Lancia Flaminia: Overview

The moniker GT in the name of a car originally meant Gran Turismo, or Grand Touring. By definition, a GT had a high-performance engine and state of the art handling and braking; but some ultimate level of performance was sacrificed to make it spacious and comfortable enough to consider spending a week in one with one's lady friend (because only men bought GTs... but I digress) exploring the Cote d'Azur. The term has come to be applied to a lot of cars that don't have either the performance or the comfort, and in some cases have neither. Today's Bentley Continental is a great example of what the true GT ought to be, which would feature Ferrari levels of performance if it didn't have the extra weight due to the cabin luxury and trunk volume that few Ferraris can match. 

Prior to its acquisition by Fiat in 1969, Lancia offered the Flaminia Coupe GT as its entry into the GT class. It had very classy and subtle styling combined with a decent 2.5 or 2.8 litre V6 with up to three carbs and a rear-mounted transaxle driving a de Dion rear axle. Brakes were discs and it rode on Pirelli Cinturatos. A large trunk and luxurious interior made it into a true GT, perhaps somewhat more affordable than a Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta Lusso or a Maserati 3500 GT. Perfect for a high-speed run down the autostrada to Cortina d'Ampezzo for a week of skiing. Wikipedia claims a total of 2865 cars were made, including a convertible and a 2+2 on a longer wheelbase, from 1957 to 1965. There were also some delectable Zagato bodies, which fetch large amounts at auction today.

Sadly very few kits exist of pre-Fiat Lancias. I have Profil 24's D20 in 1952 Le Mans trim; and I once sold a 1/20 kit of the D50 Formula 1 car that was sold to Ferrari because I didn't want to branch out into yet another scale. So when I stumbled across this kit of the Flaminia by IT Models, I had to have it. 

 

First impressions are of a very well made resin kit, with excellent photoetched detail. Decals are only fair, however. The V6 is not modelled, sadly, but it will have to do as there are no alternatives. 

I have painted it in AS-5, which Tamiya calls Luftwaffe Pale Blue but which certainly looks green to me. While not likely to have been a factory colour, it is certainly period-correct. As it is a matte colour, I polished it with Tamiya compounds, then applied a gloss coat; it still doesn't shine like a modern car but is surely pretty decent compared to period paints. I used the same colour in my BMW 507, another GT, where it looks great. Perhaps I should source some other pastel '50s colours...

The interior will be Tamiya TS-33 Dull Red, with flat clear on the floor and gloss clear on the seats.

A very classy GT from another era... should be complete fairly soon. Stay tuned!