1971 Lancia Fulvia (Tipo 818) HF Rallye 1,6. Red version
The Fulvia Coupé was created by Piero Castagnero. Drawing inspiration from the contours of Riva motorboats, the then manager of the Lancia Style Centre designed an elegant 2+2 sports coupé with a bright interior, featuring large windows and a much more raked windscreen and rear window compared with the saloon version. The first Fulvia Coupé was fitted with a 4-cylinder 1216 cc engine producing 80 hp, which was soon raised to 1.3 litres and subsequently to 1.6 litres. The model’s defining elegance and class didn’t prevent Lancia’s factory racing team Squadra Corse HF Lancia from using it in competitions, particularly in rallies.
The acronym HF stood for High Fidelity. After the great racing successes of Gianni Lancia in the 1950s, the Lancia sports team was relaunched in February 1963, almost as a private initiative by loyal enthusiasts of the Turin-based brand, because Fessia’s engineering approach was not conducive to competitions. The team was headed by Cesare Fiorio, team driver and son of the brand’s then chief of public relations Sandro. The budding young manager would go on to mastermind great successes for Lancia, Fiat and Abarth in rally and endurance championships in the years that followed, before being appointed sporting director of the Ferrari Formula One team in 1989.
