LANCIA APRILIA LUSSO

Year of manufacture 1939 Recorded mileage 31,386

Asking price £32,500 Vendor European Classic Cars, Marlborough, Wiltshire; 01672 512879/07813 394167; www.europeanclassiccars.co.uk WHEN IT WAS NEW Price £355 Max power 48bhp Max torque 57lb ft

0-60mph 25 secs Top speed 78mph Mpg 32

Editor Clements usually rolls his eyes when I mention liking a car, often in unison with the rest of the team. I still don’t think he’s forgiven me for my trying to bring a Talbot Matra Rancho to the glassfibre sports car group a few months back (January 2020). Thankfully I was out of my probation or I might have been turfed out. Anyway, here our venn diagrams seem to have overlapped because he has long beaten me to the Lancia punch. In the August 2020 issue he turned the classified spotlight on an Aprilia before I could do the same.

My ideas of wanting one were bred from watching Roman Holiday one evening during lockdown. While most people remember the Vespa – the world’s oldest, in fact – my eyes were drawn to the native little cars flashing around. Gregory Peck’s Joe Bradley character has a lovely Fiat 500B Topolino, but in the background things are even better still. Such as the odd Aprilia.

It is, after all, the best of the type and the era. Pre-war cars are usually that bit outside my comfort or interest zone, Austin Seven aside, but this belies its origins. Compare it to the British fare of the time and it looks sleek and shapely rather than staid and upright, to the extent that its replacement Aurelia is more of a step than a leap. It didn’t look dated when the ’50s rolled in.

Here in Lusso form (running boards) and painted metallic grey, the classy teardrop shape continues to enchant. Likewise those unmissable wheeltrims, within that sweeping wing. A previous restoration is holding up well, and there are no corrosion concerns bubbling away – so to speak. The original V4 engine, a 1352cc unit, has been replaced but retained and comes with the sale for originality’s sake. Currently up front is a 1500cc motor with a Weber carburettor. The best of both worlds, but I’m already torn by what I would do: reinstate and add to the authenticity or enjoy the extra poke?

The innovative little all-independent pillarless four-door, if it’s anything like the Aurelia I drove recently, will be a joy. The driving position won’t be exactly perfect, but that’s part of the experience and will soon become intuitive.

David Honeybun of European Classic Cars, also where Clements found ‘his’ last year (already with a new home, it seems), says it’s ready to be enjoyed and deserves to be. It’s not a concours queen, or “a trinket” as he calls them, and that suits me. Importantly, the previous owners were Lancia enthusiasts – which might well account for the top price being asked.