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Lancia Flaminia

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Road transport

   Lancia Flaminia
   1958 Flaminia Touring Coupé
   Manufacturer: Lancia
    Production:  1957–1970
   Predecessor:  Lancia Aurelia
    Successor:   Lancia Gamma
      Class:     Luxury car
    Body style:  4-door sedan (Lancia)
                 2-door coupé ( Pininfarina)
                 2-door coupé ( Zagato)
                 2-door coupé ( Touring)
                 2-door cabrio ( Touring)
                 4-door landaulet limousine ( Pininfarina)
      Engine:    2.5 L OHC Lancia V6
                 2.8 L OHC Lancia V6
   Transmission: 4-speed manual
                 Saxomat semi-auto
     Related:    Lancia Aurelia
     Similar:    Alfa Romeo 2600
                 Fiat 2300
                 Mercedes-Benz "Fintail"
                 Vanden Plas Princess
     Designer:   Pininfarina, Zagato, Touring

   The Lancia Flaminia was a luxury car from the Italian automaker,
   Lancia, built from 1957 to 1970. It was Lancia's flagship model at that
   time, replacing the Aurelia. It was available throughout its lifetime
   as sedan, coupé, cabrio, and a stretched limousine model was even
   created for official service. The Flaminia (save for the sedan) was a
   coachbuilt car with bodies from the most prestigious Italian
   coachbuilders. The demise of this model in 1970 left a void only filled
   by Lancia Gamma in 1976.

   With only 12,633 sold over 13 years, the Flaminias were truly exclusive
   and unique cars, and are very rare collectibles now. Interestingly,
   coupés outsold the 4-door variant by far, even in spite of shorter
   production run and coachbuilt bodies.

Name

   Following the tradition of naming models after Roman roads, the
   Flaminia was named after Via Flaminia, the road leading from Rome to
   Ariminum ( Rimini).

Development

   The Flaminia's chassis was a development of the Aurelia's, but was
   significantly upgraded. Most importantly, the front suspension was
   independent, with double wishbones, coil springs, telescopic shock
   absorbers, and an anti-roll bar. The rear suspension retained the De
   Dion setup, with a transaxle mounted at the rear as in the Aurelia. In
   the beginning, the Flaminia came with drum brakes, but discs were
   substituted after the initial 500 or so cars were built.

   The body was developed by Pininfarina and previewed by the
   Aurelia-based Florida prototypes. While the Florida I, presented at the
   1956 Turin Motor show, was a sedan with suicide doors, the Florida II,
   presented a year later at the Salon International de l'Auto in Geneva,
   was a coupé, and became Battista Pininfarina's personal car of choice.
   The final production Lancia Flaminia was also shown in 1957.

Engines

   The Flaminia's engine was an evolution of the world's first V6, which
   was introduced in the Aurelia. It had increased bore and decreased
   stroke, and a much bigger displacement. The engines were mounted
   longitudinally, powering the rear wheels through a 4-speed rear-mounted
   transaxle. An version with increased displacement was introduced in
   1962.

   CAPTION: Engines

   Year Displacement Configuration Power Notes
   1957–1961 2.5 L (2458 cc/149 in³) Single-carburettor 102 hp (76 kW)
   1957–1962 119 hp (89 kW) 2-door versions
   1961–1963 110 hp (82 kW) Different carburettor
   1957–1962 Triple-carburettor 140 hp (104 kW) Originally a police
   version
   1962–1970 2.8 L (2775 cc/169 in³) Triple-barrel carburettor 128 hp
   (95 kW) Berlina
   1962–1967 136 hp (101 kW) Coupé
   1962–1967 150 hp (112 kW) Sport, Convertibile, GT, and GTL
   1964–1967 Triple-carburettor 152 hp (113 kW) Super Sport

Body styles

Berlina

   Berlina was the name given by Lancia to the sedan version (berline
   means a four-door body literally). Designed by Pininfarina basing on
   the Florida I prototype, this body was actually handbuilt by Lancia, as
   the only one for Flaminia. This was also the only body to last through
   the entire production period. There were 3,344 Berlinas built with the
   2.5 L engine (102/110 bhp specification), and additional 599 with the
   2.8 L (128 bhp). They were assembled at Lancia's old facility at Borgo
   Sao Paolo as the last model to be built there.

   The very first series had double windscreens on the rear window (2
   outside, 2 inside). These were deleted on the latter versions.

Coupé

   The Coupé was also penned by Pininfarina, and built by the
   coachbuilder. It was very similar to the Florida II prototype with a
   2+2 layout and had a shortened wheelbase, as all 2-door versions. The
   Coupé has a front nearly identical to the Berlina, but the headlight
   frames are completely round, whereas they point slightly upwards in the
   sedan. 5,236 Coupés (4,151 with the 2.5, 1,085 with the 2.8) were built
   until 1967.

GT, GTL and Covertibile

   Carrozzeria Touring designed and built those two-door versions, which
   can be easily distinguished by their four round headlights (rather than
   two on Pininfarina Flaminias), and a shorter cabin - the wheelbase was
   decreased significantly for the GT and Convertibile, allowing for only
   two seats to be mounted. The GT was a coupé, while the Convertibile was
   obviously a cabriolet version (with optional hardtop). The GTL,
   introduced in 1962, was a 2+2 version of the GT with a slightly longer
   wheelbase. The Convertibile was in production until 1964, with 847 made
   in total (180 with the 2.8), while the GT and GTL lasted until 1965,
   with 1718 GTs and 300 GTLs made (out of which, 168 GTs and only 3 GTLs
   with the 2.8).

Sport and Super Sport

   The Sport was built by Zagato, and was also a two-seater. It used the
   same shorter wheelbase chassis as the GT, and had a very distinctive
   rounded aluminium body. The Super Sport replaced the Sport in 1964,
   with the introduction of the 2.8 L 152 bhp engine. The Zagatos had the
   famous pop-out handles. The first Sports had flush covered headlights,
   later changed to more classic round ones. The Super Sport also saw some
   changes - the rear was updated to a Kammback, while the front was made
   more aerodynamic with distinctive tear-shape headlight casings. Until
   1967, 593 Sports and Super Sports were built (99 Preseries, 344 Sports,
   150 Supersports).

335 (Presidenziale/Quirinale)

   When in 1960 Queen Elizabeth II announced her visit to Italy, President
   Gronchi commissioned Pininfarina to deliver four stretched Lancia
   Flaminia limousines to appropriately service the visit (and also renew
   the dated presidential fleet). The cars were built in a record time of
   6 months to a detailed specification, with the assistance of General
   Motors with regard to various electric extras. They were seven-seater
   landaulets, painted dark blue, with black Connolly leather upholstery,
   Voxon radio and Pirelli tires.

   This model was officially called 335 (due to its 335 cm wheelbase), and
   was also referred to as Presidenziale or Quirinale (after Quirinal
   Palace, the residence of the President of the Italian Republic).
   Individual cars were called Belsito, Belmonte, Belvedere and Belfiore.
   President Ciampi donated one of them to the Museo dell'automobile in
   Turin, and kept the other three in occasional use. There were rumors of
   a fifth 335 being donated to the Queen, but this seems unsubstantiated.

Famous owners

   The Flaminia was one of the more exclusive and prestigious vehicles in
   its time, which is why it was often the vehicle of choice of the rich
   and famous. Among them were famous actors Marcello Mastroianni, Sofia
   Loren, Brigitte Bardot and Audrey Hepburn (who had a dark blue Berlina,
   which she used from 1967 to 1975 when living in Switzerland ). Prince
   Aly Khan had a fatal accident in his Flaminia Touring near Bois de
   Boulogne. Ernest Hemingway and even the Holy See are also listed among
   Flaminia owners.
   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lancia_Flaminia"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
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