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Films:
1970 Sinthesis 2000 Berlinetta: The DIY GT
Peter and I will be vintage racing his 1960 Alfa Giulietta Spider at Willow Springs International Raceway this coming November 10-11 at the VARA Big Bore Bash. Several decades ago, we won the Class C Production championship when classes A, B, and C were all run on the track at the same time. It was not unusual for us to finish 4th or 5th overall, ahead of most of the big cars in A and B production. http://www.willowspringsraceway.com/event.php?id=3716
Come on out and watch us! We won’t have the Ferrari Testarossa or the Sinthesis with us but we will be driving our fastest road course car. I was working on the Ferrari and the Alfa today; the Alfa has about 200 HP and will outrun the Ferrari at Willow, thanks largely to race rubber on the Alfa while the Ferrari has vintage bias-ply street rubber on wire wheels.
We blew a head gasket at Willow during Friday practice, put her on the trailer and went home. Unfortunately, we were unable to stay around for the weekend to see our good friend Joe DiLoreto, who was feted on Saturday night for his retirement from racing. Joe had some really great cars that he raced well, we will miss him out there. I’m working on the Alfa engine now. We should be racing the Testa Rossa at the Auto Club Raceway in Fontana next January.
Here’s a video of Joe DiLoreto’s V12 Alfa warming up at Willow in 2012. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDogkDVJDGk
This is a tie with my other all time favorite Petro video ‘Building Your Dream Ferrari’. Peter is just flat amazing! The skills, vision, knowledge, patience, perseverance, and style that it takes to pull off not one, but two monumental projects like these just blows my mind. Wish I could be his apprentice!
Is Peter great or what, and he’s that real and generous of his time in person. Had the pleasure of speaking with him a few years ago at the Best of France and Italy Car Show when he brought that so cool Testa Rossa he built. And kudos the the late great Tom Tjarda for a wonderful classic wedge that defines the period.
Yes. Flavia flat four. And he seems to be saying that he bored & stroked it out to 2L. Apparently Lancia did not introduce an overhead cam for that engine until 1976. So this would be been a push-rod engine. With the twin, dual barrel carburetors, a free flow exhaust of some type, and a sporty cam, power around 120 hp seems possible. The car weighed 2,200 pounds. Performance might be not unlike a Porsche 912, but with a lower polar moment, and a little more power. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lancia_Flat-4_engine
Since the Flavia gear box sits to the rear of the of engine in the original configuration, and that is what was done here in the mid-engine configuration using that gear box certainly would have made sense. Wheels are Campagnolo. Engine casing, probably gear box, and wheels are all Italian aluminum castings.
The styling influence of designer Tom Tjaarda is evident. As with so many car stories, the human interest perspective adds to the appeal of the car. How many car designs have started over a bottle of wine and sketches on napkins? Modern designers take note, perhaps a seminar for designers should include a venue where wine and sketches are completed away from the studio. Thanks for sharing the background and individual touches that make the car unique.
What an extraordinary story. Little or no conspicuous vanity. Just a will to build an extremely agile car with moderate power. And somehow the connections and resources to make a very clean pass through the process. Lancia Fuliva suspension components. Flat four mid-engine. Ghia body. And a frame so rigid that it never sits on more than three out of four jack stands. I so love these interviews with engineer / craftsmen who deeply understand what they are doing. Peter Giacobbi is the epitome of this.
