Its very satisfying to see that Fulvia Berlinas (and also other Lancia saloon variants) are beginning to be appreciated a little more.
Jacky and my experience over the last 50 years of Fulvia ownership of all variants is that Fulvia Saloons are better built, have more compliant versatile suspension with a better ride and seating and also are beautifully yet subtly styled ( particularly S1 Berlinas) and this is now being reflected in prices. There is also a rarity value now.
From personal experience I believe exactly the same comments can be applied to Flavia variants and Aurelia variants. Indeed I had a conversation last week with someone who knows far more about Aurelias that I do and who knew Steady Barker well. Apparently Steady was a huge fan of Aurelia Saloons and much more so than B20 Coupes. Our conversation drifted onto the interdependence of seating position and springing, suspension stiffness and travel, damping and tyres and his conclusion is that you change any of the Lancia OE settings and equipment items at your peril!
This is really another topic but briefly my friend went on to bemoan the trend of fitting of bucket seats to B20s which of course have little springing by definition of what they are........and he also grumbled about current new Michelin X and Pirelli Cinturato tyres. New Michelin Xs have even softer sidewalls than original and the Cinturato moulds have been refurbed meaning the tyres are taller than original.
Each of these apparently small changes detract from the original ride and driving experience.
Chris
Having owned a ser 1 Rallye Coupe, before buying Fay back in 1997, I completely agree with Chris's observations regarding Berlina, although I'm very much biased towards Berlinas generally, and would have loved to own a Flaminia Berlina in a parallel World..
However as I haven't caught up with the auction yet, how much did it sell for?
Brian
8227 :