(curbside shots by CC Cohort glen.h)
(first posted 8/21/2012) Since today’s posts seem to be dominated by large American V8 cars, in order to keep some semblance of balance, let’s really swing for the other extreme. How about a very small fwd Italian coupe with a tiny DOHC narrow-angle V4engine so unusual in its design and construction, we’re just going to have to take the time, open the hood, and even take it apart. A Ford FE 390 this ain’t, folks. And this is required reading; there will be a test on Friday.
In the old days, Lancia was one of the true pioneers, always taking radical approaches instead of the tried and true. For their new small car for 1963, the Fulvia, they came up with an update of one of the most unusual engine configurations. Now, popping the hood doesn’t exactly make that fully obvious: looks like a…a…very short DOHC four.
It’s a super-narrow angle V4, which originally appeared in OHV form for the rwd Lancia Appia. For the Fulvia, it got new DOHC heads, among other changes, and was placed ahead of the front-driven wheels, for which it almost seems made for. There were three different versions, no less, each with a slightly different angle, ranging from 11º20′ to 12°53’45”. Just enough angle to allow the cylinder bores to offset, making for a very short block.
image source:viva-lancia.com
Here’s the inside scoop. Now that’s a bit different, eh? Rather brilliant, actually. And perhaps the best part: it allows using a single cylinder head casting.
image source:viva-lancia.com
The camshaft on each side activates both banks of its respective valves, via rockers. Sort of like two SOHC heads, with a twist.
The Fulvia engine was made in several versions, starting out with a 1100cc, and ending up with a quite potent 1600cc that made from 115 hp to 132 hp. The Fulvia coupe was succesfull in rally racing, winning the 1972 championship. The Fulvia finally ended its production run in 1976, several years after Fiat took over the struggling firm, and ended its radical experiments. It was replaced by the Beta, which we’ll undoubtedly find and cover sometime here. But let’s just say it didn’t quite inspire the love and devotion that has been bestowed on the charming Fulvia.
But Lancia’s pioneering narrow angle engine design did not go to waste: VW picked up the baton, and utilized it in their VR6 (and VR5) range of engines.
Good luck finding a Beta, Lancias are reknown for biodegradable bodywork and are consequently thin on the ground, Awesome cars though the Stratos blew Audis much vaunted Quattro out of the water on rally circuits around the world. Lancia was also the first to build a unitary bodied car the Lambda back in the 20s
The Lancia Stratos won rally championships in 1974, 1975, and 1976. By the time the Aud Quattro came along, Fiat had replaced the Stratos with the 131 Abarth and the 131 Abarth with the 037. The Quattro won its titles in 1982 and 1984, with Fiat-Lancia challenging with the 037. As far as I know there were no Stratoses left in WRC by the time the Quattro showed up.
Yep, in the early 80’s, the challenger to the Group B Quattro (Original LWB model) was the Lancia 037 (RWD), then later in the mid-80’s after the QuattroSport (SWB came out) the Delta S4, probably one of the most over the top rally machines of the time, Supercharged AND Turbo charged, mid-engined, as similar to production machinery as a Nascar Camry is to the version you can get at the Toyota dealer…
The Stratos and Quattro may have competed on some private or vintage rallies, but never directly in any FIA formula that I am aware of…
Having had the pleasure of actually driving a production street-spec Quattro Sport in France, I cannot even begin to fathom what the actual Group B machinery was capable of….
Actually, Betas are not that hard to find in Europe. There is on in my hometown in Serbia, coupe, darker red colour, only 1500EUR. According to some classic car valuations, that’s about realistic price for usable car.
However, VX or HPE versions are bit more expensive.
I really loved these cars, but you forgot the most significant thing about them – they were obscenely expensive. Which would you choose, a 1300cc FWD Coupe or a Jaguar XKE ? They both cost similar money in the UK, if my memory serves me correctly.
Correct that these were similarly priced to a Jaguar E-type when sold the UK, but remember that the E-type was an absolute bargain when it came out- Can’t remember the exact figures, but it was less than half the price of an Aston Martin with comparable performance…
I really would choose the Fulvia over the XKE, even at the same price. I understand the appeal of the XKE, but the Fulvia just appeals to me. I understand that Lancia of that era were more reliable than Jags.
Did these run…well? For how long? As simple as they seem, would this be a reliable configuration today, and if not, why not? How about back then?
Questions, questions…
Interesting car just the same.
Can’t answer about the subject engines but as mentioned in the article the concept gained a new life with VW and their VR6 and W12 engines. I would think with the early carb version the different port lengths would mean the breathing from cyl to cyl is pretty varied. One pair has short intake and long exhaust runners while the other pair has the opposite. Likely more of a problem with a carb feeding it. Or maybe it broadened the power band one pair did better down low while the other pair did better up high?
The same problem exists with the VW VR6 engine family.
Super clever, especially the DOHC. Makes me wonder if one would fit in a Subaru.
Nice little Fulvia in a unusual color. It looks so cute and beautiful in that landscape of ugly modern blobby cars…a Fulvia more expensive than an XKE ?? Now that’s strange…they were very popular here in Italy, surely not for everybody (Lancia was a luxury brand after all) but not big money cars. Nowadays it’s definitely one of the classic cars you can spot more often. The Lancia heritage is enormous in car history. Now the glory days are long gone, it’s a zombie brand…I hope in euthanasia instead of offering rebadged Chryslers…
P.s. Audi can’t hold a single birthday candle to Lancia when you’re talking about rally…nor Ford, Subaru or Mitsubishi can…I’m sorry but that’s the truth 🙂 !
My education continues. How often is it that we get a car that is beautiful on the outside and really, really interesting on the inside? Not often.
Good bike engine concept. Someone is using this in a bike. When i get home I’ll look it up.
The bike is the new Horex. It uses a VR6 engine and credits VW with developing the concept. No mention of the engine is this article but it’s obvious that this was the ancestor of the VR6.
Horex was made from the twenties to 1960 when it was bought by benz. None since till someone bought the name. Now it’s in the work with a 1250cc VR6 engine. I know syke will be overjoyed to hear this but just put it into play in case someone cares about bike applications.
I may get flamed for saying this, but I really think there should be a no-Instagram-effects rule in the Cohort. Just because this is an old car doesn’t mean the picture should be distorted by faux-retreaux tinting.
I dont like it either, but I don’t think that pic came from the cohort. However, even if it did, I think they should be able to choose how to shoot, how they like. It doesn’t mean we will all like it.
Is that picture in Sydney, Australia? I’m guessing that from the RHD and the license tags (that seems to say New South Wales on them).
It’s in Teneriffe, Brisbane in Queensland. I use Hipstamatic for many of my pics, mostly because I like it. But you guys don’t have to,hehe!
Thats my car! Glen, you must have taken it while I was at Sourced for breakfast!
What’s an “instagram”? The photos look more like one of my 40-years-old Instamatic or Polaroid photos taken when I was in the service! Take a look at my avatar for proof…$4.99 cheapie Instamatic bought on mail-order special with Hill Bros. coffee can plastic lids!
Sorry, I’m gettin’ old!
Instagram is a program that will make your modern digital photos look as if they were taken by old Polaroids or Instamatic 100s. This really cheezes some people off, but I really could give a shit. Most of my photos were taken with Instamatics or with my Miranda SLR on crap film (Agfacolor) so I’m generally happy if I have a recognizable image. Chill, dudes.
I wonder if Instagram can duplicate a Duotone image? Now THAT would be cool, too.
You’re not going to get flamed, but I don’t agree. It would get old on a regular basis, but a little variety is the spice of life.
I recognized their similarity to recent Volkswagen 6- and 5-cylinders. Very cool that Lancia did that first. And an attractive car too.
It’s probably a good thing I have no room or money for another car. Not that I know where to find one of these, but I love everything about it and I bet that funky little engine sounds great through a Borla.
Was at a Cars and Coffee recently in Great Falls, VA, where I spied an Appia. The owner had the hood open and I remarked to him that if you didn’t know what you were looking at, you might never guess that the engine was a narrow-angle V4. He gave me a blank stare and said “what?”. I repeated my statement and he said, “this is a V4?”. So much for the checkbook enthusiasts.
Fulvias were really the only Lancias I liked, especially in red with a nice set of bronze Cromadoras.
I failed to mention that the basic design, in OHV for, originated in the rwd Appia. But I’ve amended the text to mention its origins.
This is the most intriguing engine I have read about in quite a while. While I am the type of guy who delights in 4000 plus pound automobiles, this one really fascinates me.
Only 4000 lbs? You must like lightweight cars. Heck, even a BWM 5 Series is waaaay over two tons and the 3 Series almost there!
Wow, thanks Paul! Seeing that Fulvia made my day. It looks like the much better looking little brother to the Pagoda Benzes.
Too bad they weren’t a little bit bigger, I could squeeze an LS1 in there… ;^)
Hey it would be possible, if you were to regard the dash fascia as a starting point for the position of the firewall. You’d likely have to move the seats back a touch – but sacrificing the rear seats would be no sacrifice (possibly an inch between them and the front seats)
I have known that Lancia used V4’s but knew nothing about them.The more that I look at the line drawing and think about this engine though, the stranger it seems. Why the separate crankcase? Does anyone know if they were log lived?
Thanks Paul for featuring what is probably my favorite Italian car ever. And one that is on my shortlist to get into my garage if ever possible. It’s amazing for how little money they are sometimes still available (relatively speaking).
Lancia (and Alfa for that matter) are not really recognized over here in the US for all of the innovations that they developed and installed on their cars The narrow-angle V here from Lancia, did you know that Alfa was the first to debut a production car with Variable Valve Timing (yes, basically a Honda VTEC-type system) in their Spider back in 84 or 85?
I’m already regretting not spending more time on this post. The Fulvia coupe is a total gem, would love to have one too. It’s so unique too; as a kid – I had a hard time placing it properly. So elegant, unique, small, and yet so expensive. A brilliant memento from a very different era.
Well, Paul, I am sure I can find an article from french car magazine Auto Retro from mid-80s, with long article about Fulvia Coupe MkI and Mk II.
I can translate it for you, if you want to do a follow-up on this story.
Sure; I may not get to it real soon. Would you like to write it?
Why not 🙂 I’ll send it to you for editing in few days.
If you translate it, I too would love to have one to place in my Late Uncle’s 1970 Fulvia, one of 60 that were sold in Canada. He had to have re-painted to a Sunset Orange (an AMC colour) after the White started peeling, so he took it to a Lancia/Chrysler/Hyundai paint specialist in Penticton to do the work… With its Tan interior, it looks “book”!
The rear of this car looks just like a FIAT 1500 Vignale. Don’t know who was inspiring who, but the Vignale is a more affordable and reliable classic, being really a 1500 Berlina underneath.
The Lancia is pretty much a Corvair clone with a Kammback, as were the styles of the day in Europe.
Not exactly a clone, but the front-end certainly has the Post-Corvair look. The rear is not a Kammback though, in the Vega wagon style. Kamm-inspired is more like it, but I don’t know if good aerodynamics figured into this car’s design—the rear windscreen has too steep an angle. However, it is a very small car with small frontal area, so that may account for something.
I realize I’m tardy to argue this point, but here’s how Wikipedia describes a Kammback: A Kammback is a car body style that derives from the research of the German aerodynamicist Wunibald Kamm in the 1930s. The design calls for a body with smooth contours that continues to a tail that is abruptly cut off. This shape reduces the drag of the vehicle.
If that isn’t a description of the vertical plane tale of the Fulvia, I don’t know what is.
You aren’t applying your own definition you are giving, though.
“The design calls for a body with smooth contours that continues to a tail”
The greenhouse on the Fulvia is the exact opposite of this. The way the back window drops steeply from the roof down onto a long, flat trunk is why. That the actual end of the car cuts off abruptly is irrelevant in this case.
The Fulvia Coupè design was inspired by the Riva speedboats. An important version that’s worth talking about it’s the Sport Zagato: as for the Appia, the Flavia and the big Flaminia (those names all came from ancient roman routes, still existing today), Zagato built a special, aerodynamic body interely (at least in the first years) made from aluminium. It lacks the elegance of the original car, expecially in the front end, but it’s a neat car for itself. One curious thing about this diminutive sport car it’s the hood, opening sideways, like say a late ’40s Buick and its artigianal origin made for asymmetric fenders, a problem that never found solution !
For those asking about reliability we have to say that Lancia before being absorbed by Fiat in 1969 was an excellence brand that built extremely well made cars, using first quality materials and about mechanicals, well, quirky as it may look, the V-4 engine first appeared in the 1920’s in the Lamba (the first unibody car in history), so by 1965 was tried and true technology, I’m quite sure to affirm that the Flavia was as reliable as every other european car of those years 🙂 !
There is a 1956 Lancia Aurelia B24 Spyder on eBay right now. The car appears to be rust free but needs a lot of work to finish. Current bid is just north of $220,000. Ouch!
I love this car, especially that front clip and the wonderous greenhouse. I’d love one!
What a fascinating little engine! I knew they were a V4, but not a so tightly packed configuration. Pretty little car – looks better in these pics than it does in the normal red and black rally colors that I usually see pics of.
Nice to see a Fulvia coupe, I have driven one of these when I was looking to buy a more interesting car around 14 years ago and found a cheap but solid one for sale. It was a decent car but from memory I didn’t buy because common sense kicked in re the practicality of having a 40yo Italian sports car as an only car, plus cost and hassle of parts and maintenance.
I remember it was very nice to drive with a lot of feedback – as in feel, not thumping and crashing. Not very quick, but quick enough.
Ah, the old Lancia/rust matter rears it’s ugly head yet again. There really never was a problem with rust in Fulvias, Betas or indeed any Lancia coupes. There were a small number of the questionably styled Beta saloons which had subframe rust problems, otherwise Lancias were no worse and likely rather better as regards rust than other European makes.
The rust myth surrounding Lancias was caused by some overzealous TV reports in the UK. In fact, at that time Lancia unusually offerered some of the first anti-corrosion warranties!
you obviously didn’t grow up an italian car fan in 1970s new jersey like i did. trust me, lancias rusted very quickly on salted roads as did fiats.
there was a lancia zagato (beta spyder) at my oil change guy’s place not that long ago… i’ll keep my eyes out for it.
I think the Zagatos rusted less effusively than the Beta Coupes, Berlinas, and HPEs; but they still rusted even in dry garages in dry states. The Pininfarina built Montecarlos and Scorpions were also better than the mass produced Betas, but considering how bad 124 Sport Spiders of the time produced in the same plant were, that just puts the ones bodied by Lancia in perspective.
absolutely – my Grandad switched to Fiats after his 18month old Austin 1100 had rusted through the sills- discovered when he was jacking the car up to change a wheel
saw many of these lancias in Hong kong during the late 60s to 72, I left hk in 72.
Very beautiful interior, Series 2 is just so refined and spunky!
delight to drive, poise , awesome engine, powerful brakes and it is a car that communicates .
Series 3, is rare but so interesting in the style.
Series 2 , best to drive.
Series 1,classic motoring.
As people have said yes they were very expensive, however you get the best brakes of the time, de Carbon shocks, an engine to die for , beautiful interior and a car that always has class!
Thinking about these cars never fails to bring a smile. I was lucky enough to have 2 in the 80’s (one for spares!!). I did many thousands of miles in my 1300 Mk2. Lovely engine with a characteristic howl, particularly when it came “on the cam”. 38mpg if you kept it below 80mph, 20mpg if you kept it over that because 80mph was when it came on the cam in 5th. 110mph any time you wanted it. Comfort. Handling. Individual looks. Real boot (trunk). I had no breakdown issues. Main letdown was the heater matrix was poor and known to fail. Someone once told me you had to strip the entire car to get the heater out. Why didn’t I believe them! Sump off at around 60,000 miles to have a looksee – all still polished and gleaming inside the engine, more than can be said for the outside. A friend recently bought a stunning Mk1 – he won’t let me out in it for some reason . . .
I’ve mentioned him before, and many already know his work and website, but for those who don’t here’s a Fulvia redo commingled with the life of the rebuilder…verisimilitude out the yin-yang… http://www.eddinsmoto.com/id143.htm
Many thanks for the link. Magical !
That is way neat from an engine design perspective, flat machined face on the head and angled pistons.
Actually the engine reminds me of the V4 on my Honda Interceptor 500, except that the Honda is a 90 degree V4 with two separate heads
Loving that engine!. Thanks for the details on that Paul – truly neat engieering
As soon as I get a proper garage, one of these is high on my list for a toy! I just think they’re about the most gorgeous things I’ve ever seen. And still quite reasonably priced.
I’ve never seen a Lancia Fulvia. I’ve seen pics of them, but I’ve never seen one in person. Nice looking car.
I used to see a white Fulvia parked in a driveway in Alexandria, Va. on my way to work, maybe 30 years ago.
I thought the old Appias were pretty neat too. I have a photo in a book, of a ’50s vintage 4-door Appia sedan with normal doors in front and ‘suicide’ type in back. When the doors were opened, there was no center-post and the cabin access was completely unobstructed. I believe when closed, the doors latched to the floor and ceiling.
Happy Motoring, Mark
Such attractive cars, and one of a very few Lancias that I’ve seen in person (and the only one outside a show). There’s a blue one somewhere around town that I’ve seen a few times and it always provides a “stop and stare” response.
I had a 1972 Fulvia 1300 back in 1980 – something about it made me want to drive it flat out everywhere, all the time!
Oils be wrong but to me it looks like it may even have the Cibie headlights, which at the time were about about as good as it got.
What a nice looking car! The wheels add a touch of class not often seen back in ’63. Not too big, not too small. Just classy.
P.s. Audi can’t hold a single birthday candle to Lancia when you’re talking about rally…nor Ford, Subaru or Mitsubishi can…I’m sorry but that’s the truth ? !
The engine were incredibly reliable and silky smooth.
Lancia mechanicals were pretty special anyone who has one apart knows this.
There were no problems with the inlet/exhaust different lengths, no vibration and perfect running.