Some of you may know of Francesco De Virgilio, an engineer at Lancia from 1939-1975. He was responsible for, among other things, the Aurelia engine design and its variations. He had a very interesting career at Lancia, ranging from work on the Aprilia, the A10, the Aurelia, four cylinder motors in the 1950s, and even did workon competition Fulvias and helped in the very early aspects of the Stratos.
For the past 4 years, I've been working closely with his family on putting together his story for publication. Some of you know about this, and have helped already. For others, this may be news, but there are many unpublished drawings, notes, and photos to be included in a forthcoming book of some length. Making a coherent story over such a career has been a challenge, and has taken a long time. But it promises to be quite interesting for those who are interested in the early 1950s, Italian engineering, and the Lancia family.
If you have a personal story or perhaps have tucked away some important memorabilia, please feel free to contact me. Everthing will be handled discretely, and while promises can't be made to use everything, it would be nice not to overlook anything.
De Virgilio came to England in the 1990s and perhaps some of you have a small story or two. Would love to hear it.
Additional details can be found at
www.lanciainfo.com, under New Project.
Many thanks,
Geoff Goldberg
