2003 - A review of Lancia Motor Club events

Lancia Motor Club Goodwood Motor Racing Circuit Track Day, 5th April 2003.
A full and varied entry enjoyed the open track at the Lancia Motor Club's annual visit to the historic Goodwood motor racing circuit.

A wide range of models including Aurelia B20s, Fulvias, Betas, Gamma Coupe, Deltas, Integrales and a very rare 1910 Gamma Corsa racing car took advantage of the warm sunny spring weather out on track.

The 1910 Lancia Gamma Corsa owned by Ken Pritchard-Jones, was originally built for the Vanderbilt Cup Race held in the USA. The Gamma Corsa, fitted with a 3456cc four cylinder engine, no front brakes, rear brakes operated by a hand leaver and a foot operated transmission brake was driven with great verve by its owner around the historic Goodwood motor racing circuit.

In addition, there were a large number of club members who attended bringing a wide variety of Lancias including Appia, Aurelia B20s, Flavia Coupe, 2000 sedan, Gammas, Montecarlos, Themas, Kappa Coupe and a wide variety of Deltas who contributed to the day's spectacle.

Also present was an extremely rare integrale evo based Zagato Hyena, one of no more than 5 cars in the UK of the 24 built by Auto Lusso in Holland during the early 90's.

Via Appia May 2003
Members of the Appia Consortium decided some years ago that in order to celebrate the 50 Anniversary of the launch of the Lancia Appia in 1953 there should be a special event to mark the occaison.
The event which took place in Italy in May 2003 attracted some 20 cars with entrants coming from Australia, South Africa, U.S.A., Norway,Germany, France, Netherlands and the U.K. Italian Appia owners also joined in for
part of the Rally.
Via Appia 2003, started at Lake Orta with visits to Forbello to the home of Vincenzo Lancia and to Varello, both visits hosted by members of The Valsesia Lancia Story, and to the Lancia Collection and the Biscaretti Museum in Torino by courtesy of Lancia and the Lancia Club of Italy. The highlight of the subsequent drive through Italy was to drive down the Appian Way , which gave its name to the Lancia Appia, and a Civic Reception
by the town of Terracina. The Rally concluded with a Gala dinner in Piacenza.

Lancia Motor Club Sliding Pillar Rally International 30th May - 2nd June.
50 Sliding Pillar* Lancias took part in this years International Sliding Pillar held in the town of Houfflaize in the Belgium Ardennes with the split being 50% UK and 50% rest of the World with teams from as far a field as Norway and Australia. Also present were Appias returning from Via Appia tour in Italy.

Highlights of the rally included four Ardea Sedans and three supercharged March bodied Augustas. This was probably the first time in more than 40 years that more than two March bodied Augustas have been seen together at the same time

When was the last time you witnessed so many Lancia's in line astern all at once, at times the convoy must have stretched about half a mile! Twice I saw people stop and watch us drive past them. From Kirkby we headed south for a well earned brew at Devil's Bridge, just outside Kirkby Lonsdale then from here most split up and went along their own way home. We didn't have the exotic machinery as last year, namely Mark Blackburn's Hyena, but we did have 1 Fulvia, 2 Dedra's, 1 Y10, 5 Beta's (Spider, Coupe, Coupe VX, Monte Carlo, Saloon), Ypsilon, 1 Delta, 5 Integrales.

Oxford Landmarks Rally - Sunday, 13th July 2003
This year will see the 10th running of the Oxford Landmarks Rally, first run in 1992 and missing only one year due to "foot and mouth". As always this rally is aimed at those Lancia Motor Club members who want to do something a little more competitive in their Lancias than the usual Treasure Hunts and Touring Assemblies but have been frightened off by the perception that they need a specially prepared rally car. Click here for more information.

2003 Lancia Motor Club National Rally and AGM 11 - 13th July.
The National Rally and AGM returned to the beautiful Eynsham Hall in Oxfordshire again this year. Over 200 Lancias ranging from the 1920's Lambdas to late 1990's Kappas attended over the weekend, which was blessed with perfect summer weather.

Special guest for the weekend was Marcello Minerbi who drove to the event from Italy in his 1959 Aurelia B12. Snr Minerbi is a former racing driver and past presidente of the Lancia Club Italy and has been a journalist with the leading Italian motoring magazine Quattroruote for over 30 years.

This year the National Rally was celebrating three birthdays; 50th anniversary of the launch of the Appia (1953), 40th of the launch of the Fulvia (1963) and 30th of the launch of the legendary Stratos which dominated rallying in the 70s.

Rare Lancias seen at the event included Lambdas, two March Augustas, Aurelia B24s Convertible, Appia GTE Zagato, Appia Vignale Convertible, Appia Coupe, Series 1 Appia Berlina, Flavia Sport Zagato, a good range of Fulvias including a rare series 1 Berlina, a S4 Stradale and Integrale based Zagato Hyena.

Various UK owned and registered cars that are not officially imported into the UK were also present and included Kappa Coupes, Delta HPE's and Yipsilons. The concours and prize giving later in the afternoon signalled the end of what can only be described as a highly enjoyable successful event that was blessed with perfect English summer weather.

2003 Lancia Motor Club Annual Driving Tests and Barbeque 10th August
This annual event took place at Richard Thorne's place near Reading, on what was the hottest day ever recorded in the UK!

A wide range and age of cars took part in the challenging tests that Neil Lewis
had devised. The oldest being an Lancia Lambda with a 1954 Appia Sedan.

Other Lancias taking part included a Fulvia Sedan, Fulvia Sport Zagato, Beta HPE Volumex, Y10 and Integrales. Despite the high temperatures all the cars survived - as did the marshalls and spectators.
After the prize giving, competitors, marshals and spectators enjoyed a wonderful barbecue prepared by Richard's wife Nicola and family in the welcome shade of their garden.