Lancia Motor Club

The thread regarding an electric Fulvia and yesterday watching another episode of Vintage Voltage converting an MG Midget made me realise very few Lancias get "upgraded" (or butchered) beyond electronic ignition, fuel pump, fan.  Perhaps the occasional "exhaust and cams" to a period rally spec but even that is unusual.

My conclusion was that something like a 1300 Fulvia is very difficult to improve on.  For sure can get more power out of one, but not much and not with it remaining usable.  Its already at the state of tune than fortunes get spent on an MG's A-Series engine to achieve, or is available from a K-Series swap.  The brakes are already excellent, the suspension might get a tweak but there's just not the scope to improve.  Gear ratios are well chosen and they'll sit all day on the motorway without strain to occupants or mechanicals.

The electric MG had a wholesale replacement of the front suspension and brakes, disk brakes and an exotic linkage at the back.  Even with an electric conversion the gearbox was replaced, they said for robustness rather than the usual answer "for an overdrive 5th".

Interesting thought experiment!

How about a 1600 Fulvia? It already has suspension improvements, and all that lovely torque? This isn’t meant to be flippant, it’s basically what the factory did!

So my question is, can a 1300 be converted to 1600 spec at a reasonable cost?

There are of course innumerable modified integrales out there but perhaps that's a reflection of Lancias that were used in competition being modified more or less in period. Apart from that Lancias are perhaps more valued for use on the public highway where the qualities of a factory original are hard to beat.

As with the Fulvia MGA comparison I remember being told years ago that the standard cooking Beta saloon has a cylinder head that is slightly better than a Ford BDA even with a stage 2 head.

I know of a road legal (well in France) quattro engined Fulvia driving the rear wheels, and A Fulvia Sport project (as yet unfinished) getting a Dino engine and transaxle. I have to say why? but everyone to their own!

Brian Hilton and I once met someone at a show who had an MGB body on a Beetle chassis and we asked the obvious question, why? The answer was that he had a Beetle with a sound chassis but a trashed body and an MGB with a sound body but which was completely rotted out underneath. He needed some space and was wondering which one to get rid of when it dawned on him that they had virtually the same wheelbase so why not put the sound body on the sound chassis. The result made an interesting trials car but the best bit of all was that it completely pissed off both die hard MG fans and diehard Beetle fans! So, if you had a Dino drive train lying about and a Fulvia Sport that needed the engine replacing you too might, rather than thinking "why?", think "why not?"

I still harbour thoroughly indecent fantasies about Jensen Healey running gear in a HB Viva or Impreza Turbo running gear in a Gamma.

Is that the ex Neil sheppard Dino engined Zagato?
Brian
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