Lancia Fulvia

The Lancia Fulvia is an Italian car introduced at the Geneva Motor Show in 1963 by Lancia. It was produced by that company, and later by FIAT, through 1976. Fulvias are notable for their role in automobile racing history, including winning the International Rally Championship in 1972. On testing it in 1967, Road & Track summed up the Fulvia as "a precision motorcar, an engineering tour de force".

Body styles

The Fulvia was available with a number of bodies:

• Berlina - A compact four-door introduced in 1963.
• Berlina GT - An updated Berlina for 1967 with the 1216 cc engine.
• Berlina GTE - Another Berlina update for 1968 with the 1298 cc engine.
• Coupe - A compact two-door introduced in 1965, the coupe uses a 150 mm shorter wheelbase along with the larger (1216 cc) engine.
• Coupe HF - A rally car version of the coupe introduced later in 1965, it initially features a hotter version of the coupe engine (as the 1.2HF) and later gets the larger engine (1.3HF).
• Rallye 1.3 - An updated coupe with the new 1298 cc engine.
• Rallye 1.6HF - The most-powerful Fulvia with a 1584 cc engine.
• Sport - a 2-seat Zagato rebody

The Fulvia was updated for 1969 (1970 for the coupe) with a 20 mm longer wheelbase, new styling, and an updated interior.

Chassis

The Fulvia was designed by Antonio Fessia to replace the Lancia Appia, with which it shared some components. The Appia was a rear wheel drive car, however, while the Fulvia moved to front wheel drive like the Flavia. It used a longitudinal engine mounted in front of its transaxle. An independent suspension in front used wishbones and a single leaf spring, while a solid axle with a panhard rod and more leaf springs was used in back. Four wheel Dunlop disc brakes were a welcome novelty, though Road & Track still noted some significant brake fade.

Engine

One element that was new was the narrow-angle V4 engine. Designed by Zaccone Mina, it used a narrow angle (13°) and was mounted well forward at a 45° angle. The engine is a DOHC design with a one camshaft operating all intake valves and another operating all exhaust valves.

Displacement began at just 1091 cc with 59 hp (44 kW) with a 72 mm bore and 67 mm stroke. A higher (9.0:1) compression ratio raised power to 71 hp (53 kW) soon after.

The engine was bored to 6 mm to enlarge displacement to 1216 cc for the HF model. This, and some tuning, raised output to 80 to 88 hp (60 to 66 kW).

The engine was reengineered with a slightly narrower bank angle and longer (69.7 mm) stroke for 1967. Three displacements were produced: 1199 cc (74 mm bore), 1231 cc (75 mm bore), and 1298 cc (77 mm bore). The latter engine is most common, with the former only sold in Greece. The American-spec 1.3 L produced 87 hp (65 kW) and was described as "highly tuned" by Road & Track at the time.

The engine was redone again for a new HF with an even-narrower angle (11° now) and longer 75 mm stroke for its final incarnation. A bore of 82 mm gave it a displacement of 1584 cc, and power shot up to 114 to 132 hp (85 to 98 kW) depending on tune.

References

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