1969 Lancia Fulvia 1600HF Rallye Coupe

Derived from the Fulvia sedan, Lancia's pretty little Fulvia coupe was one of the more sophisticated Italian sports cars of the 1960s. With deceptively understated styling, the elegant Fulvia was designed under the direction of Pietro Castagnero and introduced to the market in 1965. Like its sedan sibling, the Fulvia coupe was powered by a narrow-angle V4 with a single-overhead camshaft and drive was through the front wheels. Early Fulvia variants used a 1.2-litre engine but as the model progressed more power was called for and the ultimate version was the 1.6-litre HF found here, with twin Solex carburettors and 115bhp on tap. With superb handling and ride, sharp steering and excellent brakes thanks to discs all round, the Fulvia was a natural candidate for rallying. The Fulvia achieved some fantastic results in the World Rally Championship in the 1960s and early 1970s under the direction of Cesare Fiorio, setting the scene for Lancia's later domination of the sport. To homologate a number of performance modifications, Lancia came up with the so-called Fanalone (a somewhat crude reference to the size of the larger driving lights), distinguishable from the standard HF by the fibreglass flares on the wheelarches to cover wider Campagnolo rims. Inside, the Fanalone had lightweight bucket seats and the rear seats were replaced by a shelf, while the instrumentation was improved with an oil temperature gauge and adjustable red-line on the tacho. In total just 1,280 Fulvia HF1600s were built to this specification in 1968-1969 and few were sold in right-hand drive markets due to the prohibitive asking price. Today, these homologation specials are recognised by Lancia aficionados as the jewels in the Fulvia crown, beautifully engineered, understated yet to those in the know, utterly desirable.