Lancia · 1957–1970

Lancia Flaminia

The Lancia Flaminia (Tipo 813/823/824/826) is a luxury car produced by Italian automaker Lancia from 1957 until 1970. It was Lancia's flagship model at that time, replacing the Aurelia. It was available throughout its lifetime as in saloon, coupé and cabriolet body styles. The Flaminia coupé and cabriolet were coachbuilt cars with bodies from several prestigious Italian coachbuilders. Four "presidential" stretched limousines were produced by Pininfarina for use on state visits. 12,633 cars were sold over its 13 year lifespan. The coupé outsold the four-door saloon, an unusual occurrence, especially in light of the Flaminia coupés' coachbuilt bodies making them considerably more expensive than the stately Berlina. After a seven-year hiatus, the Flaminia was effectively replaced by the Gamma as Lancia's new flagship in 1976. The Flaminia was named after the Via Flaminia, the road leading from Rome to Ariminum (Rimini). This respected the established Lancia tradition of naming individual models after Roman roads.

Text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Predecessor: Lancia Aurelia · Successor: Lancia Gamma

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Development

The Flaminia's chassis was a development of the Aurelia's, but was significantly upgraded. The front suspension was changed to a more conventional configuration with double wishbones, coil springs, telescopic shock absorbers, and an anti-roll bar. The rear suspension retained the De Dion setup, with a transaxle mounted at the rear as in the Aurelia. The first Berlina was available with drum brakes or disc brakes, all other models used disc brakes only. They benefitted from the Pirelli Cinturato 165H400 CA67radial tyre technology. The original two bodies of the Flaminia were developed by Italian automobile design house Pinin Farina and modelled after two Aurelia-based motor show specials also developed by the same, named Florida. The Florida I, presented at the 1955 Turin Auto Show, was a saloon with rear suicide doors. The Florida II, presented a year later at the Salon International de l'Auto in Geneva, was a 2-door coupé, and became Battista Farina's personal car of choice. The production version of the Flaminia debuted in 1957. The car was designed by Battista Farina, which later also used this design as the basis for the BMC Farina models, which included the Austin Westminster, the most similarly sized BMC car to the Lancia Flaminia. Development timeline.

Engines

The Flaminia's engine was an evolution of the world's first production V6, which was introduced in the Aurelia. It had increased bore and decreased stroke. The engines were mounted longitudinally, powering the rear wheels through a 4-speed rear-mounted transaxle. A version with increased displacement was introduced in 1962.

Body styles

The Flaminia Berlina prototype was unveiled at the Turin Auto Show in March 1957. It differed from the production version by having Florida-inspired suicide rear doors that opened opposite to the front doors. The saloon version of the car was generally designated by the Italian word for this body style, Berlina. Designed by Pininfarina and based on the Florida I prototype, this was the only body style to be built by Lancia themselves, as well as becoming the only body style to last through the entire production period. 3,344 cars were built with the 2.5 L engine, and an additional 599 with the 2.8 L version of the V6 engine. They were assembled at Lancia's old facility at Borgo San Paolo as the last model to be built there. Flaminia Coupé. The Coupé was also designed by Pininfarina, but was built by the coachbuilder and not at a Lancia factory. It was very similar to the Florida II prototype with a 2+2 seating layout. Like all the other 2-door versions, the Coupé had a shortened wheelbase relative to the Berlina. The front end of the Coupé does not majorly differ from the Berlina, but the headlight frames are completely round, whereas they point slightly upwards in the Berlina. The Coupé was also fitted with the unusual 175HR400 Pirelli Cinturato CA67 millimetric tyres. 5,236 cars (4,151 with the 2.5-litre engine and 1,085 with the 2.8-litre engine) were built until 1967. Flaminia GT, GTL and Convertibile. The GT, GTL, and Convertibile models of the Flaminia were designed and built by Carrozzeria Touring with the bodies made from aluminium. These body styles can be easily distinguished by their four round headlights (rather than two on Pininfarina-designed Flaminias), and a shorter cabin - the wheelbase was decreased significantly for the GT and Convertibile, allowing f

One-offs and special editions

=== Flaminia 335 "Presidenziale" === When in 1960 Queen Elizabeth II announced her visit to Italy, the then President Giovanni Gronchi commissioned Pininfarina to supply four stretched Lancia Flaminia limousines to appropriately service the visit, and also renew the dated presidential fleet. The cars were built between 1960 and 1961 in the record time of six months, to a detailed specification and with the assistance of General Motors regarding the extra equipment. The cars had a seven-seater landaulet body style and were built in a dark blue livery with black Connolly Leather upholstery, a Voxson radio and Pirelli tyres. The cars were first used in Turin for the inauguration of the Celebrazioni del Centenario dell'Unità d'Italia (celebrations for the centenary of Italy's unification), and subsequently for the state visit of Queen Elizabeth II. This model was officially called the Flaminia 335 (due to its wheelbase of 335 cm (131.9 in)) and is also commonly referred to as Presidenziale or Quirinale (after Quirinal Palace, the residence of the President of the Italian Republic). The individual cars were named Belsito, Belmonte, Belvedere and Belfiore. All four cars survive today, and were restored by Fiat Auto in 2001. Two of them are on display in automobile museums: one at Museo Nazionale dell'Automobile, to which it was donated by President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, and another at Museo Storico della Motorizzazione Militare together with other retired presidential cars. The remaining two are still kept in service for the most solemn state occasions, like the Republic Day parade or presidential inaugurations. There were rumours of a fifth 335 being donated to the Queen, but this seems unsubstantiated. Flaminia Coupé Speciale. The Coupé Speciale was unveiled at the 1963 Tu

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Specifications

name: Lancia Flaminia
Manufacturer: Lancia
Production: 1957–1970
Designer: Pininfarina (Berlina, Coupé, 335), Ercole Spada at Zagato (Sport/Super Sport), Carrozzeria Touring (GT, GTL, Convertible)
Assembly: Italy:, Borgo San Paolo, Turin (Berlina), Grugliasco, Turin (Coupé and 335), Nova Milanese, Lombardy (GT, GTL and convertible), Portello, Milan (Sport and Super Sport)
Class: Luxury car (F)
Body style: 4-door saloon (Pininfarina), 2-door coupé (Pininfarina), 2-door coupé (Zagato), 2-door coupé (Touring), 2-door convertible (Touring), 4-door landaulet (Pininfarina)
Layout: Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive
Engine: 2.5 L Lancia V6, 2.8 L Lancia V6
Transmission: 4-speed manual, 4-speed Saxomat semi-automatic
Wheelbase: 2870 mm saloon, 2515 mm coupé
Length: 4877 mm saloon, 4496 mm coupé
Width: 1753 mm saloon, 1651 mm coupé
Height: 1473 mm saloon, 1295 mm coupé
Kerb weight: 1430 kg saloon, 1440 kg coupé
Predecessor: Lancia Aurelia
Successor: Lancia Gamma
sp: uk