Lancia Motor Club

I am working as an architect in COLMAR, a little french town in region ALSACE, just near the german border and The SCHLUMPF Museum in Mulhouse.
In 2004 or 2005, at 6 am i went in a café just near the station to read the newspaper and then i saw two aurelias parked here, 2 black or blue english (according the palte numbers) coupé or at least one and a sedan. I thougt: "wow, what nices cars everything looks perfect and what a nice balanced drawing....".and i leaved a Vcard on the windshield with a compliment for coming from England to make a stop in ALSACE.

During the morning, i go again to the same place, around 9 am,to drink a caffé and i saw two english gentlemen (in the age of 60/70) verifying oil and brake level of the aurelias.
I had stopped to congratulate them for their cars etc. They told me they are making an European tour with their aurelia and also told me "the secret of the drawing".
"As an architect you have to know the secret of such a well balanced designed; the high of the car is exactly two wheel's diameters!..."

Does this remember something to someone?

It sounds very much like my father and his friend David Ellis-Jones who go on a yearly sojourn to Europe in their cars. It's a phrase he has used before, coming from a discussion with designers from Pinninfarina when they bought the then new Rolls Royce to the Rolls Royce factory in Derby to give a talk on the design.

My father took his Aurelia and the chap from PF said it was one of the few cars that they (PF) kept a picture of on their wall for reference. One of these references being that the "secret of a well balanced car is the height should be twice the wheel diameter".

Neil, thank you for that little insight into balanced vehicle design. I find it amazing that such simple 'rules' or design guides can make so much of a difference to the final appearance of a vehicle.

My wife has tried to teach me the basic rules for composition of a photograph, but, having little interest, I regret they have not stuck.

Do you have any more little gems ?

Best wishes,

                Andy

Well to be fair it's not my insight. And I'm sure there's someone somewhere who'll say "but what about.........." But if it's good enough for Pinninfarina it probably suffices for us :)

I had the privilege of sitting next to a Pininfarina designer at dinner in Italy a few years ago and he told me that one of the secrets of a lasting, pleasing-to-the-eye car design was the ability to follow curves continuously from the front of the car to the rear. Which I suppose is why so many 50's and 60's cars look so good without their bumpers.
Chris

When fitting the body to Modestine and contemplating the positioning of the running boards, John Pitney tied a piece of string between the rear and front hub spinners to get the correct line. Anything else he maintained would just not look right.

He also repeated the mantra more than once that standing back from the car 'If it looks right it is right'  :)

Robin.

Robin,

I'm enjoying this...  Its going to make looking at any car profile a lot more interesting.

With that string line was it the top or bottom of the board?

As always a rule is a starting point.  Lots of the Mille Miglia cars have the running boards very high, and "high" will now be for me "above wheel centre".

David

Had a chat with my dad at the weekend and he remembers the occasion. It was him and David you met. Regarding the "twice the wheel height" he has given me the following, his memory from discussing it with Ian Cameron:

"Ian Cameron, designer of the BMW/Rolls-Royce Phantom, described  in a lecture the  philosophy that led to the car's design. To capture the essence that a  Rolls-Royce should portray he imagined a rich and famous owner who, of course, had a very beautiful wife. The car would present her to an important “red carpet” Gala occasion. She would alight to a throng of photographers each eager to get a shot of elegant leg! (my words, not Cameron's). So she is in control of the resulting images, when she steps out her head must emerge first and she must step down. The height of the car floor is thus determined by an initial step down in the car with a further step down to the carpet. The picture is framed by the car and a liveried chauffeur who opens the door but must then step back out of focus. So the door has to be rear hinge (Aprilia/Aurelia). The car is the backdrop so must be beautifully proportioned and under stated to project the owners impeccable taste. The floor height determines the roof height which in turn determines the wheel diameter which should be half the height of the roof. The Phantom has, thus, very large wheels for which special tyres had to be procured. The rest of the design then follows.

In conversation afterwards my ownership of a B20 was mentioned which excited Cameron's interest.  When asked why he said he had worked at Pininfarina and it was one of the house icons. The picture illustrates why!

As in so many other features, Lancia's designs were so far ahead of the “herd” that they rarely get the credit they are due."

David,

I was sure that the string line should run from centre to centre of the wheel spinners to give the line of the running board edge but as you can see in the admittedly poor quality photo, it is level with the bottom of the spinners. The important thing I think is that the running board runs level front to back with the spinners regardless of the positioning of the string on the spinners.

Robin.

Thank you NCUDY for such souvenir!
please salute your father for making me discover the elegant charm of this LANCIA masterpiece: the Aurelia.

My father thanks "duelitremezzo" for his kind comments and returns his best wishes. He and his friend David remember the occasion well.

He notes that the sill trim line on the Aurelia is, of course, on the wheel centres.

Have a great christmas!

Came across a picture today showing the method used by John Pitney to set the line of the running board on Modestine. Rope appears to come from the centre of the hub splines.

Robin

Have you got any photos of the two cars in Colmar?

A few years ago I watched a very good programme where Guigaro spoke about car design. He said when he looks at a car he immediately looks at three things.
1. The 'silhouette' - by this he said he meant how it picks up light and shadow,
2. The base of the A post where the screen pillars, doors and front wings all meet.
3. The size of the wheels. He liked them to be big in comparison with the bodywork (as a random example a Ferrari 348 etc).

I've always remembered that, especially point 2. Next time you walk around the streets look at that area on a car. They can be the ugliest mess you've ever seen. I must say it's improved a lot in recent years as car design and manufacturing materials has become more sophisticated.

THere was a period in the 1980-90s where the transition to computer modeling was rather… primitive, and the ability to get good 3D curvature was limited. The cars of that period had neither the grace of the clay modeled earlier cars, nor the benefit of today's more sophisticated software. And it shows.

The other theory for that era is that fashion has moved on while nostalgia has yet to catch up.  Would anyone else admit to looking more favourably on cars of the 1970s than they did a decade ago?

David

Not on Colmar, but somewhere near Gross Glockner; my fathers car in the foreground and David's in the background.

Yes, I'm guilty of it! In fact, there's a strange phenomenon when a car can almost become a classic overnight. They suddenly look out of place with the modern cars around them. One that springs to mind for me is the XJ-S. Couldn't stand them when they first appeared, partly because it wasn't a progression of an E-type and to me a disappointment. I never see any here in France, but now when I see them on tv programmes or in ads I think they look great, a real luxury cruiser. I now rate their looks alongside any of the classic front engined GT's.

Isn't that always the way, the prophet whose never appreciated at home.

Is the XJS with its big engine old enough to benefit from a lower taxation rate?

Love the twins pic.........Leonardo who?


P

Thank you Ncundy !!!!

Does the Aurelia nearest the camera have tinted glass or is it a trick of the light?

Tinted, light green.

Were Lancia suppying this as an option back in the 50's?

4th series B20s. Not sure about the sedans, maybe the B12?

I understood that it was a definitive feature of the S4 B20, but I do not have my Aurelia book to hand to check.

It worries me about the ease of finding a replacement should any get broken, especially at the moment as all the glass is out of the car!!! Does anyone know if any have been remanufactured?

                        Andy

         

It is all described in "La Lancia" by WO Weerninck

For the Aurelia:
- Only B20 4th series had tinted glass - it was not an option
- And concurrently all 2nd series berlinas, i.e. B12

I do not think that tinted glass was ever offered as an option on other series.

John Turner used stick on film to replicate the tint for his Lambda Weyman.

David

Well, I'm amazed by this. I would have said tinted glass didn't exist in cars until the 60's. Certainly looks good. Trust Lancia. I wonder which year Ferrari, Maserati etc offered it?

Indeed, can confirm, green tint on the B12's windows, awaiting reinstallation later on in the year!


P