1922 LANCIA LAMBDA . on the yellow car the complete top and sides are removable to make a summer phaeton.
A lot of interesting engineering in that: semi-unitary construction, i.e. the body sides are actually deep frame rails; sliding-pillar IFS, to which Lancia stuck until the late '50s; and Lancia's signature narrow-angle (20°) V4, a configuration they used in various forms until 1976, with V angles down to 10°.
True story: six or seven years ago I was on my bicycle in suburban Melbourne. Old weatherboard house, had not been painted for decades, some gutters missing; it was in a pretty decrepit state. I spotted some junk or whatever over the paling fence. Stood up on the pedals, next to the fence, to get a proper look. A couple of vintage cars in the back yard, 'protected' from the elements by some sheets of metal on the roofs. White and blue enamel badge on the radiator visible on at least one of the cars. Thought the badge might be a Lancia badge and some research at home confirmed that. Went back with camera and took a couple of pics over the fence. Knocked on the door but no answer although I could hear the radio or whatever on inside. Went back another time, no answer to my door knock, waited a while in my car. Car pulls up and old guy gets out of passenger seat and goes into the house. I go over and talk to him. He is happy for me to go into the back yard for a better look but no photos. (Didn't tell him I already had a couple.) Two 1928 Lancia Lambdas; big saloons. Had been his father's. Been sitting there since 1958. 1958. The old guy was 82. I could see a motorbike that I had not spotted from over the fence. It was covered by a tarp and from where I was standing in the yard, with the front of the bike visible under the tarp, I could see that it was a vertical twin, 4 stroke, so I said to him is that a Triumph/BSA. No, it was a Royal Enfield that he used to ride to work; I think he said it was a 750. The front wheel was missing. He had split from his wife (must have been years before) and he had removed the wheel so that she couldn't take the bike. The Lambda was built from about 1920 to 1931. Technically advanced. Unitary construction. V4 engine - very narrow angle V. There was a distinctive head gasket lying near the cars, with the four holes very close together. I think he said he was going to restore the cars. One of the very large diameter rims was rusted through at the bottom. Clearly, the cars had been there for a long, long time; probably from 1958 as he said. He said he had a Vincent that he used to race at Bathurst. It must have been in the house as I could not see it outside; I didn't ask to see it. He had been generous enough to let me into the back yard. Considering what was in his back yard I saw no reason to doubt the Vincent story. (And I am pretty sure there was a Falcon wagon in the yard, too, a BA or something like that.) I must go past again some time and stick my head over the fence to see if anything has changed.
It's been done before. I seem to recall seeing pics somewhere of a pair of them shortened wheelbase and I think with flathead Fords.
I would post the two Lambda pics that I took over the fence but they are too 'large'. I will see if I can get someone to resize them. (The photos of utes and sedan deliveries that I have been posting on threads here just happened to be a compatible size for posting; other photos I have sourced from libraries are too large.)
@roadsterlines, I use resizer.exe ( Jpeg resizer )whatever that is that my grandson put on the PC in 2014 . I have also learnt on the PC that if i open one of my stored photo,s and right click there is a option to go to "paint " and then you get to see at the top of your screen a little square that says change format ( size ) Theres also a option to cut your big photo by sliding your mouse across it. This is to remove useless clutter to the left and right or top and bottom of the main object such as to much sky or pavement/grass or trees / buildings. Warning, practice on useless photos first.
34 GAZ - thanks for that; I must learn how to do it, but my friend has done it for me on these two photos so I will see what they look like on here in a moment ... they look good, at least on my screen.
The two cars are partly visible in one photo and the other photo is the left side of the more rusty one. You can see what looks like a finned aluminium brake drum hiding in there. I am familiar with this method of 'protecting' cars. When they were left in that backyard - quite probably in 1958 as the owner told me - it is likely that they were not worth much at all in $ terms so no great care was taken; a few sheets of metal over the roof would 'do'. As the years go by, the cars suffer very badly. I wonder if these two Lancias had reached the point of no return when I saw them several years ago.
You had me interested with the Lambdas, but a Bathurst Vincent hooked me. Somewhere up above Phil Irving just smiled. It could only be an Aussie backyard with the handles of a Victa in the foreground Cheers, Harv
Those rego stickers are tough. I remember scraping them off with a razor blade was a hell of a job. Every year a new one with a new colour. BTW , two Lambdas under some iron sheets is amazing. Bet someone at the Vintage Drivers Club of Victoria knows about them .
Here's another one from my collection. Here you can see how low those cars were, like chopped and sectioned, compared to the guy leaning on it (who does not seem to be very tall BTW)
'Unidentified group in a long wheel-base open car'; photographer Jean Beatson, circa 1932; State Library of Victoria
There was one in the movie Monte Carlo or Bust. Sliding Pillar front suspension. Very advanced at the time. Later used by Morgan. (Possibly still used, not sure).
In the 90's I went to some guy's place to buy some 20's Renault parts, the guy had an original 4 door French Dodge and a 4 door Lancia with the v4. I don't recall what model it was but the rear doors we're suicide and there was no B post. I had never seen one before and never Saw another one.
The Jalopy Journal
