Lancia wins at Elkhart
- B20 in the Awards area, with Ferrari and Rolls nearby.
This past weekend was the big vintage weekend at Elkhart Lake. The road cars were in a Saturday night concours hosted by Road & Track. The B20 nudged out in its class by a very nice 1933 Rolls Royce. There was also an excellent Ferrari TdF being shown. However, the B20 was chosen by Peter Egan of Road and Track as “The Car We’d Most Like to Drive”, one of their most significant awards of the weekend. He might have been influenced by John Lamm, his friend and colleague at R&T, a long time B20 owner. Peter appreciated the restoration and the crowd enjoyed the subtlety of the car and its subdued 1950s color, and that the car had been found in 1975, and only now being returned to good running order.
A number of other Lancista showed up for the very hot weekend but there was only one other Lancia – Neal Van Ess brought his Fulvia HF Fanalone, a car I had owned in the 1970s. It was good to see it again and take it for a drive. Bill and Cami Hall hosted the B20 at his lovely house, keeping his lovely Alfa early 1970’s Alfa berlin company. Bill provides a haven for Italian cars on the main street of Elkhart Lake – but his Fulvia isn’t quite running yet.
receiving award from Road and Track, Peter Egan on right.
You can see the video here: B20 gets an award (Youtube) . The fun starts happening at 3′ 00″.
Bill Hall’s unrestored 1972 Alfa berlina in front of the also unrestored 1904 Creamery nearby.
Geoff,
As ever, simply wonderful. I had lost the address for your blog plus Apple dropping you in it it! Am going over all of your pages again to pick out the many tit bits of info required, whether totally relevant or not to my B12 here in Ireland.
Hoping you put up more photos and keep us all appraised of your wonderful B 20 and all your dedication over the decades to the cause Lancia!!!!
Frank
Frank
September 3, 2012 at 9:55 am
Geoff, Thanks very much for your talk in Watkins Glen at the research library on May 9, 2015. I’ve read quite a bit about Lancia, but it was delightful to hear you put it all in perspective. You even endured the pictures I shoved under your nose of my 1981 and 1982 Lancia Zagato (Beta). I’ve had several FIATs and always considered their handling typically Italian – great! But these two Lancias have far eclipsed any car I ever drove (for handling). In the ad for the 1981 Zagato, Jody Schecter said, “Nothing handles like a Ferarri, but the Lancia comes damn close.”
A few years ago I talked to an old Italian mechanic. He said, when he was back in Italy, his nephew announced one day that he was going to try out some cars in order to buy one. The kid said, “I’m going to try Lancia.” The mechanic quickly said, “No No! You no try Lancia – you fall in love!” I couldn’t agree more.
Alan De Wolfe
May 12, 2015 at 1:53 pm