Early Lambda Engine Design – a Small Mystery: Bill Jamieson…...Page 15

The Lambda World Register (www.lambdaworldregister.org)

is managed by

- Joachim Griese ([email protected]) - Bill Jamieson ([email protected])

and supported by regional coordinators for :

- Australia: Bill Jamieson - Austria, Germany, Switzerland: Joachim Griese - Belgium: Leo Van Hoorick ([email protected]) - Ireland: Roland Frayne ([email protected]) - The Netherlands: Joost Koning ([email protected]) - The United Kingdom: Mike Benwell ([email protected]) - The United States: Neil Pering ([email protected])

The Newsletter will be published 4 times a year and is edited by Bill Jamieson and Joachim Griese

Contents of Newsletter 4/2015

Editorial: Joachim Griese, Bill Jamieson…………………………….page 1

Peking – Paris in a Lambda from 1929 – final part: Leo Schildkamp……………………………………………………………...page 2

The 215 Grand Rally of the Lancia Club France: Joachim Griese……………………………………………………………………page 8

News of Fobello 2016: Jonathan Wood………………………...……page 9

The post-Fobello Tour 2016: Jonathan Reeve………………….…..page 10

The Song of the Lambda – part 2: Mike Benwell……………………page 13

Early Lambda engine design – a small mystery: Bill Jamieson…...page 15

Lambda 21886 – Museo Motorismo d’Epoca: Eleonora Di Stefano……………………………………………………………….page 18

Lambda spare parts……………………………………………………page 19

Cover: Lancias at the 2015 Grand Rally of the Lancia Club France (photo: Joachim Griese)

Editorial

The 2015 rally season in the Northern hemisphere is coming to a close, with the French Grand Rally being one of the last of the European events At the same time, Spring has arrived in the Southern hemisphere, and – as some of you know – one of the first rallies „down South“ is the Australian Lancis Register’s biennial Castlemaine Rally, which runs from October 16 to 18. We are happy to note that entries include Lancia owners from the United States, U.K. and Europe, most of whom will also participate in the following „Mountain to Surf „Tour in Victoria, from October 19 to 25. We will have a report for you on these two linked events in our next issue.

Also in our next Newsletter, the first for 2016, we hope to bring you an article on the Lambda front suspension, with particular emphasis on that familiar main coil spring. This follows the acquisition by Joachim of the original Factory drawings of the four versions of this spring, and some equally interesting work by Bill Smith in Sydney, Australia , into the complexities of the spring design and related suspension problems

Fobello 2016 is also approaching, and in this Newsletter Jonathan Wood writes a short note on the Fobello calendar and Jonathan Reeve gives you a first impression of the proposed post- Fobello Swiss Alps Tour. At the end of October we will send you an e-mail with more detailed information about both these events.

In Italy, the two projects to make new Lambda cylinder blocks are proceeding according to plan, and there is a good chance that we will see the first new block running in a Lambda before the end of the year.

Richard Vessey, younger son of the late John Vessey, has sent us a large quantity of material (drawings, photos, calculations and other documents ) from his father‘s collection, for the use of the LWR. It will take some time to analyse everything, but we appreciate very much the opportunity to include some of John Vessey’s accumulated knowledge in the Lambda World Register and we thank Richard very much for his generosity in giving us this material.

As always, we invite you, our readers, to suggest articles or other material you would like to see in the Newsletter, or to send us details of Lambda parts you either require or have available for sale.

Best wishes for you and your Lambda. Joachim Griese Bill Jamieson

PS: Please accept our apologies for two corrections we need to make in LWR Newsletter 3/2015: - On page 10 we wrote that the book with excellent graphics of a large number of Lancia models is available at the internet company www.amazon.com. In fact it’s only available from the German, French. Italian and U.K. amazon outlets. These are, respectively, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.it, and www.amazon.co.uk. - On page 18 there was a reference to downloading Lorenzo Morello’s book about Lancia innovation. In the meantime, Fiat Chrysler changed their website. If you wish to read or download the book, we suggest the following procedure: In the website www.fcagroup.com click on „Group“; in the Group page click on „History“; in the History page click on „Centro Storico Fiat“; at the end of the Centro Storico Fiat page you see Lorenzo Morello’s book, and you may download it.

The 2007 Peking – Paris in a 1929 Lambda1 Part 3 (Final) - Day 21 to Day 36

Leo Schildkamp [email protected]

Day 21 – Saturday June 16 – Kazan to Nizhny Novgorod – 406 km (total 7668 km)

The roads are getting busier with much more truck-traffic, so it is more difficult to pass. We stay at a big hotel near the Volga. We give the car some care: Adjusting the brakes, and filling up the cooling water. It appears that we are losing oil from the rear-axle. Another participant (nr.51) is so kind as to lentd me some 90 grade oil. There are no problems with the right rear wheel and the repair of yesterday is holding.

Day 22 – Sunday June 17 – Nizhny Novgorod to Moscow – 440 km (total 8108 km)

The car runs fine, and there are no problems. Luc drives the last 200 km. Almost in Moscow, we have a traffic jam of 20 km caused by a traffic light. In Moscow we take a wrong turn, but with the help of the GPS at last we arrive at the hotel Cosmos: an enormous building with 1700 rooms and a hall like a Parisian railway station, but with only 1 (one) receptionist. The car now gets an hour of daily pampering. The right rear-axle is loose again. We fasten the nut with a centre punch. The radiator surrounding has a crack again. We take a shower and go for dinner with some Dutch participants. The food is more or less OK; it is a buffet. The others go to town but I am tired and go to bed with a vodka night-cap.

Day 23 – Monday June 18 – Day of rest – Moscow

We take the sub-way to the centre and visit the touristic places ; Red Square, the Jewel Collection, the Armoury and a department store. We eat in a Russian restaurant. Back in the

hotel, we hear that still no one has got his laundry. Some English teams try to recruit participants to go to the cellar to get the laundry – dirty or clean! We don’t do that, but Luc puts pressure on to the receptionist that we want our laundry at 5 o’clock in the morning.

Day 24 – Tuesday June 19 – Moscow to St. Petersburg – 700 km (total 8108 km)

At 5 am there is a knock on the door with a shout “LAUNDRY” or something similar. Luc takes the laundry and tells the lady who asks for money, that we will pay at the reception. Somewhat later, again a heavy knocking and shouting “MONEY, MONEY’! We shout again that we will pay at the reception. And when it starts to get boring, I get out of bed to tell this lady how I feel. But the door already opens and there are three hotel-guards. They were as scared of me as I was of them, and so I have time to throw my full weight at the door, and with Luc’s help we almost manage to slam it closed. One of the guards has a foot in the door and a hand through the door sprays us with pepper-spray. As we push harder against the door he is perhaps afraid that his hand will be pinched, and he withdraws his hand, while he sprays his colleagues with pepper- spray too, so now we are all coughing and spluttering on both sides of the door. In order to stop the misery, Luc opens the door and throws 1500 Rubles at them, and the Russian party leaves.

Again a long journey. The roads are good. I drive 2/3 of the distance. No time checks today. At 11 pm I am in my bed.

Day 25 – Wednesday June 20 – Day of rest – St. Petersburg

Today is a free day and it would be fine to see something of St. Petersburg, but I think it would be wise to take care of the car. Outside, I meet Alexander Deryugin who is working on one of the club’s 4 x 4 cars. He has a garage, and there we can weld the radiator surround. We fill up with water and oil and adjust and grease the fan. Sometimes you hear from other teams that people like to work on cars and don’t ask for money. It has never happened to me! Welding for an hour or so and using the garage I have to pay 2000 Rubles (about € 55), yet I am treated to tea and cake because one of the Russian mechanics celebrates his birthday.

Day 26 – Thursday June 21 – St. Petersburg to Tallina– 450 km (total 9258 km)

Starting time 9:24 am, getting up at 6 am. We go to the Estonian border. A car in front of us suddenly slows down and I am forced to pass it to avoid a collision. Immediately thereafter, a policeman gives me a stop-signal. He gesticulates that we have to move backwards to a check- point. Another rally-car just leaves and the driver tells us that he had been able to lower the fine to 500 Rubles. We have to go inside and receive a sermon, illustrated with hands and feet and telling us that we are not allowed to pass and that we had driven very dangerously. We have to pay 100 US$. No argument helps. In the meantime we are joined by two other rally-teams. The policeman wants my driving-license, I give him my international license. I still behave as if I don’t understand him and he wants me to call Alexander, and I tell him that I don’t know any Alexander. So it goes for a while, and then he himself calls Alexander of the Nomads, who makes it clear to me that I better pay something. After much haggling and talking, in an unguarded moment I grab my license and give the man 500 Rubles (about 10 US$) Thus we are ready and can leave.

After 30 km there is another policeman. His colleague comes to us and shows his laser-gun which shows a speed we definitely not have driven at. Again I have to give my license. I tell the policeman, who can speak a bit of German, that this is not our speed and that our old car cannot drive that fast. The other policeman joins, he shows a banknote and calls out: “hundred, hundred”. So I tell Luc to give the man 100 Rubles. But that is not the intention: it must be DOLLARS! I tell him that we don’t have Dollars and that we are poor people with a very old car, etc. The policeman who can speak a bit of German can appreciate the humour, and I give him Lancia-pins and key-cords for him and his children. But then his colleague comes back again. He doesn’t want pins and shouts: HUNDRED, HUNDRED! I know that I still have some hundred Rubles and put these in his hand while I grab my license at the same time. He is perplexed and agrees. Just before we leave, he returns 20 Rubles. Later I learn that in Russia it is not usual to take all the money from people. At the border, we learn that nearly all the teams have had the same experiences. We suspect Alexander is in collusion with the police and thereby raising his salary. The long wait to cross the border begins. Everyone is very irritable. After we are through the Russian border it becomes more cheerful, and we give pins and key-cords to the children who are running around the cars. Eventually we need eight hours (!) to get to the other side of the Estonian border. The beautiful “special- stages” of this day are cancelled. The roads in Estlonia are a relief; fine asphalt, with lines on the road etc. At 10 pm we are in the hotel. The service and food are good here.

Day 27 – Friday June 22 – Tallina to Riga – 406 km (total 9664 km)

Fine roads and four Time Trials. The first test is on a rally-cross circuit which is very hilly, with nice bends and hard gravel and a lot of dust. We have the 4th fastest time here. Then forest-tests which are well-managed: at every side road or exit there is a marshal. We even overtake some cars. I drove carefully and the car did not break down.

Day 28 – Saturday June 23 – Riga to Vilnius – 412 km (total 10076 km)

The first test is on the rally-cross circuit and the karting-circuit near the car museum, where we start. We have the 6th time; in front are four Bentley’s, a Chrysler and an Alvis. All of them younger cars with bigger engines, so that’s not so bad. Then three more beautiful gravel-stages on closed forest roads. We are pleased with the car. Then we have a petrol problem because I have forgotten to turn on the electric petrol pump. The right rear wheel stays in place but on the right front side the suspension groans and thumps again. During the last stage we make a route mistake, and we arrive at a farm; we have to drive back and find the right route. Thus we arrive much too late at the Time Control.

Day 29 – Sunday June 24 – Vilnius to Mikolajki – 404 km (total 10480 km)

Today crossing of the Polish border and five fine tests. The first test on asphalt is on closed roads, so no other traffic. The road is quite narrow and hilly and is full of long nice bends: very sleek and fast. The other tests are fantastic too, on gravel alternated with asphalt. The car is doing well, but I factor-in some security, for the front suspension is not quite healthy. On the connecting roads we have time to look at the scenery. We admire the magnificence of the wild- flowers along the side of the road. At a petrol station there is a cart and horse in front of us because the driver is thirsty and has a beer. The arrival is at a village-green. We are welcomed with music and shouts of joy and go for a beer. But thereafter I go to look after the car. An unwritten rally-law runs as follows: “First the car, then the crew”. The differential is leaking and I fill it up. The right rear wheel has play again, so automatically we start repairing. Today the repair is not so easy because the thread of the ring-nut is damaged. In the end I get everything fixed. I check the right front shock-absorber because it is banging again, but there is enough oil in it.

Day 30 – Monday June 25 – Mikolajki to Gdansk – 351 km (total 10831 km)

Starting time 10:24 am. Today only a short distance. Three beautiful tests and twice we finish 4th and once we are 5th. The road between the tests is great in terms of views and scenery, but the road surface is abominably bad: uneven cobbles and the road is also full of pits and potholes. It is just as if the organization has done everything possible to reduce the field of competitors. It is really rough for the Lambda, especially in the front suspension and dampers. We are in time at the last Time Control in the hotel which is near the coast. Yet again some welding is necessary

on the Lambda’s radiator surround. Tomorrow we may use the Citroën- garage organized by the Traction Avant team.

Day 31 – Tuesday June 26 – Day of rest – Gdansk

It’s raining cats and dogs. Competitors use the hotel umbrellas as a shelter to work under. The Lambda won’t start. I try everything but nothing helps and in the pouring rain, this is no picnic. The Traction team tows the Lambda to the garage. Very quickly we find the culprit: the contact points don't open. Then we start welding. The mechanic does his utmost and I have to stop him, otherwise he wants to go on and on. As I go back to the hotel it is still raining and I get lost. Finally, I see the Irish team and by following them I return to the hotel. Other teams have problems too: the Singer has broken front springs; the Knox has a broken engine mounting; the Traction Avant needs parts, like silent blocs and steering parts and they have to be brought in from the Netherlands. In the afternoon Luc and I go to the center of Gdansk by taxi. A beautiful old centre with fine renovated buildings.

Day 32 – Wednesday June 27 – Gdansk to Potsdam – 597 km (total 11428 km)

The special stages are finished, there are four rally days left and then the party is over. It is chilly, and now and then it is raining, but luckily most of it blows over. In Germany, we drive stretches of “Autobahn” of the old type with unequal concrete slabs which are not at all smooth. The Lambda protests with droning in the right front shock absorber. At home we will eventually discover that a diaphragm valve (part 10-1036) has caused all these suspension problems. In Potsdam we first have to drive into town for a hearty welcome and then we can drive to the hotel.

Day 33 – Thursday June 28 – Potsdam to Koblenz – 556 km (total 11984 km)

Again a long day. We are able to drive on without problems. Everything runs like the well- known Swiss clock. In Koblenz there is an exalting surprise: a welcoming committee of family and friends. No spannering on the car today. It is going to be a very cozy evening.

Day 34 – Friday June 29 – Koblenz to Reims – 430 km (total 12414 km)

Today along the Mosel river and through one of the German wine regions. When we arrive at Reims, we first go to the champagne-cellars of Henriot. We are treated to a big gulp of champagne. Afterwards the cars are parked in the city-centre where there are thousands of people. There is a reception by the mayor with again champagne and appetizers. After dinner Ivo calls that he, together with Ron, has arrived in Reims to welcome us. Together we go and have a look at the cars and over a cup of coffee and a drink we tell our stories.

Day 35 – Saturday June 30– Reims to Paris – 176 km (total 12590 km)

In Paris we are awaited, and with five cars in convoy, we drive to the finish. It is still quite a hassle to drive through the Parisian traffic with five cars, with all its traffic lights and drivers who don’t care about some rally-cars coming from Peking. Then there is the Place Vendome: THE FINISH!

The square is completely crowded and everyone is elated. My son Robert and his wife Evelyn with my grandson Stijn are welcoming and congratulating us with champagne. Luc and I decided not to join the prize-giving dinner but instead everyone goes to have dinner with his family and friends. I visit the sponsor Blancpain: there is a reception, and on the wall there is a very nice photo, with the Lambda in front of some other cars in the desert.

Day 36 – Sunday July 1 – Paris to Maastricht-Herrlen – 420 km (total 13.000 km)

A great adventure is over. China was short, with a lot of coal-mines. Mongolia was the nicest and most impressive part; you can hardly imagine that this way of living still exists. Russia was long straight roads, a bit boring and the big cities not so friendly. In the Baltic states and Poland were beautiful rally roads and fine tests. The last days in Germany and France had to be done to get to Paris. The Lambda did fine. On the very bad roads and tracks the front suspension appeared to be the Achilles-heel. The mechanical side has done well, and the coach-work is, according to me, the best you could buy in the 1920’s.

A great compliment to Vincenzo!

VIVA LANCIA, VIVA LAMBDA

1Reprint with the permission of the Lancia Club Netherland where this article was published in their Journaal Nr. 68/2007.

The 2015 Grand Rally of the Lancia Club France

This year the Grand Rally was – in Spain! About 40 cars met on Friday afternoon in Fort Saint Elme near the Spanish border, and then we chose the coastal road to find our hotel near Roses. Due to the fairly long distance involved, no Lambda was there but nevertheless a nice selection of Lancia cars from the Aprilia to the Delta. The participants came from Belgium, England, Germany, Switzerland and France. In nice weather and summer temperatures on Saturday we visited the monastery of San Pere de Roda and had an excellent lunch at a restaurant near Figueres. The afternoon part led us to Bagnoles and Olot.

On Sunday there was a visit to Cap de Creus, and then to the farewell lunch conveniently near the French border.

For 2016, the Grand Rally location will be chosen to suit the post-Fobello activities, so surely we will see some Lambdas there! Joachim Griese [email protected]

News of Fobello 2016. 1st to 5th September 2016

Jonathan Wood [email protected]

An update for those considering coming to Fobello in 2016. The overall programme and arrangements for booking and hotels are being finalised and details will be emailed to all Lambda owners on the LWR list at the end of October.

It will be an opportunity to meet Lambda owners from around the world and to drive your Lambda on the sinuous mountain roads of the Piedmont for which it was designed. We are keen to encourage new owners of Lambdas and others who have not been to Fobello before.

I visited Varallo and Fobello in August to discuss arrangement with the Lancia Family and Valsesia Lancia Story in Varallo. They are looking forward to Lambdas assembling in Varallo and then driving up Via Vincenzo Lancia for the lunch at La Monta in Fobello on Saturday.

Because of limited accommodation in Varallo and Fobello, it is necessary to limit attendance to Lambda owners, with Europeans expected to come in their Lambdas. As two hotels in Varallo have closed, some accommodation may be outside Varallo.

To help Lambda owners from outside Europe and encourage them to bring their Lambdas for a season in Europe, we will be circulating information on the range of Vintage and Lancia events in 2016.

I hope you will have read Mike Benwell’s Song of the Lambda in LWR Newsletter 3/15 and are busy preparing and exercising your Lambda.

Jonathan G M Wood

Outline Programme

Lanslebourg for Wednesday 31st August 2016. The Relais des Deux Cols is the informal gathering point for Lambdas before the drive over the Mt Cenis pass.

Thursday 1st September 2016. Drive over the Mont Cenis. Lunch at La Giaconera. Hotels in and round Varallo. We will be coordinating bookings through Varallo Tourist office.

Friday 2nd September 2016. Rest and fettling day. Evening display of Lambdas in Piazza and a dinner in Varallo.

Saturday 3rd September 2016. Gather in Varallo Piazza, then with all in Lambdas drive upVia Vincenzo Lancia to Fobello. Lunch at La Monta, the Lancia Family house, and VLS Lancia Museum.

Sunday 4th September 2016. An excursion. Farewell dinner at Albergo Sacro Monte.

Monday 5th September 2016. Head for home or join the Lambda Swiss Alps Tour being arranged by Sebastien Simon and Joachim Griese.

The post-Fobello Tour 2016: “Site visit” and Proposal

Jonathan Reeve [email protected]

In July 2015, Sébastien Simon, Joachim Griese and Jonathan Reeve spent 2 days investigating Sébastien’s proposal for next year’s Monday to Saturday tour, beginning 5th September 2016. The aim was to place the tour in the Lambda’s second-best market: Switzerland. A secondary aim was to make the return home of our more northern and Australian members a good bit more interesting than a repeat traverse of the Simplon. We drove Sébastien’s route, passing no more than one or two non-Swiss cars on the way: the Swiss tourist industry is hurting badly in 2015. By keeping away from the big tourist centres, and the well-known names (Interlaken, Montreux, Lucerne, Berne) our aim has been to arrange hotels in villages which are «insider tips» and offer value for money. Also we wished to explore the beauties of scenic and often forgotten roads that are somewhat more like the roads of the 1920s.

The route into Switzerland At Airolo north of Locarno and Bellinzona, in the Italian-speaking Ticino Canton, one can either bear right up the St Gotthard or bear left up the less known but more traffic-free and beautiful Nufenen pass, which follows the Ticino river to its source and beyond. From there it is a short distance to the Grimsel pass via Ulrichen and Oberwald, leading to the twin lakes of Brienz and Thun between which Interlaken is situated.

By skirting on the north side of the first lake and along the south side of the second, larger roads are avoided and the most beautiful Swiss scenery is to be enjoyed. You can then access route 11 that runs between the Stockhorn and the Nieder Simmenthal towards Gstaad. Skirting the shopping there, one then heads over the not very frightening Col des Mosses to the village of les Mosses itself.

The three of us followed this route in Sébastien’s comfortable C6 and agreed it was a far preferable Lambda route to any of the more well-known ways home. The climbs are all unchallenging second gear ascents (and second gear descents) in a well-prepared Lambda. No Lambda should suffer mechanically providing it is in good condition at Varallo.

The Sepp Blatter Stadium in beautiful Ulrichen (his home town). Ulrichen and nearby Oberwald have a lot to offer Lancisti wishing to step out of their Lambdas for a day

The hotels The second hotel at les Mosses (2 nights) had bedrooms in plain 1960s style, but was comfortable and had a fine kitchen. We negotiated an attractive provisional price. Our initially chosen hotel at Ulrichen was poor but we found instead a much better and well- established family-run hotel at nearby Oberwald for a similar price (2 nights).

Les Mosses

The Driving The approximate distances are: day 1 - 195 km; day 3 – 170 km. Days 2 and 4 are scheduled to be rest days. On day 5 we plan to travel 125 km (a 3 hours drive) to arrive at the Fondation Renault collection and visit their interesting cars at Cortaillod near Neuchatel, leaving for home via Gals (25 km, on the French border) from Saturday 10th September after a night in a local hotel (still to be chosen).

Time off There are two free days in the mountains to explore the delights of late summer in the high Swiss alps, in places that are well used to satisfying the needs of both more and less energetic tourists. Of course, attending to one or two of the lambdas and also to the restaurants will prove irresistible to some!

A fine beef restaurant near Ulrichen

The Song of the Lambda - part 2

Mike Benwell [email protected]

In Part One I wrote about the preparation of the Lambda for a drive through Europe, England to Italy through France and back via Switzerland being a typical 1800 mile journey we English do every 5 years. The Lambdas on the road today have been playing the same tune for 90 plus years and still provide safe and enjoyable motoring. However they do occasionally pause for adjustment. The following is my experience with these unscheduled stops.

When a Lambda goes off song it is usually due to a fault with the ignition, a lack of petrol, a coolant leak, oil, a puncture, the weather, an argument with the navigator or the driver is thirsty. There are other highly technical defects involving cylinder heads, hubs, suspension, transmission and exhausts which I’ll deal with later. Most of these problems affect all Vintage cars so I’ll try to be Lambda specific.

Electrics: A breakdown in a modern car usually terminates a journey and the fault is nearly always ‘electronic’. Lambdas don’t have this problem. In fact if you’re running on a good magneto, have a strong passenger who can push the car or crank the starting handle, you don’t need electricity! Well almost. Coil ignition, electric petrol pumps and lights need juice. A well charged battery is good. Fit an isolator switch to turn the battery off at stops. I have carried a spare battery in the running board box to overcome a dynamo problem but this is overkill. I always take a battery charger with me. Charging lead-acid batteries in hotel bedrooms is fun. Dynamos and starter motors are the ‘black art’ on all vintage cars. I won’t go into detail here but when changing dynamos and starters check that the cut-out, voltage regulation and wiring are compatible; Bosch, Lucas (Prince of Darkness) and Magneti Marelli systems don’t always mix.

Ignition: Lambdas from the 3rd to 6th series use Magneti Marelli equipment which is excellent if maintained in good original order but I have had magneto problems, demagnetised magnets, automatic advance device jamming, worn breaker cams, dodgy points etc. I’ve worked on this and now always carry a spare magneto that has been run on the car and timed. I know a good magneto man which helps! Bosch Magnetos are excellent and they fit both the early and late series cars. Different engine straps and couplings may be required. One advantage with the Bosch system is it can be easily converted to a coil. Wire the coil to it’s own fused circuit. Always test and time the spare mag/dynamo unit before travel. The original Bosch condensers fitted under the points plate can give up. It is easy to fit a modern type mounted on the plate or alongside the distributor. Carry a couple of spare condensers and set of points the modern ones can be unreliable but they’re cheap and easy to obtain. Ignition cables and the connectors to the sparking plugs should be checked. Do not fit plug connecters with resisters/suppressors they can damage the magneto. On my standard 18mm head cars (early and late) I use NGK A6 or Bosch M10 AC. They both work well but can get sooty black. There are various reasons for this but I just clean the soot off and carry on. Carry a spare set of plugs and a small wire brush.

Fuel System: As mentioned in Part One I use Super Grade petrol and avoid Eco fuel. An in- line petrol filter is essential in both the original and electric pumped systems to prevent rust and other rubbish getting to the carburettor. Fit it where you can see it. The Zenith Triple Diffuser has a fine mesh filter in the bowl underneath the float chamber. Clean this out every 500 miles, check the jets and access plugs are well seated and the control springs are working. If an electric pump is fitted make sure it turns off with the ignition and is wired with it’s own fuse. I recommend a spare pump is carried. L’exhausteur auto-vac works well but the old cork floats don’t like modern petrol. They swell and jam blocking the petrol flow. Replacement floats that suit modern fuels are available and can be modified to fit. Some skilled soldering is required and the original brass pins are fragile.The original fuel tap works on a taper held against a spring. It is difficult to repair as lapping in can affect the flow of petrol. To avoid that nasty smell of leaking petrol I have adapted a modern ‘ball-a-fix’ plumbing valve that can be fettled to look (almost) like the original. Easy to operate and no leaks after 3000 miles.

That’s all for now. If Joachim permits a Part Three - Mechanical Syncopation where I’ll write about blowing cylinder head gaskets, adjusting the tappets by ear, dropping valves , the pros and cons of oil leaks, vibrating transmission, exploding exhaust systems and grumbling hubs.

Happy Lambdaring.

DO NOT REVERSE WITH THE BOOT OPEN

Early Lambda engine design – a small mystery

Bill Jamieson [email protected]

Some intriguing uncertainty surrounds the earliest Lambda engine design and production. One element of this small mystery concerns the very obvious difference between the engines of the cars displayed at the unveiling of the Lambda at the Paris and London Salons in October and November, 1922, and those of the cars which first went on sale to the public in early 1923.

The engine of the Salon or “Show” cars had spark plugs located in the cylinder head, protruding water-cooling passages on each side of the head, and a fan driven from a pulley on the crankshaft. The earliest Tipo 67 engine fitted to production cars was markedly different; a flat- based cylinder head, with spark plugs and combustion chambers located in the cylinder block, and a fan driven by a large pulley from an extension of the overhead camshaft.

Two views of the “Show” engine, which was not fitted to production cars, but which foreshadowed many features of the much later Tipo 78, fitted to 7th Series vehicles (Photo. Lancia P.R.).

These were not superficial differences, and involved major re-design of the cylinder block, cylinder head and ancillaries, with serious cost implications for Lancia, and all on the eve of the first sales of the car. So this raises some intriguing questions:

. How many “Show” engines were made ? . What events or failures prompted this change of design ? . Were these changes and their causes documented ? . Was the “Show” engine identified as an early version of the Tipo 67, or did it have some other designation ?

The absence of Factory production records for the first 1500 Lambdas, which might have thrown further light on the early engine situation, only adds to the mystery, and while there are existing examples of very early Tipo 67 production engines, (including No.57 in Australia), no “Show” engines appear to have survived. Data from these existing engines show a discontinuity between the engine and chassis numbers in the early 1st series production. Two examples of this disconnect are:

Car No. Engine No. (10)127 57 (10)248 207

Clearly, something was amiss. One explanation of this anomaly could be that a batch (say 50) of the “Show” engines had been completed and numbered and was awaiting installation in bodies before the decision to change to the later version was made. This seems fairly unlikely for two reasons; firstly, the Factory would have been reluctant to agree to scrapping these valuable assets, and secondly, we might expect to have seen some physical or photographic evidence of the “Show” engines en masse, or at least some written reference to this problem.

Another possibility is that only a handful of the “Show” engines were made, and that even as the Paris and London events were in progress, a decision had already been made that the “Show” engine would not be fitted to production cars. This seems more plausible, and it is consistent with the Factory being tooled up to proceed with the quantity production and marketing of the car. However, this scenario does not satisfactorily explain the engine numbering irregularities and further, the production of even a small number of engines would have required considerable planning, together with the development of specific production, assembly, testing and quality control facilities for this short-lived engine type. Again, these procedures and facilities, if they existed, would have almost certainly left behind some trail of photographic or written evidence. While we have drawings dated July 1921, of the body and suspension of the prototype Lambda, no Factory drawings have yet been located of the engine which, at that stage, must have been intended for the car. The closest I have come is in an article by W.F.Bradley in the American journal “Automotive Industries” of October 12, 1922, pp 706-708, which included four sectional drawings of the “Show” engine. The article, entitled “New Frameless Lancia Feature of Paris Show” provided a review of the Lambda, and was published while the Show was still in progress. Although the engine drawings were not attributed to Lancia, the detail which they revealed could only have been supplied by the Factory. The rolling unclad chassis of the Lambda, which is now publicly displayed by the Factory as its earliest example, is fitted with a later standard Tipo 67 engine, and not with the “Show” version.

At the time of the introduction of the Lambda, Lancia’s systems of record-keeping and drawings were already comprehensive and detailed, so in that sense, the absence of production records and the corresponding engine drawings from that period is not easily explained.

These sectional views of the “Show” engine are reproduced from the American journal “Automotive Industries” of October 12, 1922 (Photo. WFJ).

There is a certain irony in that the abandoned “Show” engine, with its spark plugs in the cylinder head and fan drive up from the crankshaft, was similar in appearance and basic form to the much later Tipo 78 design, which would eventually replace the standard early series Tipo 67.

The design of the Lambda engine, under the general oversight of Battista Falchetto, was in the hands of a small group. In charge was Primitivo Rocco, who at 25, had joined Vincenzo Lancia as one of his original workers in November, 1906, and had been responsible for virtually all of Lancia’s engine designs since then. Under Rocco’s direction, much of the Lambda engine design

work was carried out by Augusto Cantarini, who joined Lancia in April, 1913. According to Falchetto, interviewed by John Doyle in Turin in 1970, the design of the smaller details of the engine was assigned to Quarello, the third member of the group.

Both Rocco and Cantarini left Lancia within a day of each other at the end of November, 1924. Rocco was then aged 43, and Cantarini 33. Perhaps the date was significant. In that year, one of their last designs for Lancia had been the experimental Tipo 73, a 16º narrow-V 6-cylinder with a bore and stroke of 75 x 107 mm and a displacement of 2649 cc. The external appearance and mounting arrangements were clearly based on the Lambda. This engine did not proceed beyond the experimental stage, probably for balance reasons which would not be solved until Francesco De Virgilio’s ground-breaking design work in 1943 which resulted in the very successful Aurelia engine, and provided the technical break-through for all the subsequent V-6 designs.

Lambda 21886 in our Motorismo d’Epoca Museum

Eleonora Di Stefano [email protected]

As we see from the contract between the Lancia dealer Baumberger & Forster of Zurich, and the first owner of Lambda 21886, Paul Wiskeman, of Ruschlikon/Zurich, the car was deliverd in January 1930. The Lancia company in Torino had made the final checks on this Lambda, with Construction Number 11926, Engine Number 8869, Differential Number 12010 and Frame Type 222 on November 9, 1929; then the Lambda was transferred to Stabilimenti Farina to make and fit the body. The Wiskemann family had a large silverware shop at the Paradeplatz in the centre of Zurich. For decades, Mrs. Wiskemann drove the Lambda every workday from her home and parked the car directly in front of the shop. So the „Wiskemann-Lambda“ became very famous in Zurich, and you could find several articles about the Lambda and its courageous lady-driver Margrith Wiskemann in the local newspapers.

. When Margrith Wiskemann passed away, the Lambda was restored, thereby changing the colour from dark grey to dark green, and it was sold in 1989 to the second owner, Carl Stortz from Basel. In 2005 my father, Alvaro Di Stefano, bought the famous „Wiskemann-Lambda“ from

Carl Stortz via a dealer in Bern for our private museum, Motorismo d‘Epoca in Siracusa, Sicily. After a technical restoration, the Lambda is now one of the highlights in the Lancia part of our collection (in addition to the Augusta, the Astura, the Aprilia, the Aurelia, and the Fulvia). We are very proud to have a Lambda with such a complete history.

Lambda spare parts

Accelerator control mechanism Mixture control mechnism

Price: 200 Euro Price: 300 Euro

2 Competition model headlights Bosch spotlight

Price: 1.800 Euro Price: 600 Euro

Marelli switch unit part

Pietro Longo [email protected] Price: 150 Euro

Literature

Richard Vessey is placing to auction motoring books, magazines, articles and other automobilia that the family cannot keep from their father's collection. The sale is at Richard Edmonds Auctions 22 -24th October www.richardedmondsauctions.com. Our lots will be sold on 23rd October as lots 1181 - 1228 which can be found on their on-line catalogue in pages 24 & 25.

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