if not loud, the battery is low, Andrea

Nicely done - car looks well in photos and on the video. Another old Lancia in good hands.

Cheers!

Next Wednesday I shall drive the car down the A34 to Portsmouth.  I shall bring a jump starter, a battery charger, tools, oil, and spare wiper blades.  The car will be wandering the lanes of Jersey until just before Christmas, but I do not promise to solve any murders.

BTW, the driver's door is stuck in the locked position at present.  I get in on the other side and slide across.  I assume that if I remove the door card I may be able to jiggle the mechanism.  

Grazie!

I had this problem on my Series 1, albeit the passenger's side; turned out to be an over-long trim screw that was jamming the mechanism; you could be equally lucky!

The Appia is currently having a battery charge.  I am about to check its oil and coolant levels.    Tomorrow morning at 0530 I shall head off on a 77 mile route to Portsmouth, to catch a 9am ferry to Jersey.  I have to go through Reading and then down the A33, but hope that Reading will be quiet when I get there.  Brrr - heater not working.  I shall wrap up in a 1960s wool lined knee length leather motorbiking coat, scarf and gloves.   

I'm probably telling you something you already know, but do you realise you have to open the valve on the cylinder head for the heater to work?

Edit: I've just looked at your engine-bay photo, and see you have a dashboard-controlled valve; it must just be the earlier cars with the under-bonnet lever!

0515 start and by moonlit B and A roads from south Oxfordshire to Portsmouth.  The ferry is three hours late.

Appia: not broken down.


MV Commodore Clipper: broken down.  


Oh well, I have a cabin to relax in.



(https://thumbsnap.com/s/2Fmz1JnQ.jpg?1119)

Aujourd'hui, en Jerri -

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After a free test at the airport (negative), I have checked into a pleasant apartment, with a full fridge, and have to stay indoors for five days, but thereafter can live life normally, pubs included.  The Appia is going to stay at a farmhouse up the hill above St Helier.

This is very fine -

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1283073

I wonder if a couple of spot lamps on my Appia would look good.

Jersey -

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"I wonder if a couple of spot lamps on my Appia would look good." Difficult to use them with a dynamo, Andrea

Why? We managed OK before alternators came along! I've survived many hours night-time driving in my 6 volt Austin Seven with headlamps and one spot lamp, and have experienced no problems with, admittedly limited, night-time running in my Appia with two spot lamps.

It depends on the power the extra lamps need especially at low revs when the dynamo output is limited, Andrea

There now is no need to fit an alternator LED bulbs take so little power
The other big advantage is you can buy an LED side light bulb (front) that flashes amber.
There is some re wiring to do see

see https://www.bettercarlighting.co.uk/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=829

Thanks!

I am getting an alternator anyway.  My first classic car, back in 1989, was a 1970 Triumph Vitesse Mark II, which, like an Appia, was in tech terms basically a 1950s car, but one that remained in production until the early 1970s.  I recall its dynamo failing on a dark drive home.  It got an alternator the next week.   

And I thought you were a purist Will!!!

Tim not when it comes to safety and the advantage of LED bulbs nobody knows you fitted them. Other drivers do not recognise white flashing front side lights.

Regarding fitting an alternator to an Appia I fitted  one and it boiled two batteries. The problem with an Appia is the exhaust manifold is too near where the dynamo/alternator are mounted the heat cooks the diode. I know of at least one other Appia owner who had similar problems.

 

   
 

Jersey -

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I like this look, from the Appia - Riley One Five comparison (with Don Cross's corrections of errors in the comments).  Is the Appia a member's car?


(https://scontent.fjer1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/119994277_10158958830144206_3243751195326090838_o.jpg?_nc_cat=106&ccb=2&_nc_sid=2c4854&_nc_ohc=5cZlKWMIbyMAX9dFQsc&_nc_ht=scontent.fjer1-1.fna&oh=12a5838ff9a9e452d82f744b97f13c6e&oe=5FE3933E)

I remember sourcing that car..... Yes a member's car....

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Back from Jersey two weeks early- a foggy and chilly drive up from Portsmouth to south Oxon.


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Road and Track late fifties review of the Appia (they liked it) -

"The ash trays are of the kind that give you a good reason to give up smoking".

I do too! Here it is again

Fabby!

I will get my lamps fitted this week I hope.

I must get a proper front numberplate.  I ordered a small Italian one by mistake, although to be fair my car is LHD.

Stuck door unstuck by mech.   It needs a plate welding on, plus some paint.

Other excitements: interior light now working!


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Appia 'ome


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Lamps going on -


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Seeing that 124 takes me off down memory lane...

I love the garage .... I'm sure it could be taken apart and transported to warmer climes

Yes a superb old building- we had a barn at our previous house -  the rule "the stuff expands to fill the space" applies!  ;D

Mike

Lamps now on -


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Barn

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That's probably not all he's up to. When I remover the back seat from my Flaminia parts car a massive cascade of hazel nuts poured out. Some had been nibbled at one end from which a local wildlife expert was able to identify the culprit as a bank vole.

Get some cats if you don't already have them. The cost of rat poison makes cat food seem relatively cheap! The rodents seem particularly partial to phenolic resins - e.g. the knobs on your seat adjusters (afaik, I'm not an Appia owner).

There is a lazy Norwegian hippy cat, and next door has a fierce and smelly cat.

Those lamps look really good on the car Gerard but it might be worth getting a check on the current consumption as the dynamo will be on the edge of it's output with all the lights on plus the heater fan on a chilly day. Don Cross reckons using an Appia in the winter will gradually discharge the battery.
Clarkey

Surely only a problem if you are going to enter LeJOG....

That the lamps would place a strain on the dynamo doesn't surprise me!  An alternator is one of the next upgrades, especially as the broken heater is due to be fixed.

For an Appia alternator check out:
http://www.fossewayperformance.co.uk/dynators-dynamos/
In the latest ALR Newsletter, just received, there is a picture of the alternator for series 1 Fulvia - looks absolutely superb!
Not cheap, but certainly a nice modification for winter use.

.

Only just come across this thread - what a lovely little car !

- & great to see it being used as intended.

Unfortunately I can't access your wife's video as when I click on the link it says "This video is private" & asks for a password ...

.

Cheers!  The password is Appia.   The video is quite charming, except for the bits with me in it.

Thanks!   I love this car, so money is (almost) no object.

Nice Video, location  and car , I have driven an Appia and it takes you back to a different time completely .  Thank you , I enjoyed that .

Great!  I shall tell my wife.  She used to make The South Bank Show for ITV but now teaches television at a university, and she had fun making the film on her phone.

The Appia is indeed a time machine.  It has been out a bit over Xmas, and gets jet washed underneath after every trip.

New front plate, to be fitted.


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Other jobs upcoming: alternator or dynamo upgrade, heater diaphragm, number plate lamp wiring, radio wiring.


The Appia may be going to live in London, as I have been offered cheap secure car storage near my London flat.  My wife is not all that fond of my Beta, so that will stay in the barn and go on frolics when I am at my country pad.

Happy New Year Gerard
Just to let you know we have the heater diaphragms back in stock
Clarkey

. My favourite too.

HNY Jim and many thanks for this.  Mark has been trying his hand at 3D printing one as well.  I think that 3D printing may become a really useful thing for classic car owners over the next few years.

Just watched the video , thanks for sharing. Makes me yearn for the simple thrill of taking a car out for a drive, just because...
And also for why I fear for the electric future, it really won't be the same.
Lovely car, what's not to like.

Thanks!   My wife had fun making the film - an impromptu thing on her phone.

Here is the car visiting some local foals (Italian country Vet Giacomo Herrioto maybe), and also visiting the local Wartburg  (Cold War spy stuff, probably - this Appia appears to have spent some time in Germany).


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Sport Utility Vehicle.  


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The car is spending a bit of time in London.   Might as well load it up with an old chair and a few boxes of books and transfer them between country pad and London flat.

Off along the M40 at 60 to 65 mph.  Blown sideways by passing Audis.  The uphill performance and the braking distance notably affected by the heavy load on board.

Anyway, London innit  -


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A recent e-bay purchase was the LMC Journal for the Lancia Clubs International Meeting of 1973 in which Graham Aylett recounts similar exploits in an Aprilia. The challenge to beat though is getting a Georgian dining table to seat 10 packed inside your small Lancia!

The Journal is a fascinating read, telling tales of Lancia life as it used to be.

Very splendid!

Using classic cars as trucks is a very good idea.  I was once at the local authority dump with the huge boot of a Jensen Interceptor full of household trash, but I was outdone by a bloke who turned up in a Rover P4.

Meanwhile, there may be some skinny tyre fun this morning -


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It appears that Lancias have been classic cars since at least the 1920s, when the idea of a classic car first arrived.  It's fun to see an LMC magazine from 1973, the year that one of my other Italian cars was made.  I feel my age because cars that I could have bought and driven when they were new in the 1980s (and sometimes did) are now classic cars.   Using Lancia to cart Georgian tables is of course the classy option.  None of yer IKEA!

Machine polish!

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It looks positively smug!

Ha!

Back from London next week to get an alternator fitted and a new heater diaphragm.  I am still trying to find a door mirror to match the one on the left hand side.

For a moment I wondered what you had been doing with an angle grinder. ;D
It looks great.

Mike

I have been slammed by work for the last two weeks, but tomorrow, after taking a video speed awareness course following from some modern Jag-induced wickedness, I shall take the rest of the day off and go for a twirly whirl in the shiny Appia.  Then on Friday it is getting an alternator.

Oh no!!! You should have taken the Appia out instead! What self-respecting police officer could reprimand you for speeding in such a wonderful machine!!!  ;D ;D
 
Tim

ADVENTURE TIME!

Early yesterday morning I set off in the Appia from Central London to drive to South Oxfordshire.  Bright, cold weather, and moderate traffic.   I would have taken the old A40 as a more Appia-friendly road but the fan belt has been slipping so that the car gets hot in traffic, and Wycombe goes on for ever.  I did not have time for a B road route.   To avoid the M25 I drove along the 50 mph M4 and turned north on the A404 to join the M40 at Wycombe. Approaching the roundabout near Marlow at about 60 mph, the brakes failed.   Pulling on the handbrake had no effect.  Changing down had some effect but not enough.  By great good fortune I was able to enter the roundabout safely and immediately exit onto a quiet country road, where I rolled to a halt in a car park for a children's play area.

The wheels did not feel hot.  Under bonnet inspection showed the brake fluid to be very low, but still above the minimum mark.

After too many bad experiences with the RAC and AA, I have joined GEM.  Recommended!  Their bloke arrived in 25 minutes, found brake fluid on the rear right hand brake, and took me to my destination on the back of his truck in another 25 minutes.

My mechanic had just arrived at my place ready to fit the alternator.  He confirmed a split seal on the cylinder, with fluid contamination of the shoes, but he did not have his puller tool for the front hubs with him so we haven't been able to check why the front brakes also failed.  Anyway, the hoses are new but we plan to change all four cylinders.  

Hairy stuff, but all well.  The last time I had a total brake failure was in 1989.  I was driving a Triumph Vitesse too fast, and ended up in a ditch, but was unhurt.

Anyway, the alternator fits.   This will solve the slipping belt problem which was caused by the dynamo moving about.

I add that I was wearing suitably chappish clothing but did not have a pipe clamped in my steely jaws.  Perhaps I should get one.

(https://i.ibb.co/y8XchjR/apfail1.jpg) (https://ibb.co/D7tHG2b)

(https://i.ibb.co/wQNqyjW/apfail3.jpg) (https://ibb.co/1XfNZjq)

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As a consolation, my Beta Coupe now has an Aldon Amethyst mappable ignition system, a new exhaust centre section, and new Pirelli P1s.  So I am off out to play in that car.  Brakes?  Hope so, but, hey, who needs 'em?  You've got a horn haven't you?


PS:  The horn on the Appia is broken.

I don't know if and when the Appia brakes were last serviced. However, there are around dodgy rubber seals for the brake cylinders: they start leaking even after moderate use. Check the internal condition of the existing cylinders as if they look OK, you might just be fitting another set of new dodgy seals. Andrea

Thanks, we'll check all wheel cylinders and the master cylinder.  There ought to have been some front brakes at least, as there was still fluid in the reservoir, and the front shoes should not have been contaminated unless one or more front cylinder seals had failed, so the apparent absence of any brakes needs investigating.

You have to love a car all the more once it has tried to kill you.



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Using a clamp on the flexible hoses in turn, you can find out if the brake pedal becomes stiff once a brake line is blocked, this would indicate a major problem with one or more drums, Andrea

Thanks, Andrea, I have a mobile professional mechanic to do this stuff for me.  I realised long ago that car maintenance is not for me.

Wow at the engineering of the brakes (front hubs), and this was in its day the cheapest Lancia!


(https://i.ibb.co/XjJ4MsD/appbrake.jpg) (https://ibb.co/RYHSd0N)


The front brakes are OK, so it looks like new cylinders for the rear brakes should have the car back on the road.

I  much prefer the full sized front plate



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Hi Gerard
we can't see your pictures and you know how we need our fix of pictures of the oily bits of old Lancias
Clarkey

Pictures fixed, I hope.

Hi Gerard

Not the one immediately above, just says not found...

Peter

I have tried again above. Here is some more 1962 engineering porn (two pictures, I hope).  

My late dad was an automotive production engineer for Rootes and British Leyland (he worked on Michael Edwardes' rescue team).  He and his colleagues were forever hampered by cost cutting and worn out tooling.  My dad would have loved the quality on the Appia (and the Flavia too).  

(https://i.ibb.co/PQd8Wmq/apiiahub.jpg) (https://ibb.co/bJknvWc)

(https://i.ibb.co/T1kbB7W/appiahub2.jpg) (https://ibb.co/sC26vNW)

It may have been the cheapest Lancia, but cheap it was not!

In 1961 the retail price of an Appia was £1,538; for that money you could have bought a Mk2 Jaguar (£1,534) or two Hillman Minx de luxes (£765 each), or
maybe a Ford Zodiac at £957 plus an Anglia for the wife (another £589).

When you get up to a Flaminia Sedan at £3602 you could buy two 3.4 litre Jag Mk2s at £1781 and have change left over.

That's £56,037 today.  Factor in inflation between 1961 and 2021 and the Flaminia would cost just under £82,000.

Wasn't Lancia's epitaph 'Too much, too nice' I ran a Ford Anglia for a while and as my mate Paul from Darlington would say lucky bag engineering...but hey if that is what you could afford. An interesting exercise would be to see the price to an Italian at the same time as I'm sure purchase tax bumps up the OTR price considerably.
Clarkey

The British car prices include Purchase Tax, but yes, there was a sizeable Import Duty on the Lancia. But compare with other imports: a Fiat 1100 was £799 - you could have change from a Fiat 2100 (£1,399) - a VW de luxe was £739, or a Volvo 122S was £1,319.

Note that by early 1975 a lightly optioned brand new Lancia 2000 HF Coupe cost £3255 on the road.  By mid 1983 a brand new Lancia Montecarlo cost £8550 on the road.  Source:  my HF history file.

Update:  new rear brake cylinders arrived very rapidly (next day) from an Italian supplier, and my mechanic has also designed a suitable alternator bracket, so the Appia should I hope be back on the road next week.  This will give me a Lancia to drive while the mech does needful repairs on my newly acquired 2000 HF and prepares my Beta Coupe for sale, but today it's a drive the Beta in a non thrashy way to the shops day.  

Ludicrous levels of excitement caused by repaired numberplate light.


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Sometimes its the little things.  Looks gorgeous.  Did you put a chair in the right spot to appreciate it for a good long time as well?

Not quite, but I do confess that with all old cars I like walking around them outdoors at night when they have their lights on, and also enjoy just sitting in them at night, lights on or off.   A classic car can be a time travel device at any time, but at night all the more so.   There are quiet roads near my place that have few or no road markings or modern road furniture, and you can easily take a drive in the 60s or 70s if you like, especially after dark.   I don't smoke, but very occasionally think that I ought to, to perfect the period experience (remembering however the US reviewer of the Appia who described its ashtrays as the sort of ashtrays that would make you give up smoking).  As for seatbelts when time-travelling, the Appia poses no dilemma in that regard.

My 3rd series made me happy every time I drove it.  It just made all the haste and stress go away instantly.  I should never have sold it....

I've had much more glammo classic cars and ones that go faster and so on, but the Appia is just such fun, and it possesses rarity, Italianate style, and superior engineering, to set it apart from cars of similar age and charm such as Morris Minors.  

It is my favourite as well.  I remember a few years back when Martin Buckley did his annual summary of the cars that he had driven the previous year for Classic and Sportscar magazine, his "standout" car was an easy choice - the S3 Appia.  And he doesn't usually like small cars.  Everyone should have an Appia!

Appia Easter!

New rear brakes and alternator fitted.  The car has just sprung a leak at the exhaust manifold gasket and is noisy and a bit down on power.


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Old car ups and down as usual.

I appear to have clouted one of the wheels on a pothole or something - there is some damage.  I may check out how the spare wheel is.

In any event the wheels could all do with painting.     I should look this up, but does anyone know the name of that distinctively Lancia pale yellow colour?   The colour of Crema Inglese.  OK then, call it custard.  I realise that not knowing this means that I must forefeit some Lancista points!

The hubcabs are all a bit dented.  I have bought another set found lurking on eBay Italia - they look better in the photos than the ones on the car, but even if they aren't when they arrive, it's always good to have spares anyway.

correct name is Avorio Antico

There is a good discussion here on various colours for various Lancia wheels...

http://blog.lanciainfo.com/?p=12

Grazie!

Ah ha!  Found on eBay - a paint that might do to touch up the wheels on an interim basis - at least the bits where some old balance weights used to be.


(https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/chEAAOSwRylfgd6X/s-l1600.jpg)

You ought to be able to get it mixed up for you by a paint factor if you have the code. Brian Hilton got it made up for his Fulvia wheels. I get touch up paint for stone chips etc. on my bodywork made up in a little bottle with a brush.

Here is the exhaust manifold removed.  One stud was stuck, and broke during removal.  The old gasket was very knackered.

(https://i.ibb.co/H2NC52j/apiiamaninfold.png)

The Appia now has a new exhaust manifold gasket and new manifold fixings to replace the tired and broken old ones.  The horn is working again, and the car is in all respects fit for spring jollies.   If work permits I will get the Appia out from behind the Beta that is blocking it in today and take the Appia for a pootle.   A set of undented hubcabs has arrived from Italy - three very shiny, one a bit dull.  The ones on the car at present are all rather battered.   

Pubbing -


(https://pasteboard.co/JZPlZJN.png)


(https://pasteboard.co/JZPmAFaZ.png)

(https://i.ibb.co/HDFz4Qm/app-pub1.png) (https://ibb.co/0jDM23P)

(https://i.ibb.co/Nm8KDzP/app-pub-2.png) (https://ibb.co/GtKRYjL)

It looks so smal compared to the car next to it!  And yet it is a roomy car....
At least you guys can go to a pub!

Appias, like HPEs, are Tardises - bigger on the inside.  Lancia made good use of space.  See also the usable rear seats and huge boot of a Flavia/2000 Coupe.  Its boot is a cavern.  Compare and contrast, for example, its rivals the Alfa Bertone GTV and the Fiat 124 Coupe - their rear seats are for hamsters only (OK, Beta Coupes are the same), and the boots are small to medium sized at best.   The Appia has a decent boot space for its size.

When still a student we managed to get with six grown up (at least physically) people into my Beta coupé, although I must admit a head was sticking out of the sunroof, and shifting gears was a bit troublesome...

When I was a student...
we managed to get 4 adults in a Fiat 126. With tents, sleeping bags, stove, and camera gear (each) for airshows at RAF Fairford and Farnborough. No roof rack either. I think it was snug inside!

Summer 1966, Austin 1100, four adults (my parents - aged twenty eight, and my favourite aunt and uncle, aged thirty), three children aged five, four (me), and two, a huge tent, and luggage (roof rack) - Birmingham to Pisa and back again.   Some of my earliest memories are of that trip.  My uncle did all the driving as none of the other adults knew how to drive at that time.

Summer 1969 - by that time my dad had learned to drive.  Three adults and ten children in a Morris Traveller for a day trip to a seaside town.    

Austin 1100 was another brilliantly conceived car - a world leader at the time and very nice to drive even if not up to Lancia quality standards.

Mike

In memory of my favourite uncle, I've come close to buying an Austin 1100 on several occasions, but I've never done so. 

I wonder if Fessia and Issigonis ever met.


https://driventowrite.com/2021/01/30/alec-issigonis-antonio-fessia-lancia-flavia/comment-page-1/

My father in law had an 1800 Landcrab which he described as a small detached bungalow with a wheel at each corner. The best load I heard of though was just 4 adults and 6 teenagers.

Hmmm, Appia carb leaking fuel.   Not ideal!

float valve jammed open?

There is a small crack in the float chamber cover.   Jim at the Consortium has a cover available.   

I have by the way only just learned the factoid that the little Solex is the same as used on a Willy's Jeep.

Various improvements - the carb has been repaired, and the throttle cable has been adjusted to operate more smoothly.

Hello all, the Appia slept through the winter in a dry barn, and is now buzzing around Oxfordshire in good form.

(https://i.ibb.co/qCRt15T/appiawet.jpg) (https://ibb.co/ZShnTmq)
upload images (https://imgbb.com/)

(https://i.ibb.co/Df8chzf/appiabarn.jpg) (https://ibb.co/v4QypV4)
upload images (https://imgbb.com/)

(https://i.ibb.co/5MGBr4y/3lancia2.jpg) (https://ibb.co/qy7kNjf)
upload images (https://imgbb.com/)

Hello!  A year has gone by, and there is not much to report.  The Appia continues to pootle about, and to appear in 1962 lifestyle brochure shots.


(https://i.ibb.co/DGKSYcV/appia62.jpg) (https://ibb.co/mvzM0ZD)


(https://i.ibb.co/X8FSshC/appia622.jpg) (https://ibb.co/2NcgtDk)

That is nice to see

My Appia usually lives in a small garage, dry and warm.   But I am a numpty.  I mislaid the keys in my house, while the car was parked outside.  I eventually found the keys down behind a bit of furniture, but by that time the Appia had a flat battery.  Then I found that the boot, where the battery lives, had magically locked itself and refuses to unlock.  The key turns, but the poppy out bit doesn't pop out.  WD40, jiggling, and swearing in Italian have all failed.   Now the poor Appia is getting wet and cold.   Grrrrrr. 

Is there anywhere in the engine bay I could jump start the car from?

By the way, the Appia came second in the Adwell House car show last July, but I know the bloke who runs the show so perhaps the fix was in.

https://adwellvintagevehicleshow.co.uk/home/

Re Jump starting
If you get under the front of the car behind the dynamo you should see the main battery connection on the starter motor solenoid connect if possible the +ve jump lead (red) and the black jump lead (-ve) to the earth strap on the engine mount. The car should start from the key.
As always have fun
Clarkey

Thanks Jim!  I shall try that.

The Appia starter lock on the dash does not pop out, in fact it "pops in" if the kurnled ring is removed with a pair of large pliers. Once there is a viable battery connected even outside the car as suggested, turning the key and pressing it should start the engine (with full choke on). Allow time for fuel pump priming if unused for some time. If it does not start, the key mechanism is probably not touching and making contact with the rest of the unit. In this case, undo the 2 screws holdiing the key unit in place and fit at its end 2 or 3 small, thin copper discs cut to size between the key unit and the starter unit. Good luck.

Thanks!  You may have misunderstood my post above:

"Then I found that the boot, where the battery lives, had magically locked itself and refuses to unlock.  The key turns, but the poppy out bit doesn't pop out. "

The boot locked has jammed.  The starter lock is fine.     Persuading old cars that have been sitting around for a while to start is of course part of the fun of having old cars!

To free the boot lock try a daily dosing with WD40 for a few days applying it liberally inside the lock and around it. My suggestion to start the car was for any problem to start it after a very long time if the jump start does not work.

I am sure that you are trying to be helpful.  I have owned classic cars for decades, and Lancias for several years.  Not everyone here is an ingenue!  I have, unsurprisingly, tried the WD40 approach.  I shall try various other jiggles and what not, and maybe include some fruity words in Italian; and if need be send a small person into the boot via the cabin (a bit of a wriggle).  If all else fails, I shall replace the lock.

Perhaps you have seen on TV an episode of Wheeler Dealers when they bought an S1 Flavia coupe with a stuck bootlid. In the end the lock (similar to the Appia one) had to be drilled out....I wish you good luck to solve your problem.

It sometimes helps if you press down on the boot while jiggling the lock/key, but I guess you have done this already...

I have, but I plan another attempt next week.  I am focusing my jiggling skills and rehearsing some persuasive and/or insulting Italian terms.

Hello all.  

My Appia's boot is still jammed shut.  I did not fancy rolling around in mouldy wet leaves under the front of the car, so I removed the rear seat, removed the carboard trim panel behind the seat, and reached past the bracing cross members to connect long and heavy duty jumper cables to the battery.  I passed the cables through an open rear window, connected them to my Lancia 2000 HF, and the Appia coughed into life on the third go.  

I took the car for a good run up and down the nearby A road, and then put the car into the dry and warm garage where it usually lives.  The carpet on the driver's side is pretty wet (there is a fan heater in the garage).  There are signs of surface rust here and there - on one hubcab, the rear bumper, and the door locking mechanism at the base of the clap-hands bit. Some areas of greater concern where the paint is bad may have worsened.  Hey ho, that's my fault for losing the keys and then, after finding them, being busy in London and unable to sort the car out while it sat out under a tree.    My mechanic is in Taiwan, Chinese New Yearing with his family, so he could not assist.

I had left the car in neutral with the handbrake off, and neither the brakes nor the clutch were seized.

On the same day that I mislaid my Appia keys (dropped behind a bit of furniture), I also mislaid the keys to my Series III Land Rover (in a bag that went to London).  The Landy was at least under partial cover in an open sided barn, being used for ablutions by a barn owl and some wood pigeons.    I found the Landy keys last week, so yesterday it also got jump started via the 2000 HF.  I took the Landy for a run and a wash.

The Appia is as yet unwashed.  Here it is looking relieved but also a bit ticked off that it had to spend half the winter out of doors only a twenty second drive from its garage.

PS: Yes, the engine does leak oil more than it should - needs some new gasketry, I think.

PPS: Many thanks to Jim for sending a new petrol cap and seal, as it needed those also


(https://i.ibb.co/ZxtJ8rb/appharage.jpg) (https://ibb.co/hVhMWNT)

Lucky you had the 2000HF.

I always feel lucky to have the 2000 HF!


I gave the Appia a wash.

(https://i.ibb.co/w0wpKFV/appia-sun.jpg) (https://ibb.co/7YRrGdP)


(https://i.ibb.co/fNHKXTd/appia-sun-2.jpg) (https://ibb.co/5jLz1Jh)

PS: the original mucho posho Blaupunkt radio has started working, all of its own accord.  It can pick up BBC Five Live, but nothing else so far.

A picture of the Blaupunkt in situ would be nice.
Clarkey

Here you go.  I will look for or take a more close up pic.  The horn ring is still bent, but I don't wish to risk breaking it by trying to get it straight. 

By the way, the panel lights are white, but my phone's camera made them look orange for some reason.


(https://i.ibb.co/BtkNz8C/appiadahlights.jpg) (https://ibb.co/c1qLgzr)


(https://i.ibb.co/mD3GHbC/appiaint.jpg) (https://ibb.co/r7VmZFG)

Loving the 'retro' feel with the orange lights look. You would not want to come into close proximity with the radio at speed it looks fairly robust. The Consortium probably has some better horn rings than the one in your photo I'll check.
Clarkey

Cheers!

Found several horn rings in various conditions here are the two best ones.
Clarkey

Thanks!  Whichever one appears best, please.  Thanks again.

Did I post this?

A film about my Appia made by a friend who has a very good youtube channel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4r8fRzzSNg

That's a lovely little vignette of the/your Appia, bit concerned it turned up at the festival of the unexceptionable when it patently isnt!

P

Wonderful. I love the line "engine the size of a Dualit toaster".

Get that steering box dialled in and it would be perfect!

My Appia has not been to the Festival of the Unexceptional.  The film briefly features a Series 1 Appia at the Festival.

I have only driven my own Appia, and not many other cars of its era.  I have driven lots of 70s cars, several 60s cars, but only a few 50s cars.    Would any Appia expert like to drive mine and express an view on whether its steering is normal for an Appia, or could be improved?  Cheers!

Bump!

As in RTA bump?

Thread bump re wobbly steering.

Have all the bushes been replaced and steering tracked and wheels balanced? Does the sliding pillar clonk indicating wear which interferes with steering set up.

No clonking.  I have only ever driven one Appia and can't tell whether the steering on my one is as it should be.   

recent new tyres?

Speak to Brian Mills

Thanks to Jim for finding a mid section and tail section for the exhaust on my Appia.