19.12.2003 LANCIA'S UPDATED FULVIA CONCEPT CAR MAKES APPEARANCE AT THE BOLOGNA MOTOR SHOW

Forty years on from the debut of the first Fulvia saloon and thirty-one years after Sandro Munari's victory with the 1.6HF in the Monte Carlo Rally, Lancia decided to build a prototype to celebrate one of the models that made the brand-name famous throughout the world.

Apart from anything else, the Lancia Style Centre designers have always had one perennial dream: to recreate the Fulvia Coupé as though it had been left free to evolve without interruption. The approach to the project was very clear from the outset: no nostalgic self-indulgence but a post-modern reworking of the original concept and motifs.

The updated Fulvia received its World premiere in September at the Frankfurt Motor Show in Germany. Now three months later the stylish show car has been presented to the Italian public at the 28th Bologna Motor Show, and headlines a large and spacious upmarket display.

As in Frankfurt the Fulvia was mounted on a large revolving turntable, itself positioned in the centre of an artificial lake. A waterfall, created by water streaming down a tall glass pillar, fed the lake and the whole display was titled under the ledged, 'Fulvia, a cult moving'.

The dimensions and architecture of the Fulvia Coupé show car are practically the same as the original car (the new model is 1334 mm high, 1665 mm wide, 3925 mm long and with a wheelbase of 2275 mm) but with a broader track to give the car more stability and greater strength: the front measures 1425 mm and the rear measures 1417 mm.

The new Fulvia features a truncated tail, an extremely dynamic shape and a furrowing prow. The most distinctive stylist motif, i.e. a continuous horseshoe-shaped band that enfolded the entire body only to emerge at the tail, was reworked to give the car a more dynamic appearance and a tapering shape. The point of greatest tension lies over the front wheel where all the visual weight of the car is also concentrated to underscore the front drive and engine. The end result is that the entire car appears to be pulled along from this point. The drop-shaped car plan with maximum width at the front and a tendency to taper off toward the truncated tail also contributes to this effect.