Name this car....

[Ivan Goriup]

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Philip was partially correct in identifying it as a '64 Lancia Flavia Sport, on which this  one-off was based. It is actually a 1964 Lancia 1800 SWB Zagato Sports Prototipo.

Nigel then refined the identification with his slightly more accurate 'Lancia Sport Zagato'. As for me I'll take the politician's way out and allow the 'race stewart's committee' to determine who's turn it is next.

The description from the  2014 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance Guide Book:

" This unique Zagato-bodied Lancia competition car ( chassis 815538 1001) is a unique car in the true spirit of Lancia's great racing tradition. In 1964, the Lancia Works teram built this Sports Prototype Zagato using a shortened Lancia Flavia platform with a lightweight body and other weight-saving features. Its first race was at the  1964 Targa Florio with Marco Crosina and Fernando Frescobaldi driving. Sadly, the car did not finish due to an 'unplanned off-road excursion' and afterwards the car had a very short racing  history. In 1967 Works team driver Claudio Maglioli, the Italian champion with Lancia in 1965 and 1966, found this car  and purchased it from Lancia's racing department. Maglioli kept the the car in his workshop for 20 years, undertaking a careful and sympathetic restoration. It's current owner acquired the Lancia in 2012 and has further restored it. This event is the first time the Lancia prototype has been seen in public since the Targa Florio 50 years ago."

Additional 'research on my part tells me that this car was built with a Lancia flat four-cylinder 1848 cc boxer motor developing approx. 150 HP, with twin Weber downdraft carburetors breathing through the hood-mounted scoops, coupled to a four-speed transmission. The shortened wheelbase and weight-saving program accounted for a 220 kg weight reduction from stock Flavias.

M20-P . 35mm Summilux FLE

Thanks for participating,

JZG

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[pippy]

As no-one more deserving has jumped-in (and I did get at least two words correct last time 😸) I can post something to keep us ticking-over (as it were) in the interim.

Popped out half-an-hour ago to get some cat food and this curvaceous wee thing was parked next to me in the when I returned to my car!

The usual info or as much of it as might be proffered.

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Best of Good Fortune!

Philip.

Edited June 4 by pippy

[pippy]

On 6/1/2025 at 10:04 PM, wlaidlaw said:

Not forgetting the later Gamma Lancia, the one whose engine self destructed if you left it on full steering lock for more than a second or two...

I missed this detail when it was posted.

I always considered the Gamma Coupé to be one of Pininfarina's best 'Non Ferrari' efforts for the period and wondered why it never seemed to be as popular a choce as I (a teenager at the time) thought it merited. Perhaps this aspect became quite well-known early on?

Incidentally the head of my faculty back in the mid-'80s had one in some sort of a Champagne-Gold / Brown colour scheme. Horrible and tacky example but the lines were unarguably stylish.

Wilson; if I may ask are you aware whether any work-arounds were ever established to circumvent the timing-belt "skip / snap" problem?

Philip.

Edited June 4 by pippy

[Michael Geschlecht]

Hello Philip,

Could this be a German car from the 1980's

Best Regards,

Michael

[wlaidlaw]

11 hours ago, pippy said:

I missed this detail when it was posted.

I always considered the Gamma Coupé to be one of Pininfarina's best 'Non Ferrari' efforts for the period and wondered why it never seemed to be as popular a choce as I (a teenager at the time) thought it merited. Perhaps this aspect became quite well-known early on?

Incidentally the head of my faculty back in the mid-'80s had one in some sort of a Champagne-Gold / Brown colour scheme. Horrible and tacky example but the lines were unarguably stylish.

Wilson; if I may ask are you aware whether any work-arounds were ever established to circumvent the timing-belt "skip / snap" problem?

Philip.

I am sure someone must have devised a work around the power steering problem. I wonder if something as simple as a pop off valve in the pressure side would work. Otherwise my solution would be to passivate the hydraulic pump and replace it with either electric power steering or an electro-hydraulic pump. 

Wilson

[pippy]

8 hours ago, Michael Geschlecht said:

Hello Philip,

Could this be a German car from the 1980's

Hello Michael!

No; neither German nor from the 1980s.

A second crop?

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Philip.

Edited June 5 by pippy

[wlaidlaw]

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Triumph Mayflower 49-53? Razor edge styling for you sir?

Wilson

[pippy]

32 minutes ago, wlaidlaw said:

Triumph Mayflower 49-53? Razor edge styling for you sir?...

...and something for the Weekend?...

Spot-on Wilson!

According to DVLA the car was manufactured in 1953 although "First Registered" in 1996!

The Mayflower was an interesting concept in a few ways. For starters it was intended to be an 'Upmarket' car yet in a small-car size. It also boasted unitary consrtuction which was a first for the manufacturer. Wiki tells me that the gentleman in charge of styling was Leslie Moore; chief body designer for Mulliners no less!

Unfortunately although the car found 35,000 buyers that sales-figure did not come anywhere near expectations hence the short life-span of the model.

A few more pics to finish. It might look a bit ungainly here but 'in the metal' it's actually rather a handsome - if a wee bit August - vehicle with a very nice luxurious-for-the-size interior.

Front 3/4;

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Rear detail with some of the dash visible;

 

Lastly a pic showing the 'Mayflower' bonnet-handle detailing;

Thanks for playing all!

Philip.

Edited June 5 by pippy

[wlaidlaw]

Philip, 

I don't think the pre-war Flying 10 1250cc side valve engine with 34 BHP at 4200 RPM helped the cause a lot. It is a pity the OHV engine was delayed, as I believe it was hoped to be ready for the 52/53 models. To describe the performance as leisurely would be a compliment. 0 to 60 mph in 27 seconds according to Autocar and that was probably a "prepared" or "blueprinted" car, as was common for road test cars in that period. I personally prefer the styling of its big brother, the Renown. 

As usual open to all to post the next image. 

Wilson

[pippy]

2 hours ago, wlaidlaw said:

...I personally prefer the styling of its big brother, the Renown...

The Renown was very stylish, of course, but quite a different kettle of fish to the Mayflower.

Much more 'classical-looking' complete with running boards and stand-alone headlamps but at a very different price-point. According to Wiki the Mayflower, at £505, was hardly a cheap car but the Renown would set the owner back a slightly more scary £1,425!

Philip.

[wlaidlaw]

In a similar style, my uncle had an Austin Princess IV. My father drove it one day and in an aside to my uncle, said: "Graham, what on earth possessed you to buy that awful great heap of a car". My uncle, who never knowingly did a full day's work in his life, got his own back by purloining a company cheque and going and buying a new Rolls Royce Silver Cloud and then asking my father: "Is that better now then?" My father, as Managing Director and working all hours, was running a 4 year old Mercedes 220S at the time.

Wilson

[Ivan Goriup]

Let's give this one a go........the usual please, make, year - or approximate period in which the car was produced, and any additional info you can think of.

JZG

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[stuny]

Let's start with 1950s, European

[Ivan Goriup]

European Yes, but you are a decade early in time.

JZG

[stuny]

Well, how about Italian, though the color might be throwing me off.

[wlaidlaw]

Marcos Mantis? 

Wilson

[pippy]

Did you mean Marcos GT (possibly 1600) Wilson?

One of my friends bought one in kit form back in either late '70s or early '80s (his given name was Marcus!) and I distinctly remember that being a passenger in it was a strange experience...

Are the lateral straps across the rear window to stop the (plexi-?) glass popping out?

Philip.

EDIT : I knew that I had posted a Mantis as the Mystery Car a year or so past and, having just checked, see that it was way back in Feb. 2021! How Time Flies...

Edited June 7 by pippy

[Ivan Goriup]

Same predicament as the previous Lancia Flavia identification.....we again have a half-correct initial guess ( Wilson guessed correctly that it's a Marcos ) but it's not a Mantis, and Philip correctly supplied the Marcos GT portion of the ID.

So Yes, it is a 1968 Marcos GT, therefore there's no point extending this. After searching for some accurate info I failed to find reliable production numbers, and since the whole Marcos effort was pretty much a shoestring operation with multiple periods of non-production, bankruptcy, renaming the company, changing engine / power-train suppliers, etc., it seems very difficult to come up with a relatively brief, concise Company history....... you'll have to ferret those details out for yourselves if interested.

The only factoid sI recall from meeting several Marcos owners and racing against them over the years, is the fact that the name Marcos is a combo of the first letters of Jim Marsh's and Frank Costins names, and that Costin's work history included being intimately involved in the design and fabrication of the imortal English 'Mosquito' light bomber, which was almost entirely constructed of wood ( cheap. light, strong, low up-front investment in tooling), hence the laminated plywood chassis in the Marcos GT ( although some were later manufactured with steel tubing space frames ), and the fact that Marsh was very tall ( 6'5") therefore the driving position is almost flat-on-your-back lying down so he could fit.

Yes, Philip, the straps over the rear window are to keep it in place since the low pressure area aft of the roof tended to suck the rear window out....an old racing trick.

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JZG

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[Ivan Goriup]

....and a rear view.

If anyone has something of interest, please have at it. Than ks for playing.

JZG

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Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[wlaidlaw]

An early Marcos must be a potential recipient of the world's ugliest car award, "The Flying Splinter" . This is the only photo I can find of it obviously copied from a newspaper. Of course the very tall cockpit is to accommodate Jem Marsh's 6' 7" height. 

Wilson

 

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