The Lancia Fulvia Sport with an aluminium alloy body designed by Elio Zagato using Lancia Fulvia Coupé running gear was launched in 1965.

Initially Fulvia Sports were powered by an 88hp 1216 cc / 74.2 cui narrow angle, 12°53’28”, V4 with one overhead camshaft operating all the inlet valves and a second operating all the exhaust valves all of which operate in a single cylinder head thanks to the narrow angle of the cylinders.

The longitudinally mounted motor is canted over at 45 degrees from horizontal which allows a low bonnet / hood line. Often wondered if the Fulvia Sport influenced the headlight bezel design of the Datsun 120A-FII.

Today’s featured 1969 Fulvia Sport 1.3 is fitted with an 87hp 1298 cc / 79.2 cui V4 with the cylinder pairs inclined at just 12°45’28”.

Fulvia Sport’s were assembled at Zagato’s factory near Milan using Peraluman, a trade name for a aluminium alloy with up to 5.6% magnesium content which is easier to work and more corrosion resistant than ordinary a aluminium.

FIAT acquired Lancia in 1969 which appears to have led to later Fulvia Sports being fitted with steel bodies and aluminium doors which added overall weight but saved both material and production costs.

Peraluman bodied Fulvia Sports like the one seen here at the recent Simply Italian day at Beaulieu, are most easily distinguished by the small rear light clusters which do not wrap around the rear quarter panel. It is thought somewhere between 600 and 700 Fulvia Sports were manufactured.

Thanks for joining me on this “Peraluman Zagato” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me tomorrow for Americana Thursday. Don’t forget to come back now !