Who do you think you are?......... with a Lancia slant!

[frankxhv773t]

Those who have been following the “Lancia Charabanc poster” thread will be expecting this.

I have in my possession what I describe as the mortal remains of a Flaminia Berlina EJJ 87J. I purchased it in May 1997 and to my shame have not yet restored it due to work pressures and health issues. These two impediments are related and I am working on a final solution!

EJJ was imported via Sicily  in 1970  by Harry Manning for Daniel Victor Brostoff of London N6.

The Italian registration was MI 2573, Milan I presume, and the colour at import was Silver.

Harry resprayed it in a lightish metalic blue. Due to holes in his workshop walls he is also said to have partly painted some of his neighbour's stock of freezers in the same hue.

The next owner was Terrance Arthur Turner of High Wycombe. This was later in the 1970s, maybe 1974 or 1976.

Mr Turner sold it to Charles Cedric (Miff) Cook but there is no date stamp on this transfer of ownership. Miff Cook was an antiquarian horologist and EJJ's back window still sports a lovely British Horological Society sticker.

Alec Alexander wrote an article on EJJ in the LMC Journal in Spring 1989 in which he says it Srafford buck bought and sold it twice before it came to rest with Peter Roberts in Kent who seemed to have had a garden of rest for old Lancias.

In September 1989 Alec Alexander advertised it for sale, offers over £1,500, in the LMC news sheet as he had acquired another Flaminia. It was purchased by the motoring journalist Martin Buckley of Classic and Sportscar Magazine who wrote about it in the “running report” collumn till 1995.

When he advertised for sale in November 1994 I contacted him but an unfortunate string of domestic appliance failures meant I couldn't buy it and it was sold to someone in Cardiff who ran a bodyshop and hoped to use it for historic endurance rallies. His business premises were in the Cardiff Bay redevelopment area and when they were compulsorily purchased for a major development scheme he opted for total extinguishment of the business. That seems to have put an end to the rallying project.

In April 1997 a colleague who I had encouraged into classic car ownership told me he had seen “one of those cars you are always going on about” advertised in Classic Car Weekly. P.B&A Ross in Durham were offering one for sale. I immediately recognised the photo in the advert as being one from the final “running report” in Classic and Sportscar so I knew it was EJJ.

I wasn't going to let it get away again so I duly purchased it. That was the easy part........

[ColinMarr]

It's a small world and I have connections with two parts of this story. I knew Daniel Brostoff, one time book publisher/ agent of Millfield Lane Highgate in the late 1960s, when he bought some Aprilia parts from me for a car that I think is now owned by Paul Mayo. And I just happened to be involved in transporting EJJ to Cardiff in April 1995 to deliver it to a new owner near Cardiff docks. What larks?

Colin

[the.cern]

I love stories like this!!!!

Frank, you really must get on with this car!!!! Please let us know how this story progresses!!!

Good luck,

                   Andy

[Parisien]

Latest up-date from Portugal.

Due to the poor weather and time pressures, its only this weekend that Ricardo can do some physical reconnaissance of the other two addresses/locations of owners on my registration document as the letters he'd sent came back insufficient address or unknown at that address.

I am still hoping for a bit more info, and if my luck holds out copies of the 6 photo collage previously posted.

As an aside the residence outside which the photos were taken in the late 50s by its first owner has just been sold off.........have a looksee and admire!

http://www.jn.pt/paginainicial/pais/concelho.aspx?Distrito=Porto&Concelho=Porto&Option=Interior&content_id=5032113&page=-1


P

[Parisien]

Perhaps Simon can add to this thread if he unearths anything of interest?

Which reminds me, I must put a few more photos up of the B12 and its first owner

P