The Lancia Club Japan recently held a joint meeting with the Maserati Club Japan the "Concorso Lancia Maserati" which took place at Nippondaira with the stunning Mount Fuji serving as a towering background.

It was the first time the two clubs had met up together, and around thirty Maseratis joined with over ninety Lancias to to celebrate the two famous Italian brands, both of which are rare, very exclusive, desirable and infinitely collectable in Japan. It was a great turn out, although with heavy rain the previous day many club members had stayed at home, not overly keen to see their classic cars receiving a possible soaking.

Notable rare Maserati models to arrive at the event included the 1949 A6-1500, 1964 Mistral and a 1972 Bora. Other examples on show included the Ghibli SS, Ghibli Campana, Ghibli Cup, 222E and 3200GT. The current model range was well represented with the Quattroporte, Coupé and Spyder all turning out. Meanwhile the Lancia Club members turned out with many stunning machines, with a 1955 Aurelia drawing much attention. Other examples on show included the Fulvia, Flaminia, Beta, Monte Carlo, Stratos, Thema, Trevi, Kappa, Z and Ypsilon.
 

Lancia's long, famous - and very successful - world rallying history was celebrated during the Concorso by the appearance of a swage of winning Lancia rally cars including the Fulvia HF, Stratos, 037 Rally, Delta Integrale and Delta S4.

The Lancia Club Japan was first established in 1992 to cater for the many enthusiasts of the Italian marque in Japan, as well as to provide practical help in running the cars of all ages. The membership has grown steadily over the year and there are now 240 members spread across the two islands. Members own cars from the Lambda right up to the current Musa and Ypsilon. Later this year - on October 28th and 29th - the Lancia Club of Japan will hold a large two-day meeting to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the brand at Ooiso near Tokyo. The club's greatest hope in that in the near future Lancia will see fully dealer representation in Japan again.

by Akira Harada