Lancia Fulvia Monte Carlo
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There are cars you know exist, but you wonder whether you will ever encounter one in the flesh. The Lancia Fulvia Coupé, you know that one, you have seen it. Perhaps at Goodwood during a Revival weekend, perhaps on the Mille Miglia Storica, perhaps in a dusty barn somewhere in Piedmont. But the Monte Carlo? That is a different story.
The Monte Carlo was the homologation special, the Group 4 rally car in civilian dress, named after the place where Lancia won the rally in 1972 with Sandro Munari behind the wheel. Factory figures speak of just over 1600 examples, built between 1972 and 1975. So this is not a standard Fulvia with a sticker pack. This is a car Lancia built because they had to win.
What made the Monte Carlo different? The 1.3 HF engine with 91 bhp, a five-speed gearbox (by no means a given in those days), disc brakes all round, shorter gearing, and a weight reduction that started with the body panels and ended with the upholstery. The result was a coupé that looked modest on paper but proved utterly merciless on Alpine mountain roads.
The Fulvia already had that brilliant V4 engine with its narrow bank angle, that transversely mounted front-wheel-drive layout, and a balance you would normally only expect in mid-engine cars. Add the Monte Carlo specification and you have a car that in 2024 still feels more relevant than many a modern hot hatch.
Right, the Fulvia Monte Carlo standing here looking resplendent. Chassis number 060952, delivered new on 1 June 1974 by RIA Antonio, the official Lancia dealer on Via Vespucci in Milan. First owner: Mrs Buratti Luigia, born in 1934, residing at Largo Promessi Sposi. She paid 2,325,000 Italian lire at the time, which was a serious sum for a compact coupé.
And then Mrs Buratti did something remarkable: she kept the car. Not ten years, not twenty years, but presumably almost half a century. The Italian MOT history runs from 1997 to 2021, all neatly passed, all under the same registration MI U76471.
In 2021 the car left Italy for the first time. Via a brief detour through Liguria (Sergio Pendola in Rapallo handled the export) it arrived in the Netherlands in March 2022, where Auto Ruyl in Elsloo registered it. Since then the wheel alignment has been corrected at Jamrozik Banden in Beek, a name I had not come across before but who apparently know what they are doing with classic Italians.
The documentation with this car is the sort of paperwork that makes collectors salivate. The original Italian registration document, the Carta di Circolazione G 017084. The Lancia service booklet, 1973 edition. The original Uso e Manutenzione, the owner's handbook. And, not unimportantly, the ASI certificate number 108223, issued by the Automotoclub Storico Italiano. That certificate confirms what the identification plate already states: this is a genuine Fulvia Coupé Montecarlo, not a badge slapped onto a standard 1.3 S.
The colour is red, as befits an Italian rally heiress. The interior is leather, the gearbox that delightful five-speed with its short throw, the engine the 1298cc V4 delivering its 91 bhp at 6000 rpm. Not much by modern standards, but in a car weighing just over 900 kilograms, it is more than enough. The Fulvia was never meant to go in a straight line. The Fulvia was meant to seek out corners, to conquer mountain passes, to put the sort of smile on your face that no modern car can produce any more.
Fifty years old. One principal owner for nearly its entire life. ASI certified. Fully documented from factory to present day.
Some cars you collect. This one you drive.
Key Features
- Lancia Fulvia Monte Carlo, approximately 1600 examples produced (1972-1975)
- First registered 1 June 1974 at official Lancia dealer RIA Antonio, Milan
- One principal owner for nearly 47 years (Mrs Buratti Luigia, Milan)
- ASI Certificato di Omologazione no. 108223 (Automotoclub Storico Italiano)
- Original Italian documents present (Carta di Circolazione, Foglio Complementare)
- Lancia service booklet 1973 edition and original Uso e Manutenzione included
- 1298cc V4 engine, 91 bhp at 6000 rpm
- Five-speed gearbox, disc brakes all round
- Complete Italian MOT history from 1997 to 2021, all tests passed
- Wheel alignment checked and corrected June 2023
- Imported to the Netherlands March 2022, Dutch registration 91-YD-89
Full insight into the papers our assessment is built on. Carfax vehicle history, service documentation and paint thickness report — page by page.
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