Lancia Flavia Vignale Spyder

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Lancia unveiled the Flavia, their new mid-range saloon, at the Turin Motorshow in 1960. In typical Lancia fashion, it was sophisticated, avant-garde and priced so that only the wealthy could afford one.

Developed by Professor Antonio Fessia, the Flavia bristled with the advanced technology that Lancia’s fanatical customer base had come to expect from Italy’s most aristocratic and innovative car maker. Not for nothing are Lancias from this era often referred to as 'the thinking man's Alfa Romeo'.

Alongside the quirky nose-heavy saloon, Lancia were soon offering an elegant Coupe styled by Pininfarina, a rather weird Zagato bodied Sport coupe and the drop-dead gorgeous two-door convertible Vignale Spyder which came from the pen of Giovanni Michelotti who was working for the firm at the time.

All models featured a 1.5-litre aluminium boxer engine with front-wheel drive, Dunlop disc brakes all round and front suspension by unequal-length wishbones. While the saloon made do with a single carb set up that gave 75bhp and 92mph, the coupe and cabriolet had twin carbs and 89bhp on tap, bringing the magic ton in reach with a following wind behind. Just 1,601 Spyders were produced between 1962 and 1967, of which it is thought that only 49 were in right-hand drive, making this a rare beast indeed.

At the time of cataloguing we had not had chance to view either the car or its history file, but we are informed by the vendor that it was first owned by the modernist architect Sir Basil Spence, perhaps most famous for his innovative rebuilding of Coventry Cathedral, an achievement for which he was knighted in 1960. An ardent car enthusiast, Spence had a Bentley when he was knighted but soon replaced it with a Citroen DS that was more in keeping with his avant-garde style (and a fine example of which you can find elsewhere in this catalogue).

When General de Gaulle said “Non!” to Britain’s entry into the Common Market, Spence took umbrage with the imperious French and ditched his DS in favour of this red Lancia Spyder, an equally cool car in a more playful Italian manner, which he was to keep until his premature death in 1976.

An older restoration, the Lancia is described as being in “very fair condition and would only require some cosmetics to make it superb”. The tan leather interior and the hood are described as “good”, while mechanically it is said to be “very good” following an engine rebuild and much other work, and is still running in. Said to run and drive well with a current MOT and “no major issues”, it can be enjoyed as it is and gradually improved over time as desired.

Supplied with a large history file and offered on the open market for the first time in many years, this rare and beautiful Lancia, with fascinating provenance, is sure to be of interest to car enthusiasts and architecture buffs alike.