Miguel Sánchez
In 1955 Lancia went through one of the worst moments in its history. Not surprisingly, Gianni Lancia was forced to sell the company founded by his father in 1906 after failing to correct the everlasting choking in his accounting. This way, the then historic Italian house passed into the hands of the Pasenti family. Owner of the Italcementi cement company and, at the time, possessor of a cold commercial reason. Thus, one of his first performances at the helm of Lancia was to liquidate the competition team. Possibly the best that existed at that time in F1 after the sudden withdrawal of Mercedes on account of the Le Mans Disaster with its more than 80 deaths.
Not surprisingly, his single-seater was the D50. Designed by Vittorio Jano, it not only had an excellent V8 forged in silicon and aluminum alloy. It also incorporated bold solutions to improve the distribution of weights or the center of gravity, playing with the position of the engine and gearbox in what represents one of the finest displays of automotive engineering in all of racing history. Fortunately, rescued by Scuderia Ferrari for the 1956 season. Acquiring those D50s while also taking over the technical team of the old Lancia team.
What's more, thanks to the mediation of Gianni Agnelli, even Vittorio Jano ended up in Maranello. After that, the astute Fangio signed for Ferrari when he sensed how those cars would win him his fourth world title during the 1956 season. The third of his four consecutive titles, having won five in total adding his times at Alfa Romeo, Maserati, Mercedes and Ferrari. Meanwhile, the Passenti were guiding Lancia towards serial production with higher market shares. Just the same thing that the Istituto per la Riscostruzione Industriale was doing with Alfa Romeo. Moving away from racing in order to focus on models like the massive and profitable 1900.
Thus, Lancia lived without an official presence on the circuits. What's more, their technical director Antonio Fessia considered them a waste of time and money. However, in 1963 a group of enthusiasts of the brand founded the HF Squadra Corse in Turin. Headed by Cesare Fiorio -yes, the same one who became sports director of Ferrari in the eighties- these managed to make more and more media noise by participating in events such as the Monte Carlo Rally, the Tour de Corse or the Targa-Florio. Thanks to this, from 1965 Lancia management officially collaborated with HF Squadra Corse as an external team.
In fact, from the following year onwards the first HF versions also began to be marketed at dealers. All this using the model that, after being presented in 1963, was being a perfect base for rallies. The Lancia Fulvia. Conceived to replace the old Appia, it had a small but rabid narrow angle V4 engine placed longitudinally in an advanced position with respect to the front axle. In addition, the driving force went precisely to that same axis. Undoubtedly, one of the models that, at least in competition, contributed the most to overcoming the hegemony of the rear-wheel drive.
LANCIA FULVIA SAFARI, A SPECIAL EDITION WITH LESS THAN 1000 UNITS
If there is a European brand linked to the world of rallying, it is Lancia. Not in vain, to his credit are six world titles for pilots and ten for constructors. Furthermore, all of this was accomplished with vehicles packed with exquisite engineering. In fact, the Stratos was the first design created from scratch and specifically for dirt tracks. Adding to the name of Lancia those of Bertone in the design of the body and Ferrari in the creation of the engine. Likewise, its replacement, the 037, was an incredible swan song for both the volumetric compressors and the rear drive.
And all this for not pouring even more rivers of ink on the different Deltas. Born in the world of the great series to end up winning up to six constructors' titles in a row. However, before those successes between 1974 and 1992, Fulvia played an important role as a necessary foundation. In fact, in 1972 he achieved the ultimate vindication of it by winning the Monte Carlo just as, in both the previous and subsequent editions, the much more specific Alpine A110s were winning.
However, the Lancia Fulvia always had a significant Achilles heel in the Safari Rally. A test to which this model attended up to ten times, not a few of them under the explicit support of the brand itself. It's more, even it continued to do so even with the presence of the much more modern Datsun 240Z winners in 1971. At this point, at the end of 1973 the Lancia Fulvia Safari was presented as a special edition with which to commemorate that epic stubbornness.
Equipped with rough details such as black wheels or the absence of bumpers, the 3-liter Fulvia S1,8 engine was hidden under its hood, with two double-body carburetors and 93CV at 6.000 revolutions per minute. All this with a weight of just over 950 kilos. Besides, It was launched on the market together with the Monte Carlo edition, responsible for celebrating the success achieved there in 1972. In this way, those two special editions came to recall a couple of elements that, at least in racing, usually go hand in hand. Triumph and persistence.
In fact, after Fulvia's insistence on the Safari Rally, the brand finally managed to win it in 1988, 1989 and 1991. Of course, the laureate would be Delta HF Integral. Successor, without a doubt, of those first Fulvia HF. A very beautiful story!
Photographs: FCA Heritage
