Lancia Motor Club

I was a student in London.  Just before my last Long Vacation (no holidays in the second, clinical, part of the Medicine course) my flat mate Nigel and I decided to buy a vintage car and quite by chance ended up with a Lancia Lambda in St Albans.  The Weymann body was dry rotten and the head was off.  We commuted up there at weekends in Nigel's Rolls (a rather beat up 20/25 with which we would drive round the outside of Minis on roundabouts) up the old A1, passing on the way a scruffy house the front garden of which was littered with Lancias.  One day we decided to call in and knocked on the door.  An old man with long white hair answered looking a bit under the weather and we started to talk.  After a few minutes he excused himself and disappeared inside muttering about his guts and did not reappear so we left.  We went back. however and were welcomed and introduced to the Club.   There was a weekly meeting at a pub in North London the name of which escapes me and afterwards we would repair to John's house and squeeze in amongst the Lancia bit for tea and chat.  His front room was filled with shelves laden with bits of Lancia and his garden contained several Aprilias (one of which I bought with Jude's Maternity Allowance.)  John was a great help to me in my early Lancia days always ready with advice and bits and a fine Bohemian model for my old age!

While I never had the chance to meet John Maltby, his photographs remain as really lovely pieces of work. .

Hello David, the pub was The Chequers at Hendon

Of course!  How could I forget.  I could probably still find my way there.

The Chequers is still there, but it's not the agreeable pub it once was. Photo show John Maltby in his Lambda followed by Ron Jewell in his just leaving the Chequers at the start of another trip to Italy. And the same location a couple of years ago, which also shows that the pub has grown a bit, and not for the better.

Colin

I must say I don't remember the wickerwork fences but it is a long time ago.   I like the "luggage rack" on the second Lambda.

In addition to the cars in the garden and the spares in the house, John had several lock-up garages around the area full of spares.  He could be irascible but rarely declined to help a Lancia owner in need. I co-drove his Lambda to Turin in 1971 with him (by which time his health was already in decline.  The RIBA staged an exhibition of his photographs, and published a booklet too.  His studio when I met him was in Watford Way in Hendon, in the middle of a row of shops.
He was an exceptional navigator and a fast driver, often at the same time. 

You may remember my father then  Peter Elias

The RIBA book is ISBN 1-85946-082-8 if anyone is minded to seek it out, simply titled John Maltby by Robert Elwall.

As to the fence at the Chequers I would say it was chestnut pailing rather than calling it wicker. Wicker of course is used for chair seats among many other things and I think it would be somewhat uncomfortable to "sit on the fence" in this case.

I just came upon the comment below from 2017 and am reminded of trip to Italy in two Lambdas, John and his friend Brian Adonis and John Turner and me in John's car. We were going to a rally in Varese so had to keep to some sort of schedule but after a few hours of driving in France with John and Brian leading the it became clear to us that we were not making sufficient progress.
It was all very pleasant and scenic along country roads and small villages but we signalled to John to stop to discuss it.
John, it transpired, was navigating with the same Michelin maps that he had purchased for a cycling tour in France during his school holidays, his reasoning being that the towns could not have moved. 
All the illustrations were of course of beaded edge tyres and none of any bypass or main roads were featured.
We changed maps and got there in time.



In addition to the cars in the garden and the spares in the house, John had several lock-up garages around the area full of spares.  He could be irascible but rarely declined to help a Lancia owner in need. I co-drove his Lambda to Turin in 1971 with him (by which time his health was already in decline.  The RIBA staged an exhibition of his photographs, and published a booklet too.  His studio when I met him was in Watford Way in Hendon, in the middle of a row of shops.
He was an exceptional navigator and a fast driver, often at the same time.