Appia parcel shelf

[John B]

Advertised on Subito.....

http://www.subito.it/auto/lancia-appia-iii-serie-anni-50-pesaro-urbino-118382820.htm

appears to have a parcel shelf under the dashboard.

Would this be a home made one or were they available as an optional extra perhaps?
A really useful addition I think, it is a problem not having any easily accessible useful storage space in the front of the car.

[DavidLaver]

Looks yummy.  Adriatic coast just south of San Marino.

Google translates as "Lancia Appia 1959 enrolled asi gold plate restore the body as an amateur all original perfect mechanics."

Do the front indicators vary?

[simonandjuliet]

Please do not tempt me - although I did drive (and stop) mine today for the first time proper .....

Re front indicators - no idea !

[nistri]

The ad says that the body needs restoration, Andrea.

[chriswgawne]

There was a very tasteful genuine VW Beetle accessory in the 60's (and maybe later) which was a parcel shelf which fitted under the dashboard and was in a tasteful 'wickerwork' style.
No idea if they are still  available but it was very useful as the glove compartment was tiny and door pockets were suitable just for maps.
Chris

[John B]

There was a very tasteful genuine VW Beetle accessory in the 60's (and maybe later) which was a parcel shelf which fitted under the dashboard and was in a tasteful 'wickerwork' style.
No idea if they are still  available but it was very useful as the glove compartment was tiny and door pockets were suitable just for maps.
Chris

Same problem with the Appia......small glove box and door pockets suitable just for maps.
I will probably attempt a prototype parcel shelf myself ...... sticky back plastic and cardboard.....Blue Peter style!
Wickerwork could be interesting - I've been wondering what use I can find for the thousands of Olive tree suckers I cut off every year!

[simonandjuliet]

That's why I'm fitting a towbar ......

[stanley sweet]

Another alternative I've seen in Traction Avants is a mesh 'hammock' above the windscreen and the width of the car attached at sides and front. I think it was a period accessory. At the right angle I can't imagine stuff flying out on acceleration plus being mesh it wouldn't be slippery.

[mikeC]

The parcel shelf was a popular accessory in the 1960s, I had a Triumph Vitesse with one fitted - in fact I still have the shelf in the garage somewhere! It would be very easy to replicate: a piece of plywood with something like domestic pipe insulation slit to form a 'crash pad' along the edge, and then cover the whole lot in suitable upholstery material, a couple of brackets, job done!

[westernlancia]

Advertised on Subito.....
http://www.subito.it/auto/lancia-appia-iii-serie-anni-50-pesaro-urbino-118382820.htm
appears to have a parcel shelf under the dashboard.
Would this be a home made one or were they available as an optional extra perhaps?
A really useful addition I think, it is a problem not having any easily accessible useful storage space in the front of the car.

I've got both an Appia parcel shelf (in dark blue) and a Beetle 'Bambus' one (although I haven't got a Beetle!).

The Appia one is, as some have said, a period accessory. Annoyingly, although it has 'Appia - tutte' chalked on the bottom, it is for an LHD S2/3, and I want to fit it to my RHD S1. The heater and steering column cutouts are different. I will do a pic of it in the next day or two.

I don't want to sell it, but I am happy to lend it and/or make a pattern from it. Now, if only there were an LHD S3 owner living in southern France who could take charge of the pattern-making... :-)

[westernlancia]

Same problem with the Appia......small glove box and door pockets suitable just for maps.

Series 1s haven't got a small glovebox - they've got an enormous one!! One of the many reasons I prefer S1s to S2s and 3s is the piddling glovebox they saw fit to swap to when they did the redesign.

S1s have a really lovely dash and glovebox (and the glovebox has a flat lid that stays horizontal and can be used as a tray, rather than a bizarrely-shaped one that flops uselessly downwards). The swap to an over-designed dash with a tiny glovebox was a case of fixing something that wasn't broken (and it's even worse on RHD S2s and 3s, because there is a large chunk out of the corner of the already tiny glovebox, to accommodate something behind).

[westernlancia]

It would be very easy to replicate: a piece of plywood with something like domestic pipe insulation slit to form a 'crash pad' along the edge, and then cover the whole lot in suitable upholstery material, a couple of brackets, job done!

You are dead right there - that's a virtually perfect description of what I have. As you say, it is very like the ones fitted to many British 60s cars (although the padded edge is quite thin - if you want to replicate this 'genuine' (period but aftermarket) one, pipe insulation would be overdoing it.

But apart from that you are right on the money - it is a die-cut piece of hardboard covered with leathercloth, with a padded rim and a small moulding along the back edge. It has a metal bracket at each side, which you are supposed to screw into the footwell trim (and that's the biggest headache for me - both my S1s have really nice original footwell trim, and I don't want to drill them. However, it would be easy to make a copy out of similar stuff to what you're making the shelf out of, and keep the originals off the car to avoid spoiling them).

One important thing would be to use leathercloth (i.e. NOT the horrible 'knit-backed expanded vinyl' modern cloth-backed stuff), as that is way too thick and won't follow tight radiuses if you fold it. The grain is also usually too coarse.

However, leathercloth is fairly easy to get and not too expensive (especially in the small quantity needed for this job) - Woolies, among others, sell a very nice version in a wide choice of colours.

So I will probably make both a copy shelf and copy side trims, when I get time - if/when I get round to it, I'll keep you posted.

[westernlancia]

I wrote:

"The grain is also usually too cobottom..."

...except that I didn't!! I wrote 'too CO*RSE' - but it looks as if the forum's ever-vigilant anti-rudeness software has identified the phoneme '*rse', and kindly changed it to 'bottom' for me.

Assuming this is American software (it usually is), they are raising their game, as they usually overlook the British spelling of the word.

Chortle chortle...

[westernlancia]

Another alternative I've seen in Traction Avants is a mesh 'hammock' above the windscreen and the width of the car attached at sides and front.

When I went to Turin in 2009 or 10 to pick James Parry's camioncino up from City Motors and to not-buy (damn!!) the furgoncino which now, by a curious twist of fate, also resides in Wrexham, they had (and possibly still have) a 1938 Chenard et Walcker for sale.

By 1938 Chenard were pretty much on the skids, and their cars from that year are (and look like!) rebodied French Fords ('Matfords') with a Chenard front bolted on.

The interior was all original but too far-gone to keep. However, it did have a very nice luggage net along the top of the windscreen. I'd have bought the car, but they wanted 6000 euros, and I reckon it needed another 20 spending on it.

I took photos of the luggage net, and if I can find them I will post them.

[John B]

I have started making a prototype template using an offcut of thin MDF board and a length of plastic angle.
One problem is deciding how high/low it should be to either fit above/below/around the pockets built into the side footwell trim. I have opted to cut it out so that the shelf will fit around these pockets about 20mm from the top so that items will not fall or slide into them. Ideally the shelf would go directly on top of these pockets but this would make them unusable - not that I can think of a use for them, too deep and narrow for anything other than a paperback book perhaps.
Another consideration is how much room does the heater flap need so it can be operated without fouling.....the shelf will run immediately in front of it so there will be gap between the back of the shelf and the heater casing.

When it comes to covering the finished shelf I have some salvaged vinyl from some Fiat 850 door cards.....an authentic patina without being too coa rse ( or even cobottom!)