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The Flavia Coupé ~ 1500 "An elegant and classic design in the true Pininfarina tradition, the Lancia Flavia coupé shows a marked absence of trimmings and chrome. The clean and harmonious lines give it an undeniably chic appearance, yet it is a well planned and practical car." Bernard Cahier, Road and Track, 1963 |
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Above: the late John Rabson's coupé.
Left: 1800 Coupé at a consortium meeting. Right: Flavia Coupé publicity photo for an early model |
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The coupé retained the underpinnings
of the saloon/berlina: the engine-transmission; the suspension and braking
system. The chassis was shortened by 6 inches and the height was 7 inches less.
And with less metal around the car it was 2 cwt lighter than the saloon version.
Combined with better air penetration and weight advantage, the engine was
upgraded to 90bhp (net) by improving compression to a bolt straining 9.0 to 1
and nailing on an extra double choke Solex carb.
Cahier whacked the car up to 5800rpm, didn't bend the push rods, and found he could get 32mph out of bottom gear, 50 in 2nd, 76 in 3rd and 104 in top. 0 to 60 took 14 seconds. Cahier liked the car very much but he had already driven a saloon with a Nardi conversion of a 1500 engine, bored out to 1700cc.."this car had a lot more power and torque and this is precisely what the coupe needs."
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| The Flavia
Coupé ~ 1800cc
The underpinnings remained the same for the revised coupé with an enlarged engine of 1800cc. It was reviewed in The Motor in June 1964, "..more than simply elegant, a fast tourer for the keen driver with tireless 100mph cruising". It had the power Cahier and the chassis had demanded. The Motor found driver comfort and the level ride outstanding; and the handling on twisty roads exemplary. "Good road manners, brisk performance and meticulous attention to detail inside make it an enjoyable car to drive and be driven in. They also justify the not inconsiderable price." At £2498 19s 7d (inc purchase and import taxes) you could have got an E type and a Mini Cooper for your money! |
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| The performance for the 1800 was an
improvement on its predecessor. Maximum speed and acceleration times were
marginally improved but the impression to the testers was this was a major
improvement on an already outstanding car. Top speed was now 108.7mph (mean) or
109mph as best speed (which shows a consistency in performance at the limit). 0
to 60 time came down to 13.2 seconds. Touring mpg was 30.3mpg.
There were still four gears changed by a wand-like lever which came in for some criticism, as was the curious combination of strip speedo and a round tacho - the former was of its time, remember the Rover 2000 and BMC 1100s strip speedos? Very late Flavias were fitted with the all-round dial binnacle, also seen on the Fulvia Coupé (see photos above); Lancia took the opportunity to revise the gearshift mechanism on these cars (originally this seemed to be a converted from column shift), and provided what is considered to be the best example of how it should have been done in the first place... |
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Fla Announced by Lancia at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1969, it was a much revised car. The new body styling 'cleaned up' the front and rear of the car. The vestigial fins flanking the boot were gone, as was the traditional Lancia nose. There were extractor louvres in the rear quarters, but the general proportions of the car remained the same. The engine was increased to 2000cc (89x80mm) and power increased to 131 bhp (gross) at 5400rpm. ZF power steering was now an optional extra at £121 8s 4d which took the price, including taxes, to £3010. Quietness and refinement were still commented on six years after the introduction of the Flavia Coupé and still in direct competition (or comparison) with the Alfa Romeo GTV's. But the car still had only 4 forward gears and the car was only marginally quicker than the 1800 it replaced. And the Motor tested the new model in June 1970 and found it to be good at road holding and handling but poor on low speed torque; "a costly coupé" they concluded. |
The electrics were now alternator driven with halogen lighting providing "superb illumination with a long range throw of the powerful main beam inner lamps giving a tremendous blaze of light directed where it's needed most". The mean top speed was only up to 109.3mph (compare with the 1800) and 0 to 60 was 12.4 seconds. |
via 2000 Coupé
| The 2000
and 2000HF Coupés
The last of the coupés had a five speed gearbox. In HF form there was Bosch injection while the standard 2000 kept with one single progressive choke Solex carb. The evenly spaced gears allowed for good acceleration and top speed from 125bhp(gross) for the HF model. Top speed was 118mph and 0 to 60 in 10.3 seconds (HF). Engine specifications generally remained the same as the Flavia 2000 Coupé. Only minor trim changes distinguish the three models: Flavia 2000, 2000 and 2000HF. The earlier model has the chunky chrome "Flavia 2000" badge on the boot lid and a Lancia badge on the bonnet leading edge.
The later models dropped the Flavia name and were badged as "2000" or "2000HF". There was a Lancia shield badge on the front grill, not on the bonnet (for the HF). The instrument layout for the two 2000 models was also different: the 2000 sharing an instrument binnacle with the late Flavia and Fulvia models. The wheels were Cromadora mag-alloy, with tyre size reduced from 15" to 14".
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| Berlina | Vignale | Zagato |