1968 Lancia Fulvia Sport Zagato

From a different design language, the Lancia Fulvia is a front-drive compact from the 1960s that brought the storied Italian brand its first rally championship.

Consistently at the fore-front of innovative design, Lancia later commissioned Carrozzeria Zagato to produce a more aerodynamic, lighter and more powerful “engineering tour de force” version of the Fulvia that could be used in hillclimbs and track events- the awesome Fulvia Sport Zagato was born.

Far more technically advanced than its sibling the Fulvia Zagato Sport features a narrow-angle V4 motor canted to its side at 45 degrees lowering the center of gravity powering the front wheels via a 4-speed transaxle, ultra-light-weight aluminium body panels with ultra thin pillars, electric elevator to slightly open the rear hatch maximising cabin air-flow, light-weight open rear bench seat and premium interior trim like the beautiful indicator bezel, this model was one of Zagato´s biggest successes.

Lighter and nimbler than the standard-bodied cars, the Sport distinguished itself in competition, particularly in long distance events. Fulvia Sport Zagato’s scored highly in the Sebring 12 Hours and Daytona 24 Hours (where a Sport earned a class win in 1969).

Ex-works HF rally cars aside, the Sport Zagato is the most desirable and collectable of all the Fulvia’s and undeniably one of the most striking designs and drives of its golden era.

Proudly presented is this beautiful example from Zagato which is the 18th out of the 1800 built of this model. Delivered new into Hobart by Performance Autos for John Pooley who also owned the business, he enjoyed the classic sports car for a short time before passing it onto a local GP who owned it for the next 44 years until 2014. Since then, the car has changed hands between collectors only a couple of times while being kept exceptionally well in its original factory spec and condition. There is an array of lovely classic literature in the history file of brochures and manuals that come with the car.

Driving is an absolute experience as everything works well and the drive is superb, zipping you back in time to Milan in the 70s.