Miguel Sánchez
About this Lancia Aurelia B10 There are quite a few issues to clarify. And, to begin with, although it has been classified as the prototype of the model - or at least of its coupe variant - this is quite far from reality. What's more, there is even no relationship between its creation and the direction of spear.
However, this does not detract one bit from its interest since, after all, we are talking about one of the Handcrafted GTs so relatively common in Italy before the 1970s. A machine with unique details whose history, surely, it is worth entering step by step.
That being the case, let's start with its base: a tubular chassis created in 1949 by the famous designer Giovanni Basso. A former employee of Lancia itself, Basso achieved fair fame in Turin after the Second World War thanks to his small workshop focused, among other things, on the creation of tubular chassis in short series or single units upon request from the main bodybuilders in the area.
Clearly advantaged in this type of designs, the structures devised by him showed in a pioneering way the qualities of lightness and rigidity inherent to these chassis. In fact, they did it in an extremely pioneering way, long before Mario Colucci created the basis of the Alfa Romeo-Abarth 1000 with only 50 kilos and a behavior that, in the end, served as a starting point for the development of the Abarth 1000SP.
FROM CHASSIS TO BODY
Examining the chronology it really strikes how innovative Giovanni Basso's work is. And, after all, at that time both FIAT and Alfa Romeo had just announced the adoption of the monocoque chassis in their 1500s and 1900s respectively.
In fact, there were still quite a few successful models with chassis with side members and cross members to which the bodywork was later attached. A context where Basso's tubular trellises stood out, although, of course, both for their concept and their artisan elaboration They were always restricted to made-to-order creations that, more often than not, constituted unique whims for high-end clients or factory teams.
In this sense, the construction order for this Lancia Aurelia B10 came from the Lancia dealership in Udine, which wanted to have two units of a handmade GT with which to satisfy special clients in the area; possibly, with events like the Mille Miglia in the spotlight. Likewise, in relation to the bodies, these were ordered from Stablimenti Farina, which shaped volumes clearly similar to those of Cisitalia 202 under the signature of Giovanni Michelotto.
WITHOUT ENGINE
By 1950, both tubular chassis were already dressed with their respective bodies, just waiting to incorporate engines. At this point, Giovanni Basso's workshop was working on the idea of assembling one of his own equipped with double camshaft to encourage race-ready performance.
However, as we know, creating your own engine from scratch is something only within the reach of truly established manufacturers. Something not so limited by the design capacity - paper holds everything - but by the logistics determinant necessary in order to work thousands of hours on resistance and reliability tests.
Exactly the area in which that Basso engine failed, registering unsolvable problems both in loss of compression and wear of parts. A context under which the most serene was go to the Lancia dealer responsible for the ordering of those two GTs since, after all, he had access to purchasing replacement engines without needing to acquire a vehicle in this way."donor".
LANCIA AURELIA B10, THE CHOSEN MECHANICS
In 1950 Lancia renewed its range by launching the Aurelia. First presented as a sedan, it soon obtained the famous coupe bodywork of its GT variant as well as a stylish convertible version by Pininfarina. In any case, its main attraction was under the hood, where the first mass-produced V6 engine in history was introduced.
Designed by Virgil's French, this block stood out for its lightness and 60º angle, being able to evolve in a really satisfactory way depending on whether the carburetion, the compression index or the displacement itself was varied.
In short, another technological milestone in the extensive history of innovation interpreted by Lancia, which thus put on the market a perfect mechanism for GT models such as the one ordered by its dealer in Udine.
THE NAME PROBLEM
In fact, Giovanni Basso applied it without hesitation to the two units of his project, thus finishing off the only point still in the air. Of course, what to call that creation. Well, the truth is that it would have been logical - and even desirable - to include the reference to Basso since he was the assembler and author of the chassis, also leaving the name to Lancia based on the use of the Aurelia engine.
However, instead of going down in history as the Basso-Lancia B10, our protagonist did so only as the Lancia Aurelia B10, leaving the door open to assumptions that have qualified it as a prototype of what, already in 1951, would be the Aurelia GT B20; a model with which, of course, It has absolutely nothing to do.
Note: Of the two units created, we have only been able to follow the track illustrated in this article, which is for sale thanks to the dutch company Houtkamp Collection. Its condition is truly enviable and, given its rarity and history, it could well be chosen for events such as the Mille Miglia.
