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Lancia Augusta March Special Tourer

Lancia Augusta March Special Tourer

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Lancia Augusta March Special TourerLancia Augusta March Special TourerLancia Augusta March Special TourerLancia Augusta March Special TourerLancia Augusta March Special Tourer
Lancia Augusta March Special TourerLancia Augusta March Special TourerLancia Augusta March Special TourerLancia Augusta March Special TourerLancia Augusta March Special Tourer
Lancia Augusta March Special TourerLancia Augusta March Special TourerLancia Augusta March Special TourerLancia Augusta March Special TourerLancia Augusta March Special Tourer
Lancia Augusta March Special TourerLancia Augusta March Special TourerLancia Augusta March Special TourerLancia Augusta March Special TourerLancia Augusta March Special Tourer
Lancia Augusta March Special TourerLancia Augusta March Special TourerLancia Augusta March Special Tourer
Lot number 85
Hammer value £11,000
Description Lancia Augusta March Special Tourer
Year c.1934
Colour Red
Engine size 1,196 cc

Only in production from 1933 to 1936, the Augusta was Lancia’s small car offering and was available as a four-door saloon or a two-door cabriolet.

Sold alongside the larger Astura, Lambda, Dilambda and Artena models, it had a V4 engine that displaced 1196cc and produced 35bhp, giving the car a top speed of 65mph. Other advanced features included fully independent front suspension with concentric springs and oil-filled shock absorbers, solid rear axle with semi-elliptic leaf springs, and four-wheel drum brakes.

Exquisitely engineered in the finest Lancia tradition, it appealed to a class of driver who valued finesse, lightness and balance above mere brute power.

The Augusta soon caught the eye of motoring personality Lord ‘Freddie’ March, 9th Duke of Richmond, of Goodwood House, Chichester. Freddie was backer of the ever-inventive Messrs. Kevill-Davies and March Ltd, who designed a number of 'March Specials' which would grace a variety of sporting chassis including AC and Riley.

They combined the chosen chassis with their trade-mark cutaway doors, vertical tail-fin and sweeping rear wings which extended beyond the coachwork and into the slipstream, built by John Charles and Sons at Kew. The rear of the body was gracefully curved, with a tonneau covering the rear seat while it was unoccupied to create an open two-seat roadster. When rainy weather threatened, the Lancia's top could be raised covering only the front two seats. To emphasize smoothness and aerodynamics, the top was hidden from view when folded, marking one of the first uses of a disappearing soft-top for a British open car.

Exuding speed even at a stand-still, these streamlined March Specials are often credited as the pioneers of what is now known as Art Deco ‘aero’ styling. Naturally all this craftsmanship came at a price, and the Augusta March Special cost £450 in Tourer form at a time when a new Jaguar SS1 cost £395.

Exact production figures are unknown but it was always a very rare car and this example is one of only a handful known to survive, its whereabouts completely unknown until it was discovered languishing in a garden shed in Worcestershire earlier this year.

The shed was in the grounds of a detached house in Kidderminster belonging to the proprietor of a local haulage firm who passed away recently. Other family members recall that the Lancia was only rescued by chance when their relative spotted it on the back of a lorry that was taking it to a local scrap yard many years ago!

Now in a very sorry state indeed and almost certainly incomplete with no documents (although it does have an engine), it is nevertheless a most rare and striking example of what is perhaps the finest combination of British coachwork and Italian engineering from the period.

Given that a fully restored 1934 Lancia Augusta March Special Tourer made $143,000 (£90,000) at auction in Hershey, Pennsylvania, in October this year, it is surely worth the investment now required to return it to the road.

Being offered here at no reserve and sold strictly 'as seen', we only hope that this time it goes to an enthusiastic restorer rather than to the ignominious destination from which it was so fortuitously rescued the last time that it emerged in public.

Bidders are advised that there were various other unidentified car parts (including several pre-war MG parts) in the same shed where the Lancia was stored and it is possible that some parts with the Lancia do not actually belong to the car. Well, no-one said this was going to be easy...

CATALOGUE AMENDMENT: Bidders are advised that there is no crankcase with this car. There is a block, head and cam cover.

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