Lancia Motor Club

Probably familiar to some other Forum users, but I can't remember it being on here before http://www.geelongrevival.com.au/lancia-special-at-grf/ it is in the Bugatti photo also, according to the caption

Another Sliding Pillar Special. Does anyone here have more on Australian Lancia specials?

Bill Jamieson is writing a book about all of the Lambdas in Australia, including all of the many specials. It will be an interesting read.
 Regards, John

Thanks John, I shall look forward to that. Richard

John is of course correct, Bill's book will be a very interesting read, although how much space he will be able to devote to the Specials will be an issue for Bill given the planned scope of the book. The postwar racing scene in Australia was dominated by locally built Specials until the early 1950s and a high percentage of these cars included  bits of Lambda in thier construction. There were also many Specials that were substantially Lambda based; shortened Lambda Specials with Ford V8 engines were very competitive on the racetracks and hillclimbs of the period.

The two cars pictured in Richard's post are both worthy of note. I won't try and re-write the (very good) article on John Hickford's (ex- Eddie Perkins) mid engined Special, except to say that the original car was was very well known and competitive in it's class until the early 1960s and that it's reappearance with it's second owner driver has justifiably attracted great attention wherever John competes with the car. I have spent a lot of time at historic race events over the past thirty years or so, and would have to say that the reception John has recieved recentlly verges on rapturous, although Lambda Specials have long been a passion of mine and I could be a bit biased.

The other car pictured on the 2001 Castlemaine Rally poster is the Chandler Special originally built by Ron Chandler and which later morphed into the Lancia Meadows monoposto built by Rob Harcourt. This car is an amalgam of the original Chandler Special and the Lambda based Meadows Special built by Neville Webb in the early fifties, and would arguably be the fastest unblown vintage Special in Australia. Watching Rob pilot the car around various racetracks and hillclimbs you cannot help to be struck by the relative serenity of Rob's driving style compared with the frantic movements of his competitors. The car is a credit to both Rob and Vincenzo Lancia, it is basically a narrowed fifth series Lambda fitted with all Lambda components except the 3 litre 4EH Meadows engine which first saw service in Australian assembled Chic car around 1925. The 4EH is essentially a larger version of the famed 4ED fitted to Fraser-Nash and Lea Francis of the Vintage period. I believe the engine is now producing around 200bhp since a recent rebuild involving a new crank. It is a truly impressive vintage racing Special.

LMC members with a keen eye will spot Ben Courage admiring John's Special.

and if it works, here's a photo of the car being driven. Regards, John

From the VSCC of Victoria magazine, John Hickford in his Lambda Special last year.

I'd love to see a photo of one of these next to a 500.

David

I think these Australian Lambda based specials are fantastic. I am fortunate to have an Australian Club poster that includes photos of some of these cars. The photo in Richard's second post is from the front side of the same poster. I will reproduce four of these in separate posts with some of the captions and photographic credits.

The first is the “Chandler Special”, with photo attributed to John Hickford. This was a “heavily modified” 5th Series Lambda with 8th Series mechanicals. Driver is Eddie Perkins.

Colin

This is the "West Special" being driven at a hill-climb in 1949 by Bill West - photo attributed to Ted Hider-Smith. It has Lancia brakes, suspension and diff.

Colin   

This is the "Hider-Smith Special" being driven by Ted Hider-Smith in 1945, with photo acknowledged to him too. The car is a shortened 8th Series Lambda with 5th Series engine.

Colin

This is the "Lancia Meadows" driven and constructed by Rob Harcourt and with photo courtesy of him too. The car is a much altered 5th Series Lambda with many 7th Series parts and a modified Meadows engine. This photo is from 2000 and shows Stirling Moss driving an HWM Jaguar in pursuit.

Colin

From Rob Harcourt http://www.motormarques.com/news/melbourne-desk/item/340-33rd-historic-winton-lancia-meadows

There are more photos of Rob Harcourt and the Lancia Meadows from my visit to Winton in 2011 here:
http://www.narrywoolan.com.au/home/Winton_May_2011.html
Noel

The first thought is "how much Lancia chassis in there..."

http://www.narrywoolan.com.au/home/Winton_May_2011.html#60

Looking at the others I wonder just how much power a Lambda can make...and what breaks first...

David

The Lancia Meadows chassis is simply a narrowed 5th series Lambda. The photos on the rally poster from it's days as the Chandler Special gives you a good idea of it's construction. Rob Harcourt tells me the chassis has been remarkably robust with recent fatigue cracking in the front end tubes being the only issue in a structural sense. That said, the front end on that car has had many repairs after minor racing accidents, so the cracking was hardly surprising.

Lambda gearboxes, rear ends and brakes were routinely used in postwar Australian Specials. They were relatively easy to obtain and very hard to break. The only major component rarely used was the engine.

And Ron Redpath http://www.vhrr.com/forum/showthread.php?t=245

And http://www.motormarques.com/news/melbourne-desk/item/446-part-2-of-magnificent-winton

One more photo