1951 LANCIA AURELIA B10 with period Mille Miglia History

[MisterNick]

https://angliacarauctions.co.uk/classic-auctions/2575-01-Apr-2023/1308~1-1951-lancia-aurelia-b10-with-period-mille-miglia-history

Listed for 1/2 April.

No connection to ACA here, just posting in case anybody is interested. I also like the responses on the known history from members.

[oldracer]

I've just received the same marketing email and stopped in my tracks when I saw this. IF it's what it says it is, it seems a remarkably low guide price?

[williamcorke]

A very exciting car, if as claimed. I wonder who bought it to the UK, and why they would they let such a prize go? Perhaps the answer to that is the Sept. 2021 recommissioning work costing E5600. Perhaps the cost of sorting the car out properly was simply too daunting...

Results of some Google research:

https://www.racingsportscars.com/race/Mille_Miglia-1952-05-04.html
Turismo Nazionale oltre 1500:   249   Lancia Aurelia B21   Maglioli / Monteferrario
Registration VC 27997

So the win was in the 'Turismo Nazionale oltre 1500', not Gran Turismo class as stated in the auction listing. The Gran Turismo Internazionale classes were won by an Aston DB2, a B20, Porsche 356 and DB Panhard X86.

And the car is, in the competition results, listed as a B21, not B10. This discrepancy could be caused by the factory swap to a B21 engine (and possibly transaxle) before the '52 MM.

They key is the paperwork with the car, which on the face of it sounds convincing.

I suspect it will go for substantially more than the top estimate. A dealer in the Netherlands (I think) had a B21 with MM history a few years ago that they were retailing for (from memory) about E70k.

P.S. Did Magioli lose the front bumper during the race? It's on one photo of the car with its 249 number, but not in the photo of the race's finish.

[Richard Fridd]

I wonder what the reserve is?
  Richard

[williamcorke]

The B21 ex-MM I mentioned earlier is still for sale (or rental for events) at the same well-know dealer in Belgium (not Holland) as a few years ago. Perhaps not such an easy sell after all...

https://www.marreyt.com/en/stocklist/lancia-aurelia-b21-ex-mm#details

[williamcorke]

And another thing... the rev counter looks to be from a 5th or 6th series B20 (or even Flaminia). The S2 B20 - as the S3 and early S4) had a counter-rotating instrument where the needle rotates anti-clockwise as rev's increase.

So this (very clumsily mounted) instrument can't, in my opinion, have been fitted at the 1952 MM. Nor, from the period photos, was there a 3rd wiper at that time.

[Mitka]

It’s quite interesting as the B10 is currently not MM eligible.

[mikeC]

...

P.S. Did Magioli lose the front bumper during the race? It's on one photo of the car with its 249 number, but not in the photo of the race's finish.

He also apparently changed the spotlight arrangement!

[frankxhv773t]

And changed the type face of the numbering whilst completely losing the numbers from the bonnet. I'd suggest the pictures aren't the same race, maybe not even the same car.

[Mitka]

Different Licence plate in photo than on the car now..

[oldracer]

Lots of inconsistencies - it's clearly not the same car in the b&w photos (one has a TO licence plate for starters).

Very few races had that many entries but checking MM entry lists for subsequent years no other Lancia wore race #249 so something's not quite right.

I have asked the auctioneers for sight of the original registration document and the letter from CSF just for the sake of it.

In the meantime, given the car will undoubtedly be above my budget, I've made do with this which was £20 incl P&P from Italy:

[mikeC]

...Very few races had that many entries but checking MM entry lists for subsequent years no other Lancia wore race #249 so something's not quite right...

The competition number does not indicate the number of entries, it represents the starting time in hours and minutes. For example, this Appia's starting time in 1955 was 10.36pm:

[oldracer]

Point taken, but there are still no other Lancias with a start number/start time of 249.

Other events of the period which attracted a large number of participants or used a similar numbering system were the Monte Carlo Rally and the Alpine Rally, but I've had no luck scanning the entry lists there either.

[frankxhv773t]

It doesn't throw any more light on the matter at hand but there's lots of interesting information here.

https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risultati_sportivi_della_Lancia_Aurelia

[DavidLaver]

This is more the sort of price that goes with "ex MM" 

https://www.marreyt.com/en/stocklist/fiat-tipo-103-ex-mille-miglia