The Lancia Flaminia is a luxury car produced by Italian automaker Lancia from 1957 to 1970. It was Lancia's flagship model at that time. It was available throughout its lifetime as berlina, coupé and cabriolet. The berlina (or saloon) version of the car was was the only body to last through the entire production period.
The Flaminia Berlina was also the only body to be built by Lancia themselves. The Flaminia coupé and convertible variants were coachbuilt cars with bodies from several prestigious Italian coachbuilders such as Pininfarina (Flaminia Coupé), Touring (GT, GTL and Convertible) and Zagato (Sport and Super Sport). Four "presidential" stretched limousine Flaminias were also produced by Pininfarina for use on state occasions.
The original two bodies of the Flaminia, the Berlina and the Flaminia Coupé were developed by Pininfarina and modelled after his two Aurelia-based motor show specials, named Florida (see photos below). The Florida I, presented at the 1956 Turin Motor show, was a saloon with rear suicide doors. The Florida II, presented a year later at the Salon International de l'Auto in Geneva, was a 2-door coupé, and became Battista Farina's personal car of choice. The production version of the Lancia Flaminia appeared in 1957.
The Flaminia's engine was an evolution of the world's first production V6, which was introduced in the Aurelia. The engines were mounted longitudinally, powering the rear wheels through a 4-speed rear-mounted transaxle. There were 3,344 Berlinas built with the 2.5 L engine (102/110 bhp specification), and additional 599 with the 2.8 L (128 bhp).(wikipedia)
1956 Lancia Aurelia Florida I Pininfarina Prototipo
1957 Lancia Aurelia Florida II Pininfarina Concept
(Photos from classic-trader.com, bonhams.com, en.wheelsage.org,
ruotevecchie.org, commons.wikimedia.org, oldconceptcars.com1.wp.com)
