Alfrelia

If you are reading this, can we agree on a love of Lancias? Mine started with my parent's Flaminia about 45 years ago. Over the years, its matured into Fulvias, and then back to Aurelias. The Flaminia and Aurelia share the basic design of a V6 and a transaxle with either IRS or de Dion rear suspension. I’m fond of the basic concept of neutral weight and a lovely chassis. But there’s always been this wondering… could it be improved?

What would change if it were updated? One thing is more power - Thornley Kelham have been doing this by updating B20s with Flaminia engines. But what about the rest of the chassis - how about up to date brakes, better synchros…. What would say if someone made a similar chassis, similar but updated drive-train, with more power and good weight? Throw in some modern conveniences, is anyone tempted? At the risk of upsetting Lancia friends, yes, I was. So the Aurelia and Appia got a new sister. ​

When is an Alfa not an Alfa? Let's look at a Milano, from 1988. Maybe Alfa made it, but its not really part of their 4 cyl DOHC DNA. Rather, its much closer to the Lancias, its really an updated Aurelia/Flaminia -  60 degree all alum V6, de Dion transaxle, guibos in the driveshaft. And disc brakes that work, easy shifting, power steering (lovely), AC (necessary where I live), only 2900 lbs (lighter than a Flaminia Zagato, more power and less than 1/10th the cost), wishbone front suspension, Recaro seats, parts easily found, and cheap in the US.

OK - its not the most gorgeous thing in the world, but the Verde (75 in Europe) has the hotter 3 liter SOHC motor, with 190hp. It has lovely Lancia-like pushrods and rockers with its overhead cam (very clever), electronic injection. And... you can upset everyone. The family thinks why do we have this? Alfa people say its not of the spirit, Lancia folks think you've gone daft. But friends get it - it has a sophisticated chassis, easily fixed, all top caliper underneath. Take it out for the day or the weekend, and come home rested and with energy left over. The upper part of the car practically wants to fall apart if you look at it, but a one owner car with 65k miles has everything working and staying together for now. When something falls off, you  tap it back in place. Its built simple and fixed easily. 

There are other ways to go daft: 

• an Aprilia was tempting - it has real charm, but its intense - we don't have curvyed roads here (I live in a land of flat highways, very boring). Its complicated mech'l aspects calls for some serious shop time, which is no longer cheap. 
• Flaminias are complicated, and require care to keep up. A good Zagato is quite expensive. And not that improved over the Aurelia… 
• Flavia coupes (especially 2000 with PS) very nice, but one in the US is pricey, twice the cost of the Milano with no AC. 
• Fulvia Zagatos have a sweet look but a little small for those longer trips, fun but not  commodious.  And there is still the matter of our darn straight roads.... 
• Fulvia Coupes are wonderful, have owned three in the past. But they don’t expand the use envelope. Maybe a replacement for one of the other family Lancias, but not yet… and would it have to be an HF? A 1.3 would be lovely… 
• An Alfa GTV is certainly very pretty and again, less comfortable. Yet a good one of those is now priced a bit high too… and rumor is they are a bit short on ventilation during those summer months.
• Maserati coupe - these are delightfully depreciated. The smaller Cambiocorsa is about 600 lbs lighter than the GT too, although my family would love a GT. But such a special car isn’t quite who we are… and if something goes wrong (likely the electronics) its $5k to pull the dash and repair. 

And finally, I'm getting grumpy about $$ in the car world. Everything nice is priced fully or more, mech'l work is getting quite pricey, etc. And is there anything wrong with just getting something that is fun to drive? Remember when we started on this long trek - it was for fun. So consider the Alfrelia's sophisticated chassis for great driving, and that its cheap and fixable, with its  wonderful V6 motor at full song. Sounds just like the ultimate 60 degree, which is what it is! Go Lancia!