Lancia Motor Club

Dear All,
I'm thinking of acquiring a PF coupe and I'm looking for some buying advice. I'm looking for a car to use and improve rather than to restore or to show.
I live in Ireland and I have an Alfa Giulietta Spider and a Wolseley Hornet MkIII.
I've been monitoring the market in Europe for the last few months and doing some research.
From what I can see these cars seem to wear well and often lead sheltered lives so the survival rate looks good. However, I have some questions the answers to which are not immediately obvious:
1. What are the main issues to look out for and avoid with these cars?
2. Is the performance of the 2.5 single carb car noticeably inferior to the 2.8? Should I invest the extra time and money for a 2.8?
3. It seems like brakes can be problematic, what should I look out for?
4. What are the main rust traps?

I like the look of this car https://www.oldtimerfarm.be/en/collection-cars-for-sale/5496/lancia-flaminia-pininfarina-coupe-60.php (https://www.oldtimerfarm.be/en/collection-cars-for-sale/5496/lancia-flaminia-pininfarina-coupe-60.php), and the price seems good. It looks like work has been done on the brake servo and the suspension. The paint is original but tired, the interior and the brightwork seem complete. Am I missing anything?

Thanks for your help
Willo

This one didn't sell at auction https://www.lancia.myzen.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=12141.0
It's a fully sorted car in excellent condition.
I would say the 2.8 is a much better car, or a 2.5 3C.

Can anyone here give a real life comparison between running the Solex PAAI, 3B and Weber triple setups? Lovely couple of recent VL carburettor articles, thanks to Neale Shepherd.

Richard Thorne is selling this car, which many will have seen at club events.

https://www.rtcc.co.uk/cars/1963-lancia-flaminia-pininfarina-coupe-2-5-3b/

I doubt there is any reason to quibble with the performance of the 2.5 3B, and and the best selling type by far was of course the pre-3B single carburettor. The latter reached 107mph and went to 60 in 13.6 seconds when tested by Autocar in 1960, compared with 115 and 12.6  for the 2.8 the magazine tested in 1965. I presume the 2.5 3B is somewhere between the two in its capabilities.

Happy dilemma!

My experience is Berlinas but I suspect rust advice is much the same, they are built like battle ships. The lips of the wheel arches and door bottoms will go, as with almost any car, also the bottom of the front wing where it curves round the front below the auxiliary light unit. In addition front outer corners of front footwells outboard of the rear legs of the front subframe seem to go. In the price range you seem to be looking at none of this ought to be an issue.

The car for sale with Richard Thorne looks nice on the outside but that dash and steering wheel I would describe as scruffy, which would then cause me to question what else about the car is significantly below par. Also that's the part of the car you look at all the time when driving it so it is important for it to be well presented. If left hand drive isn't an issue I'd save yourself £7,000 and lean towards the Oldtimerfarm car.

Sounds like a fun challenge!

Other good rust traps not already mentioned are the battery tray and the inner rear wheel arches

On the old-timer car there are a few areas I'd question:
- those HT leads (and the rest of the engine bay) look pretty soiled - so when was it last serviced??
- Washer bottle should be glass and the horns aren't original (may be a point you can raise in price negotiation)

The Thorne car - well its red....
 
Brakes aren't problematic they just need use.

Mine is a single Carb 2.5 Flaminia - easy to tune, makes a good noise, happy to cruise at motorway speeds. Isn't fast (by todays standards) but none are....

Oh the battery tray! How did I miss that? Maybe because it is the first thing to disappear.

I will echo Dave comments the brakes are fine they like most mechanical parts just need use, also check the internal heat exchangers/matrix as these can seep or don’t work, same with the fresh air fans as motors can rust up as they get damp being right at the front of the car. 
Wasn’t Charles Frodsham mate selling his ivory coupe https://www.lancia.myzen.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=12141.0 , although won’t need any work and is very nice.     

Thanks Julian. Steve’s car is still available if interested.