This is the story of a success with its roots in the past that fits well into the present and may well find a role in the future. Auto & Design n° 143 traces the genesis of the new Fulvia, a working prototype based on the historic Lancia model, which bore the same name. Presented at the last Frankfurt Show, this new prototype was acclaimed by both casual visitors and connoisseurs, many of whom said they would buy one.
The Director of the Lancia Style Centre, Flavio Manzoni, and his staff tell the story, describing the background, the rationale, and the various stages of a project that was thrillingly unusual: “We weren’t just creating a showcar”, he explains. “Everything possible was done to make the car technically feasible and marketable.
The target I had in mind was a car that would appeal both to the 50-year-old, who remembers the old Fulvia, and to the younger motorist, who wasn’t even born back then and simply views the Fulvia as a modern car with its own seductive appeal”.
Hand-drawn by people fired by the inspiration of a priceless past and equipped with all the experience and professionalism of the present, the project began with exhaustive research into craftsmanship, materials and processing techniques. With all that on their side, Manzoni and his team (Marco Tencone, Alberto Di Lillo, Massimo Zappino, Giancarlo Concilio, Roberto Corongiu and Serena Chionetti) were able to translate the original Fulvia idea into the present tense, while retaining all the charm of the past.
One particular flavour of the “once upon a time” variety came from the way the model was built by Cecomp in Turin, a company fortunate enough to employ the sort of skilled panel beaters, who are hard to find in the modern world of coachbuilding.
The article continues in Auto & Design no. 143
