Lancia Heaven –John Campion’s Aladdin’s Cave
Jacksonville,FL
John Campion , co-founder and Chairman of APR Energy, graciously opened the
doors of his pristine and private showroom in Jacksonville, FL on Monday,
November 12 th ,2018 to his fellow Irishman ,Tom Gilmore ,wife Barbara and their
good friends Dale and Debbie Newcomb all visiting from the San Francisco Bay Area
and proud standard bearers for The American Lancia Club.
I had heard of this Lancia collection for a few years and with a vacation planned to
see the wild horses on Cumberland Island in Georgia a quick look at the map
confirmed that Jacksonville was less than one hour away. A few emails back and
forth with John’s executive assistant , Stacie Mirabella, and the visit was on!
John and I grew up rabid rally fans watching Paddy Hopkirk , Roger Clark and Billy
Coleman compete in the International Circuit of Ireland Rally held annually over the
Easter Holiday on closed sections of public roads…racing against the clock on
tarmac !…needless to say the speeds were barking crazy.
Billy Coleman was an Irish privateer from Co.Cork ‘showing up’ the Ford ‘works’
drivers in a tatty Ford Escort twin cam in 1969 when I was spectating and by 1977
when John was watching, Billy Coleman was driving a Lancia Stratos sponsored by
‘The Chequered Flag’ of London. Billy was driving with house money at this stage of
his career and the memory of this Stratos sliding through the early morning mist
seared the Lancia shield on to John’s brain.
Leaving Ireland in the mid 80’s to seek his fortune John started a mobile power
generation company to supply the needed power for the massive amplification and
light shows of U2 and David Bowie as rock concerts moved into arenas and
stadiums.
‘ShowPower’ ,co-founded by John, was acquired by GE and so having faith in their
business model John and his buddy went a few rungs up the ladder and founded
APR Energy the company that today provides mobile peak and off- grid power
around the world.
Yup!..with a wee bit of discretionary income coming his way “It was time to ditch the
Ferraris and get some real cars…competition Martini Lancias! “ said John.
The lobby of John’s showroom is furnished with aluminum shelving made from
aircraft wings , automotive posters beautifully framed and lit and the nose cone of a
Michael Schumacher Ferrari mounted on the wall and wonderful seating…..it all
looked so cool and not in the least ‘over the top’
‘Thanks for coming” says John bounding towards us giving us all a very warm
welcome. A brief discussion about the various artifacts on display and then “let’s go
and see the cars’!
Well I was not prepared for what we saw.
We were shown into a magnificent showroom and if the lobby was a ‘wee bit busy’
the showroom was an exercise in Italian minimalism.
The cars were presented against a red wall complete with recessed lighting on a
grey epoxy polished floor and are all beautiful prepared and in full running
condition.

We were captivated by the following Lancia
competition cars:
LC 2 ..chassis # 0001

Beta Monte Carlo
S4
037
Fiat 131 Abarth –Alitalia
Stratos
Fulvia ‘Fanalone’
Fiat transporter.
Out of picture was a Delta and out of the shop was a Martini LC 1 and a few odds and
ends….Ford GT, Ford Escort Twin Cam and a Mazda Sports Racing Car for John’s
wife,Suzanne.

John’s cars are featured in the October and November 2018 editions of Italia
magazine out of the UK.

I was delighted to present John with an honorary 2019 membership of our club, a
forty-five year old Lancia key fob and a model of a Martini Delta….he was most
pleased.

Shannon , another assistant, presented each of us with shirts and jackets
representing CJJ Motorsports that promotes and sponsors young drivers in the US
and Ireland. ( thanks to Leif Neuman and Steve Snyder for the certificate and the
key fob)
John has done an incredible job in collecting these Lancias and has now started to
show them at major events around the US…Amelia Island and The Quail in 2018.
But there is more!…John is a major philanthropist in Northern Florida giving
extensively to local schools ,universities and to cancer research.
He is a complete and very nice guy and a fabulous host and now a member of our
club!
A great visit.
P. Tom Gilmore
Lafayette, CA

Dear Lancia Friends: We have sad news to share with you regarding the loss of a long-time friend and Lancia enthusiast, John Cecil. John died suddenly in his home in Magalia, California on October 31st. John has not been a recent member of the club but attended and supported the Lancia Reunion’s in 2014 in Graeagle and again in Lone Pine. John was 84 years at the time of his death.
We first met John and his wife, Becky, in the early 70’s when we attended our first reunion in Carmel Valley. Both John and Becky were living in Sunnyvale at the time and worked at Lockheed Martin Corporation. John retired from Lockheed 26 years ago and moved to the mountain area of Magalia, with Becky soon retiring and joining him there. One wonderful anecdote about John: During one of our rally’s, several members were trying to assess the problem with a disabled car. John cleverly diagnosed and resolved the problem, to which he said, “Well, you know it isn’t rocket science, although . . . I am a rocket scientist”. He was extremely bright, loved his Lancia Automobiles and we will miss him so very much.
A celebration of life for John was planned for October 16th. Unfortunately, his celebration was cancelled due to the Camp Fire in Paradise. As you all must know, the town of Paradise has been about 90 percent destroyed by this horrific fire storm. Unfortunately, John and Becky’s home in Magalia, a community also destroyed by the fire, was one of those totally lost in the fire. Becky is safe and presently staying with her daughter in Tracy, California. She has been hit with 2 major life crisis in just a week’s time. I would encourage those of you who know or do not know them but would like to acknowledge this difficult time, reach out to Becky and to share your condolences, memories and/or history with John. I know that she will be touched by your communication with her as will her family.
Becky can be reached at: Rebecka (Becky) Cecil C/O Siobhan Edgar Cecil 233 E. Carlton Way Tracy, CA 95376

ADDENDUM: Please note that Lancia member, Todd Radke, was also someone who lost his home in the Camp Fire. Todd was the owner of the beautiful blue Fulvia (original owners were Judy and Dick Buckingham) recently restored by Todd. The fire erupted and spread so quickly that Todd was able to leave the fire with only his life but none of his possessions, including his valuable and loved automobile collection. Todd is presently safe and staying with a friend in Chico. If you would like to acknowledge his loss and appreciation that he is still with us today, you can reach Todd on his cell phone, 530-570-5169.
Vicki and Paul Tullius

The photo of the 1923 Lancia Torpedo was taken during the 2007 ALC Reunion!

Owner: ALC MemberTina Bird

Second picture taken at the French-Italian car show

November 4 2018

Club member Mark Robinson is offering his 1966 Flaminia Berlina for sale. The car is located in Southern California

It is mostly complete but in need of completion of the started restoration. Mark is open for offers so please contact him if interested.

Sam Danenberger is offering his beautiful 1967 Fulvia series 1 for sale. The car is a long time California car that currently resides in Waukegan, IL

The October Car is the 1976 Scorpion owned by

Bert and Judy Straus from Timonium, MD.

The car is build number 17 and is looking stunning!

Photos taken during 2017 East Coast reunion.

September car is the 1966 Lancia Fulvia HF 1.2 Owned  by Leif and Barbara Neuman

Calendar photo taken during 2015 Gran Premio Nuvolari

The car was brought back from Europe this June and enjoyed in events here this summer and fall

With Steve Peterson during Monterey week                                                                                   In the Redwoods, Barbara taking photos of a Chinese girl.

This years Ferndale event was held the weekend of September 7 – 9.

I was able to talk Barbara in to go with me and she decided that if we were going, let’s take the Fulvia! Not sure if she would have suggested that if she knew that the temp around Clearlake got up in the mid nineties! Stopped a couple of times to cool us off, but arrived in Ferndale in time for the welcoming party. As last year the get-together was held at the Victorian Inn on Main Street.

After dinner at the “Farmhouse on Main street” we went back to our hotel pondering the fact that I forgot to bring any warm clothes! Saturday morning was the drive and before going to the start we stopped and got ourselves a pair of jackets so we would enjoy the cool temperatures. The drive took us on back roads towards Eureka and a stop at the Harper Auto Museum, a collection of nicely restored cars.

After the stop at the museum we continued the drive and another stop at a small Maritime museum.

The last portion of the drive brought us back to Eureka and this time to the Ingomar Club Mansion where we had a lunch buffet.

The size difference between the Fulvia and Oldsmobile is making the Fulvia almost look like a kids toy!

After lunch we were on our own and took a nice drive south of Ferndale on “The Avenue of the Giants”  and made a stop to enjoy the majestic trees. A group of Chinese tourists and a local biker was enjoying the car. The Chinese girls took turns getting photos taken hugging the biker with the Fulvia as backdrop. Barbara thought it was her turn also before checking up with his companion still waiting on the bike.

Sunday Concours was just a display in our case with the judges not sending a single look our way as there were a large field of qualified entrants for the awards.

To start the Concours, a Coast Guard helicopter did a flyby.

The drive back home after the event was a breeze as temperatures stayed in the low to mid eighties. Another great weekend with a chance to enjoy the Lancia.

This years Monterey week started for me on Tuesday at the  Classic Motorsports welcome party in Pacific Grove. I thought I was going to be visiting with a couple of magazine readers but found a street lined up through block after block with anything from the latest in sports cars to some old timers from the twenties.

One crazy thing happened as a couple stood looking at my car so I asked them if they knew anything about Lancia. When they answered I could hear they had a strong accent that I recognized as Swedish so the conversation continued in that language . During the conversation I was asked if this possibly used to be Håkan Lidebjers car!! He had wondered what happened to the car as it was no longer at the garage where it was stored with some of the other rally cars. It is a very small world. I later met them again at Concorso on Saturday.

Wednesday Started with the Concorso sponsored Breakfast meeting at Black Horse Golf Course and after that the Lunch Drive that lined up a variety of both new and classic sports cars. The event turned out to be great and ended at the Pessagno Winery for a tasty lunch.

Back at the hotel Steve Peterson met up and the evening was spent at the Voboril Party. This year the celebration was for a racing career that was coming to its last race and the beginning for the next generation that is taking over. As previous years this is a great event and quite a few Lancia Club members were there to celebrate. The food and wine was excellent and the music fit the location to a tee. On behalf of the ALC members, thank you Jan and Meredith for inviting us!!

Thursday was the yearly “Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance” with the lunch stop on Ocean Ave.  We went to Carmel Valley and got a first glance of the cars coming down to the main road and then we went down south of Carmel to see them coming by before heading to Ocean Ave. and see the cars up close.

1932 Lancia DiLambda Viatti Torpedo and Steve Peterson educating a admirer.

Temporary check by the mechanic during the drive.

We met quite a few  ALC members between the cars and when we ended the car ogling, we stopped for lunch in a Swiss restaurant before heading to a couple of auctions to preview some interesting cars.

The nose emblem was discussed but as none of us knew enough about it, we just have to have someone pitch in with an answer if this is what it should look like.

Friday was Track-day! We went early to get a chance to see the Prewar cars with Jan and Michelle testing the cars and track. The sound of some of these cars are fabulous and one that caught my ears and eyes was the  1916 Sturdevant Romano Special! The open valves and straight exhaust headers are looking great.

This car is being shown at the Ironstone Concours d’Elegance September 22.

Jan Voboril was driving his 1935 2000 cc Alta Grand Prix car and Michelle drove the 1928 Fiat 520 Torpedo. Talking to Michelle she thought that with the speed of the Fiat she could take a couple of passengers in the back seat and look as if she was on a picnic drive. However, this was her first race at the Monterey Historic so we are looking forward to the next event and hope she is able to get in a couple of faster laps.

This was the last race for Jan after competing since 1976. The photo boards were showing some great moments during his career.

After the races we took Steves Lambda to the Concorso for early placement and some food and wine hosted by Heacock Insurance. Friday placement make Saturday morning a bit easier when all the rest of the field of cars arrive and start competing for space. During the placement evening we found out that we were expecting 15 Lancia cars in the event with age ranging from Steve’s 1924 Lambda to a 1993 Integrale Evo2

The car that received most attention was the 1939 Aprilia displayed by the San Diego Automotive Museum. A great looking car with an interesting history.

The winners of the Lancia concours at the event were:

Third: Steve Peterson with his 1924 Lancia Lambda

shared Second: Bryan Wright with his 1968 Lancia Flavia 1.8 Iniezione and Todd Radke with his 1973 Fulvia 1.3s

Winner: Zachary Shulman with the 1960 Flaminia GT Touring

As a wrap-up of the week – it was more events than before and you really have to pick what interest you, I could have done more things but as a whole I am glad I did the events we did and look forward to next event.