Lot 372: 1951 Lancia Aurelia 2-Litre GT With Lightweight Da Corsa Aluminium Competition Body

This very rare 2-litre Lancia Aurelia aluminium competition coupe has a fascinating history.

Within weeks of its first appearance the 2-litre Aurelia GT began to achieve competition successes out of all proportion to its modest power and lack of pretension. Most famously, Bracco drove a near standard 2-litre car to 2nd place overall in the rain soaked 1951 Mille Miglia, finishing only minutes behind the winning 4.1-litre Ferrari of Villoresi. It is also worth noting that the Aurelia was actually faster than the Ferrari over the mountain passes north of Florence.

Already in 1951, Lancia made plans for a very special small series of lightweight competition cars that were radically different from the standard Aurelia GT. The competition cars featured completely new all aluminium body work with a lowered roof, no rear boot and a very strong central section to compensate for the loss of rigidity. Helped by sliding Perspex windows, a Perspex rear screen and stripped out interior, the cars tipped the scales at less than 900 kilos – the lower centre of gravity also further improved the already excellent handling and balance. The mechanics were improved by special Nardi tuned engines giving around 110 bhp, a Nardi floor change, lowered suspension and a limited slip differential.

In 1952 the lightweight Aurelia coupes were giant killers, coming 3rd, 5th and 6th overall in the Mille Miglia, winning their class at Le Mans and making a clean 1st, 2nd 3rd overall sweep at the Targa Florio. Only seven of these special lightweight cars were made and were entered in the names of their gentleman drivers who were personal friends of Gianni Lancia rather than by the Lancia factory. One such driver was Signor Ammendola who entered numerous events in his lightweight Aurelia chassis number B20 1508 painted a distinctive pale blue (blu celeste).

All of the lightweight Aurelias were broken up by the factory when the single seater D50 Grand Prix cars were handed over to Ferrari in 1955. But many years later in Lancia’s home city of Turin, Luciano Basso, the official restorer of the Lancia Museum undertook an ambitious project to build five lightweight aluminium Aurelia coupes, correct down to the smallest detail, and built on the Lancia competition department’s original body buck. The cars were built, like their predecessors on genuine original Aurelia GT chassis. One such car, offered here for sale, was built by Luciano Basso for Luciano Ammendola, the son of Gianni Lancia’s friend and gentleman driver and painted in the same pale blue as his father’s car. The car was meticulously prepared for competition with a tuned 2-litre engine with Nardi modifications, a Nardi floor change and the same lowered suspension and limited slip differential as the original factory competition cars. Luciano Ammendola has campaigned this car in historic events in Italy for many years with great success and complete reliability, proving yet again the legendary Lancia handling by beating some well known Ferrari 250 short wheelbases in the rain on twisty sections of the Targa Florio!

This very rare and well developed car is ideal for competitive driving either on the circuit or on rallies. The car is presently offered with Swiss registration papers (the demanding Swiss four year "expertise" was passed in July 2006) and Swiss FIA papers (old style). However, at the time of going to press application was being made to make the Lancia UK (and therefore EU) taxes paid. Otherwise it is likely that the car can be imported into the EU at the reduced duty rate of 6%. Interested parties are advised to check with the Bonhams office prior to sale.