February issue of Viva Lancia!

[ColinMarr]

I am amused to see the current issue of Viva Lancia! includes a reprint of an article I wrote about my Flavia Vignale, back in 1985. It was a lovely car and I enjoyed it immensely, only to part with it when I got seduced into rebuilding an Aurelia B20.

Here’s a photo of it giving me a thrill in the wet at Goodwood in the late 1980s.

[fay66]

Colin,
With that amount of lean, I though at first I was looking at 2CV Racing.

Brian
8227

[lancialulu]

Colin

Are you "sporting" this March?

Tim

PS I would be but am recovering from an intestine op so no g force is allowed much to my annoyance.

[ColinMarr]

Remembering how nice my Flavia was I thought I would let you have another photo of it – see below.

Re-reading the article reminds me how my doubts about how the Flavia fits in the evolution of Lancia were greeted by some of the Flavia community as heresy. In hindsight I was wrong to question it. I hadn’t at that time appreciated how much the Flavia had in common with 1st Series Fulvia and all that developed out of that. But it is odd that the Flavia still seems to be underrated compared to other Lancia models. Flavia/2000 Consortium gatherings in the late 1980s could attract 40 or so cars – where are they now? I can't imagine that many would have been scrapped during the last twenty years. Hopefully quite a few of them are safely stored awaiting restoration.

Colin