Lancia Flavia Sport Zagato 1.5

"Far voltare la testa" €œ The one that makes heads turn If you were Ercole Spada, and you were given total creative freedom, what would you design? At Zagato, Spada was given loads of opportunities to design racing cars, but in 1962 it was the first time that he was allowed to give room to his brain's artistic right side. It was a unique opportunity to leave an impression, and he took it with both hands. He made numerous drawings for the Flavia Zagato, and to his surprise, Lancia director Carlo Pesenti selected the most daring design, which obviously was Ercole's favourite too. The result was a car of which he himself said "Apart from those who adore it, there are only people who hate it!" If you're a fan of Ercole Spada, you have probably already read Spada from the WAFT series. For those who haven't, we'll let you savour their ode to the '60s Lancia: "Lancia is an exceedingly potent brand, offering unique cars that combine la dolce vita with a sporty flair. Although frisky and fast, Lancias are generally not as muscular as Alfa Romeos or Ferraris, but they compensate this lack of raw power easily with a brilliant touch of class. Lancia is, more than everything else, the car for connoisseurs. If an Alfa represents a crispy cotoletta alla Milanese, and a Ferrari a red and juicy steak, a Lancia is a platter filled to the brim with delicious oysters. While Fiat aims at Giovanni Average, and Alfa at boy racers who haven't yet gotten the urge out of their system, Lancia mainly entices architects, actors, novelists and other men and women of good taste." To us, the Flavia Zagato fully embodies the above. In total, 625 Flavia Zagatos were built, but only 98 examples of this first series with a full alloy 1.5 litre flat four engine. With its two double Solex C35PII carburettors, it develops 90hp, which makes this front-wheel-drive lightweight quite a lively car! When this Flavia arrived at our garage, we were amazed by its excellent condition inside-out and very neat presentation. Its original colour combination of metallic grey with a blue interior is as attractive as it is unusual. Our test drive clearly confirmed the very positive feeling we had about this car: we could drive it for hours! On the one hand, its boxer engine provides ample torque so it perfectly handles low engine speeds. On the other hand, it sings deliciously when you push it into higher RPMs! Over the past season, our friend and Lancia connoisseur Matteo has driven this car for more than 3000 km without any issue, and this rare Flavia Zagato is more than ready for some more kilometres. If you adore the Flavia Zagato, this is without a doubt the one that should be in your garage. If you hate the Flavia Zagato... you need to look more closely, and fall in love with it!