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The Lancia
Club Japan has just held its traditional year-ending Lancia Lunch,
the two-day extravaganza attracting around 100 stunning cars to Fuji in the
Shizuoka Prefecture. The event is held annually to promote friendship amongst
Lancia car owners in Japan, with the lunch portion of events signalling the
culmination of a two-day touring event. This year the event was held at the
Educational Training Center of the Fuji site, which allowed spectacular Mount
Fuji to form an evocative background to the gathering of mouth-watering cars,
its tree-lined boulevard providing a perfect backdrop to Sunday’s parade.
For Japanese Lancisti, this year’s
edition also presented the chance to celebrate several
significant milestones – the 30th anniversary of the Delta,
the 25th anniversary of the Thema, and the 20th anniversary
of the Dedra.
The main event takes place on the
Sunday, with models of all ages from one of the world’s most
revered brand names lining up together, allowing owners to
chat and exchange information along with a luxury lunch that
is literally surrounded by cars. Lancia Club Japan Chairman
Sato Yoshihiko declared the meeting open as a plethora of
cars that have shaped automotive history rolled in. Three
decades of the much-loved Delta were represented by every
model produced, with shining examples of the HF Turbo, HF
4WD, integrale 8V, 16V, Evo 1 and Evo 2 lining up in a
spectacular display. A particular highlight was a trio of
‘Final Edition’ HF integrales, from the final batch of 250
produced exclusively for the Japanese market. The start of
production of the Delta coincided with the Japanese economic
bubble and many were imported, continuing into the second
generation, while the new model is also represented in the
country thanks to private importer, Garage Italia, which has
been shipping examples in to fulfil the Japanese desire to
own Lancias. Also rolling into the Lancia Lunch was the
Group B Delta S4, one of the most fearsome rally machines
ever to grace the special stages of the World Rally
Championship. More rally metal was on show in the shape of
the legendary 037 Rally, in both Martini Racing-liveried
rally specification, and roadgoing ‘Stradale’ forms.
The Thema is celebrating its 25th
anniversary, and this stylish sedan was also out in force
during the event; its numbers in Fuji swelled by the
fearsome Ferrari-engined Thema 8.32 version as well as the
equally-rare station wagon. Also honoured by the Lancia
Lunch were the anniversaries of the Dedra and the Lybra,
just two examples of this latter model being on show. Three
representatives of the first-generation Ypsilon turned up,
along with examples of the current production model, with the
present-day Lancia road range also represented by the Musa
mini-MPV. The Zeta minivan was also at the event; used as a
staff car, it worked hard all day.
Gems from
Lancia’s rich history were also in the ranks, including the
Aurelia and Gamma, as well as the iconic Stratos sports car
which is popular with Japanese owners. Topping the Stratos
showing was a 1975 Chardonnet-liveried car that was driven
by Bernard Darniche to victory on the Tour de France and
Tour de Corse, and which has been restored by the same
people who built the car three-and-a-half decades ago. Flaminias
was also present, in the shape of the GT, as well as the
Sport, with its gorgeous body by Carrozzeria Zagato. The
pretty Fulvia was represented by the Coupe, Berlina and
Sport Zagato, while the more contemporaneous Beta and
now-rare Trevi also featured a good turnout.
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