Lancia Motor Club

Some of you might remember my frustrations of a year or two ago, when I was trying to discover the original engine number for my B20-2959, which I bought without an engine or any history.

Although the Registro Aurelia (of which I was a member at the time) had the engine number, they would not provide me with it, apparently because of an 'anti - forgery' policy. The Registro were prepared to confirm an engine number as correct or not, if you provided that number.

I have now discovered that it is now possible to get access to these build records via Fiat. I emailed them them on Sunday evening, received a reply by 8.30 am on Monday morning, and have the car's full build details in my hands today, Wednesday. There is a fee of 45 Euros for this service.

Initial contact was to:
   centroarchiviostorico@fiatspa.com

I then received a reply from:
    Massimo Castagnola - massimo.castagnola@fgm-cc.com (Fiat Group Marketing and Corporate Communications).

Text as follows:
Here are the information available in the original register of production of Lancia Aurelia B20 Coupé with chassis B20*2959:
 - manufactured: 11/6/1954
 - body color blu
 - interior rag (panno) grey
 -  body (scocca) n. 002000
 - engine (motore) n.3640
 - differential gear (differenziale) n. 1083
 - suspension ant. ( sospensione ant.) n. 1991
 - drive box (guida) n. 2033.

So, I am now putting out feelers to everyone I know who might be able to help, to see if anyone knows the whereabouts of Engine B20-3640 or its remains.  Paul?

Although it is a very long shot, there's a chance that, were I able to track down the original engine, it might provide some clues as to my car's history, currently blank.

William, that was prompt service, despite the cost of 45 Euros, do you know the history of your current engine, did it come from another car, could they supply those details?

Neil

Hi Neil,

Interesting question. The engine I have acquired for the car is a 4th Series engine (B20-4051; thanks to Chris Gawne), but I hadn't thought of tracking it back to 'its' original car. Why not?  It is part of the current 'matching number' insanity, to think that each car needs its original engine. Why not the other way around??

Somehow I doubt that Fiat is going to provide details based on engine number, but perhaps they're keen on the revenue. I certainly didn't have to provide any proof of ownership to get the details for B20-2959.

William, I have the details of which car engine B20 4051 was originally fitted to. I will send you a personal message.

I always used to use the Fiat archive to get details for our Aurelias in the 1990s but for some reason I thought they had either lost interest in Lancia or they didnt offer the service any more. And so I turned to the registro being a member anyway.
Glad you got it sorted William and I wonder what car engine 4051 came out of - I have no idea.
chris

Did you write in English or Italian ?

I wonder if they can work backwards and give the original registration number as well ? ie I have the engine/box/chassis details but need the original number plate number ......

I believe I am correct in saying that if one has the original Italian Licence  number for a car which one owns, one can (could?) obtain the original pwners details from the Italian equivalent of the DVLA. And if the car is exported then subsequently re-imported into Italy, the original licence number can be applied for and obtained. Quite a good service.
Original licence numbers are hightly prized on old cars there.
I managed to  get the original registration details for our 1st series B20 (because the original Italian paperwork came with the car when I bought it in Switzerland) but our other Aurelias which were imported to the UK in the 50's and 60's have no record of their original Italian registration details on the buff logbooks or at the DVLA.
Such a shame that the wheelers and dealers who were importing Aurelias then into the UK such as David Piper and Dan Marguiles didnt keep records.
Chris

William,

That's a nice piece of information. Whilst I know the storys about the supposed fate of the Fulvia records its got to be worth a punt to see if they can provide anything for them. I've got all the original italian registration documents for my car as well; first registered to a Dr in Rome 31/1/70.

Neil

English. No need for the power of Google Translate this time!

I believe that the Touring Club Italiano may have all details of car registrations. At least they used to.

Thanks, "Google translate" and I will contact them

I wrote directly to Massimo Castagnola (in English) and had the document in my hands within 5 days - excellent service ! Interesting to note that the 3rd ser Appia still has the original engine and the body matches the chassis plate ! But I haven't checked the rest yet. NB The documentation doesn't include gearbox details

Thanks for the tip, will hopefully help with registering here

Another letter arrived today, from Massimo, with details from another source - "Register of Manufacture", this time including the gearbox details.

The last letter referred to "Register of Production". It also give a slightly different production date !

What was the supposed fate of the Fulvia records? I had all the Italian paperwork on mine, first and second owners, registered in Treviso. When I registered it here in France they took everything away and gave me a whole new document with just first registration date etc. If I'd known I would have taken a copy of the Italian papers. I hope it's just filed away at the local prefecture, I might pop in one day and ask for a copy.

The story is that they were all lost in a flood! Might be hearsay but it seems to be the common story.

No record of engine B20.3640 I'm afraid.
I'm pretty sure that engine B20.4051 came out of car B20-3396, which was scrapped some time ago around 1979.  The engine number certainly is "right" for this chassis.

I've also had very good help from Massimo Castagna recently.
I agree with Chris Gawne that Archivio Storico Fiat was very helpful in the 1980s and 1990s and gave me the details on my cars, confirming that the Fulvia production records had been destroyed.
I think their service went "off" a bit for a while but clearly is working now.
Here is the letter I got from them in 1998:

Paul Mayo