Everyday Appia

[lancianut666]

Looking Good!!!
an inspiration to us all I think... shows the value of getting a car in as good a condition as possible 'South London Sport' springs to mind (sorry to pick on you David) as with mine I was concerned as many of the parts were still on or with the car as some of the cars I considered were poverty stricken when it came to interior trim etc.
Clarkey

[simonandjuliet]

Stan, you are spot-on, the car was controlled as a Carte Grise normale . In the interim I can apply to change the CG normale for CG de collection and then at the next CT in 2 years time , I will get a 5 year ticket

Clarkey, I was lucky with the Appia because it was a lot more solid than I had expected having come from a dry climate and has produced a better end result than I had anticipated . It was also 90% complete and has been a very useful learning project for the other Appias.

I also have 2 other ongoing Appia projects, one quite rotten but complete to the last washer, and another that is extremely sound, but was taken to pieces by someone else and I bought in boxes. Both will present very different challenges.

Which one will be easier to get "right" (they are both important cars), I am not sure yet ....... but having done the "Everyday Appia" I am at least starting from a better knowledge base.
 

[DavidLaver]

That Flavia Zagato is there as the mother of all projects to stop me buying anything else!!!  There was no expectation of a quick turn round or any sort of deadline.  It's a "journey as much as the arrival" project: the people and knowledge and skills and the simple plain preoccupying interest of it.  I've sometimes wondered if I have a weird phobia of running out of projects.  That Flavia is such a task it should keep me busy forever.  I've two other cars in the "running repairs" / "just needs using" / "list of niggles and improvements" categories. I've a car that needs "a bit of patching up and get it going" and another for "restoration and re-body" so you'd think I'd be ok for the foreseeable.  

Not sure its always good to ask "what was I thinking" but I've yet to regret that car.

What drew me in...?  I fell for the look and the packaging, the ability to cruise all day on the motorway, the proven rally heritage in the mountains.  (Looking at that list I also think as a replacement for the Aurelia I had to let go, along with the thought that its "better" in many ways: brakes, first gear, stability, visibility, ride, refinement but still with much of the old school build quality and a coach build besides).  The other cars are much more toys than the Flavia, a proper grown up use every day go anywhere GT.

The rotten ali over a failed structure with some extremely rare bits to find or replace?  I think that was part of the draw, along with the challenge to even move it, but the prize at the end had to be worth the trial.  It responded so well to the first few hours - dash pulled straight, gear lever in place and the gears selected beautifully, scrub up the seats.  It rolls and steers so nicely and the handbrake works.  

Its a static exhibit, a focus of long term ambition. Its fun to have, fun to work on.

David

[stanley sweet]

That Flavia Zagato is there as the mother of all projects to stop me buying anything else!!!  There was no expectation of a quick turn round or any sort of deadline.  It's a "journey as much as the arrival" project: the people and knowledge and skills and the simple plain preoccupying interest of it.  I've sometimes wondered if I have a weird phobia of running out of projects.  That Flavia is such a task it should keep me busy forever.  I've two other cars in the "running repairs" / "just needs using" / "list of niggles and improvements" categories. I've a car that needs "a bit of patching up and get it going" and another for "restoration and re-body" so you'd think I'd be ok for the foreseeable.  

Not sure its always good to ask "what was I thinking" but I've yet to regret that car.

What drew me in...?  I fell for the look and the packaging, the ability to cruise all day on the motorway, the proven rally heritage in the mountains.  (Looking at that list I also think as a replacement for the Aurelia I had to let go, along with the thought that its "better" in many ways: brakes, first gear, stability, visibility, ride, refinement but still with much of the old school build quality and a coach build besides).  The other cars are much more toys than the Flavia, a proper grown up use every day go anywhere GT.

The rotten ali over a failed structure with some extremely rare bits to find or replace?  I think that was part of the draw, along with the challenge to even move it, but the prize at the end had to be worth the trial.  It responded so well to the first few hours - dash pulled straight, gear lever in place and the gears selected beautifully, scrub up the seats.  It rolls and steers so nicely and the handbrake works.  

Its a static exhibit, a focus of long term ambition. Its fun to have, fun to work on.

David

David, the fact that it's been 'saved' is good enough. I can understand that just owning it gives satisfaction.

[DavidLaver]

There's also a perverse logic in that at the moment I don't trust myself to look after a good car while another project in the queue is neither here nor there.  When the Aurelia went I said I'd put the MG back on the road, prove I'd use and could look after that and then think about what next.  I'm still yet to prove I can look after that MG.  Goes to show passing the Aurelia on was absolutely the right decision.

Another quirk is that wanting to get to the Flavia motivates getting on with the others, and there's been some sporadic progress for all I'm not able to give cars routine chunks of time.  An hour here and there has been something, but If I could consistently find two evenings and one day at the weekend...   

[the.cern]

David, your day will come!!  As you have seen with me, other stuff gets in the way, but the important thing is to have it there and to simply enjoy it being there and it is obvious that you score top marks on both counts. The next stage is to recognise when your day has finally come and then not delay!!! That is perhaps where I failed, looking back, maybe I should have started a little earlier .... but maybe not. Anyway, I am enjoying myself now!!!!

                                         Andy

[simonandjuliet]

Having seen the "Sport" in the flesh, it is a work of art and would look fantastic on any driveway, as it is !

Just to bring the "Everyday Appia" story one step closer to its finale, I received the new Registration Document this morning!

MOT last Friday, papers submitted over an Easter weekend and a week later the Carte Grise delivered ......

As a final note to French owners, the CT on the CG is for 5 years, not 2 years as the vignette in the windscreen suggests

Reg is "DQ-411-NH" not pretty, but who cares ?

[stanley sweet]

Good stuff and just in time for summer use.

[simonandjuliet]

Clocking up the miles and a few "gremlins" needing attention - no surprise really.

Clutch needs adjusting - done
Choke doesn't fully close so you have to open the bonnet to close it sometimes !
Fan makes a noise - get better with use ?
Slight head leak - copper/asbestos - sorted

But overall, very,very nice to drive, indeed J took her out this evening and described her as "delightful" - lovely steering, gearchange, smell and sound. She just needs to get used to pedals that come out of the floor !

I will hand the Appia over once she is run in

What surprises me most is the attention she receives, to me an S3 Appia is pretty, but not drop-dead gorgeous like an Aprilia/Aurelia/Augusta etc etc. However, everytime we stop there is a crowd .... familiarity, accessibility, colour, chrome - not sure, but people are definitely drawn to the car .... or it could just be my charisma (hah hah) !

[DavidLaver]

Why the attention?  

Just the condition will make it jump out.  I saw a really mint Golf Mk1 recently and it was remarkable to see.  On "The Classic Car Show" Quentin Wilson was driving his "ebay bargain" 1959 Mini bragging about how he bought it for £2,500 and had refused offers for £25,000 (having restored it, he was sheepish and tight lipped about the cost) but I thought "that door doesn't fit right".

A classic car being ~used~ is a remarkable thing.  On the way to a summer show or lined up in a field is one thing, two wheels up on the kerb outside the village shop is another thing entirely, and remarkable.  I enjoy Theo's Gamma photos from Canary Wharf and am reminded what a bold thing it is (for me was) to take a car like that out into every day traffic driving to a deadline.

Then there is the car it is.  Someone once told me "an Appia is the Italian Morris Minor" and while my knee jerk reaction is "NO!!!!!" that's on the basis of one being held together with self tappers and the other having conduit for the front light loom.  Both are a friendly size, modest.  Both have a friendly face, a smile to them.  Both are "big cars in miniature" but without being snooty or up themselves, they're cute.  Both are curvy.  Both were old fashioned when new.  Both have great brakes and will corner better than you'd believe to look at them and that has given them a deep pool of popular affection.  Both were popular, part of the every day street scene.  Both will go on and on in terrible condition and have been "first cars" for many and will spark nostalgia.

Then, also, people will pick up on your delight with it and to be out in it.

[DavidLaver]

For me there's a real draw to an SIII Appia. 

The goal when the Aurelia went was to spend some of the money on another Lancia to use.  Flavias and Fulvias were the obvious choices but whenever a lot of Lancias were in one place (such as the Lancia 100th at Covent Garden) it was the Appias I'd spend most time with. 

There's a democracy to them - its "bottom of the range" but still gets every bit as much attention to detail and has every bit as good a fit and finish.

I like the robustness for everyday use over the early cars for all I love the aluminium details.  I like the plastic seats so as not to be fussy about "best trousers" or "kids don't climb on that" and am a fan of fitted covers for "Sunday best".  I like the later dash.

[Charles]

Yes the Appia (S3) always makes people smile (including me when I drive it). I think that it is because it is cute but also it is not challenging, i.e. it doesn't look like it's dauntingly expensive.  Great cars.

[simonandjuliet]

For your amusement and the solution to moving 20 tons of cow-poo !

It is going to take some time ........

[SanRemo78]

That must have been one huuuuge cow!   

[stanley sweet]

My dog would eat that lot. He loves it now the cows are out walking between the fields to the dairy. Horrible little beagle.