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.

Paul Tullius was awarded “The Most Elegant” car in the Chico Concours D’ Elegance this past weekend.  The Lambda has a “few bugs” to work out including paint touch up but she ran well to and from the concourse venue.  There were 150 entrants in the show and the Lambda was not even entered to be judged.  She is truly beautiful!!!!   Vicki

The August Calendar Car is the Beautiful 1956 Aurelia B24S owned by Jim and Julie Harn

1970 Lancia Fulvia Sport Zagato

Owner: Jim Bandy

Jim is a fairly new member of the club and was a major player in organizing last years East Coast Reunion.

Photo taken with the Pre Civil war Antebellum Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in the background. It now function as a Museum.

This month photo is of Richard and Dorien Lancia’s Beta Zagato.

He bought the car in 2012 as he describes; “After lusting for a car with my namesake since High School.” They spent the next five years getting all bugs worked out, thanks to a bunch of Lancisti folks and especially Kevin Harper. The car originally was a special edition with gold trim, but the previous owner resprayed it all black. They love driving it on special occasions with the targa top off and the rear window down.

Hi all,

The West Coast Reunion is behind us and we were treated to a great event with the start in Atascadero Friday afternoon. Most of the Northern Group and some of the Southern Group got together at the hotel for some catching up and good wine and food. Met some new and old friends and as usual, had a great time.

Saturday morning with an early start we got lined up and with most of us having detailed maps of the roads, we took off with Hank in front. The roads were great and we soon were going in a speed that separated the group and of course, the leader in the “behind” group missed one turn and got separated from the front. Thanks  to what I understand GPS, they were back on track and joined us, just as we had made a stop for stretching our legs and for some others, a cup of coffee.

After the break we took off on some great roads to the Lunch stop and a bunch of Southern Cal. members. A lot of great cars were lined up along the road and lunch was catered by a local restaurant.

A chance to meet both new and old friends. After the lunch and a lot of car talk, we lined up and took off towards Lompoc where we were spending the night. This time we had more lead cars so when we were “lost” we were lucky to have a back-up to guide us back on track and to the hotel.

We had a chance to freshen up and get ready for dinner at the “La Botta” restaurant. Dinner was great with plenty of food and wine and we extend our thanks to the organizers, Hank, Adan and Ed for their work on getting it all together.

Sunday morning started with a great breakfast at the hotel and we mingled before it was time to get the cars ready for the Concours.

Because we had to race back home to greet some friends who were arriving from Europe we had to skip the rest of the day and the “After Tour”. That report will come later.

Here are a couple of pictures we received from the Concours

Thank you again for a great event,

Leif and Barbara Neuman

The April Calendar car, Lancia Fulvia 1970 1.3 Rally S was Imported from Italy about 15 years ago. The pictures on the rocks was taken in Bibo, N.M. and the picture when diving somewhere west of Albuquerque, N.M.

Owner: Club member Stephan Protzen

The International Castlemaine, Australia Lancia Event October 2017

By Vicki Tullius

Castlemaine

Paul and I were introduced to Castlemaine many years ago by our good friend, Gary Byrd.  Thanks to Gary, we have made wonderful friends in Australia as well as from several European countries by attending the biennial Castlemaine rally events (our first Castlemaine event was in October1985).  We cannot say enough about the generosity and hospitality extended to us from our “Aussie friends” during this event. Upon our arrival, we were provided lodging, entertainment and tours of the amazing cities of Melbourne and Ballarat by Anna and Chris Long and Shellagh and Alan Hornsby. Paul and I were loaned Chris Long’s precious little Ardea Sedan to use for the Castlemaine rally and the following tour around the Island of Tasmania.  This is not expected, ever, but we were touched by Chris’s generosity this year and that of Peter Renou 2 years ago when he loaned us his newly restored Appia sedan.

Prior to the Castlemaine rally, we attended the Motor Classica, the International Concours d’Elegance and classic motor show where Lancia featured 110 years of Lancia innovation. It was an exceptional display of 43 Lancia automobiles that included Tricappa, Lambda, Aprilia,, Aurelia, Augusta, Ardea, Appia Saloons, Zagato, touring and Vignale bodied cars. A favorite of the show was a beautiful Aprilia Ghia sport owned by Brian and Dorothy Hawke of Australia.

(Older photo of a “young” Brian and the Beautiful Aprilia)

The Castlemaine event occured over 3 days beginning with a luncheon on Friday at the historic Buda House and its elaborate 19^th century garden. This Victorian mansion was built in the 1860’s and is said to be the most complete survivor of its period.

An evening reception and social followed at the impressive art gallery in the town of Castlemaine, a home to many writers and artists from Melbourne.  Perhaps the highlight of the weekend was the rally that took us to a private estate where we had a fabulous lunch of paella that was followed by a talk from the guest of honor, Bruno Cena from Italy.

Bruno shared his experience as an engineer at Lancia in the 80’s and 90’s.  He was instrumental in the improvements in the development process at Lancia.  Participants came from all over Australia, the US, UK, Norway, the Netherlands, Switzerland and France.  The event ended with a dinner in the town hall where overseas guests were acknowledged, special honors were given and concours awards were presented.

The Following Two Tours Through Tasmania

Tasmania is an island with less than 600,000 inhabitants and where 1/3 of the land is not habitable with a temperate rainforest in the south-western part of the island.  There are great roads for Lancia driving and with little traffic.  Fortunately, we experienced little rain and great weather while traveling.

Alan and Shellagh Hornsby and Elsa and Neil Pering enjoying a break during the first Tasmania tour

No rally would be complete without a tour of car collections. Our tours included a fabulous collection at the home of Chas Kelly

( See attached photo of Jeff Hill)

and of the National Auto Museum in Launceston.  We ate our fill of seafood and drank interesting Tasmanian wines.  Our tours included overnight stays in Cradle Mountain (where we had our first glimpse of wombats), and in Strahn in the southwest wilderness on Macquarie Harbor.

Chris and Anna Longs in their Lambda headed towards Cradle Mtn.

During the boat tour through the harbor, we explored the convict prison at Sarah Island (established in 1821) and strolled through the rain forest on the Gordon River.

On the second tour, we traveled to the East Coast to the Freycinet Peninsula with its national park and the famous Wineglass Bay.  While touring the Bay, we had a great view of fur seals, little penguins, dolphins and wales.  Basically, we covered the entire area that is habitable on this amazing island.   While in Hobart, the annual “Display Day” took place on the lawns in front of the Parliament House.  This all day event is sponsored by the Club Motori Italia of Tasmania.  While our beautiful Lancia automobiles gained attention and the owners chatted and shared their stories with one another, this woman went Christmas shopping in the famous adjoining Salamanca Market!

The Spirit of Tasmania

The Spirit of Tasmania is a massive auto ferry that has daily routes to and from Melbourne, Australia and Devonport, Tasmania. It is obviously an essential part of the trip leaving in the evening and docking early the following morning.  The ferry provides meals during the ocean trip, comfortable sleeping cabins and plenty of time to socialize with one another. It is quite an experience in itself!

Sebastain Simon provides amore detailed account of the Castlemaine rally and tours in the Lambda World Register Newsletter January 2018.  www.lambdaworldregister.org.