Supersport in 1975
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Supersport rebuilt 2017
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Flaminia SUper Sport
This is a story of a Super Sport and its restoration. The hero is Hans van de Pol, but a bit of history makes the story a bit richer. Back in 1965 when my mother went to Turin and picked up her new Lancia to go touring for a few weeks. She shipped it back to the US and drove it solo from New York City to Chicago in 12 hours. Then daily life took over, and the Supersport suffered in Chicago, going to work and back for years.
In the mid-1970s, I learned about cars by working on rebuilding the Super Sport. On one hand, that was totally absurd - for this was a car at the top of its marque, and in no way should a novice have had anything to do with it. Luckily with the help of a learned friend/mentor/tutor I didn't do much damage, and managed to rebuild the engine, trans and suspension. The car then went on a massive summer road trip c. 1975 out west, to New Mexico and Arizona to see Indian ruins and the Grand Canyon (it did not like the dirt roads), to Las Vegas to meet a Lancista and his Pegaso, then up the west coast to Vancouver, Canada, returning to Chicago, never exceeding 120mph. But sadly, this was a car in deep trouble, with rust in the sills and its basic structure compromised. It went to rest at Paul Tullius' in California, defying all who came to look at it. Just too much to do.
Hans van de Pol from Holland who bought the car c. 2010 and undertook a long term 10 year restoration. He took the car truly back down to its bare bones, and rebuilt it as a true full restoration, what the car needed. We met c. 2015 at a Lancia rally in Belgium, and his graciousness was evident, as we shared stories about the car's early history. His dedication is fantastic, above right is the car now redone, just getting back on the road after some 40 years.
We visited Hans c. 2019 in Holland and got to see the car, fully done. He did a totally lovely job. Was able to take the car for a short drive, and the experience was special: all the old memories came back instantly, but what was quite remarkable was that the structure was solid, and the car didn't flex as it had when it was in bad shape. What a great car!
Hans has since decided that it is too valuable a car and has offered it up for sale. While tempting, its a big league car and I'm not going in that direction. It is, however, highly recommended if anyone is interested. The car is fully done, and totally complete - nut and bolt restoration, done totally correctly. A car with a great history.
In the mid-1970s, I learned about cars by working on rebuilding the Super Sport. On one hand, that was totally absurd - for this was a car at the top of its marque, and in no way should a novice have had anything to do with it. Luckily with the help of a learned friend/mentor/tutor I didn't do much damage, and managed to rebuild the engine, trans and suspension. The car then went on a massive summer road trip c. 1975 out west, to New Mexico and Arizona to see Indian ruins and the Grand Canyon (it did not like the dirt roads), to Las Vegas to meet a Lancista and his Pegaso, then up the west coast to Vancouver, Canada, returning to Chicago, never exceeding 120mph. But sadly, this was a car in deep trouble, with rust in the sills and its basic structure compromised. It went to rest at Paul Tullius' in California, defying all who came to look at it. Just too much to do.
Hans van de Pol from Holland who bought the car c. 2010 and undertook a long term 10 year restoration. He took the car truly back down to its bare bones, and rebuilt it as a true full restoration, what the car needed. We met c. 2015 at a Lancia rally in Belgium, and his graciousness was evident, as we shared stories about the car's early history. His dedication is fantastic, above right is the car now redone, just getting back on the road after some 40 years.
We visited Hans c. 2019 in Holland and got to see the car, fully done. He did a totally lovely job. Was able to take the car for a short drive, and the experience was special: all the old memories came back instantly, but what was quite remarkable was that the structure was solid, and the car didn't flex as it had when it was in bad shape. What a great car!
Hans has since decided that it is too valuable a car and has offered it up for sale. While tempting, its a big league car and I'm not going in that direction. It is, however, highly recommended if anyone is interested. The car is fully done, and totally complete - nut and bolt restoration, done totally correctly. A car with a great history.
