The history of some cars can be traced way back till the day when they left their factory. The existence of others remains vague while got lost in sometimes decades of neglect or disinterest. Just take that dark green aerodynamic coupé which comes to the Concours d’élégance Paleis Het Loo this year. It is a 1933 Lancia Astura, retro-fitted in 1935 with an exciting Castagna bodywork, to the special order of Bruno Mussolini, the son of…
Special it is indeed since this car is a rare one-off project created with help of Milanese Lancia dealer Minetti and Scuderia Partioli. Young man Mussolini intended to use it for racing but apart from an appearance in the 1935 24 hour race of Pescara its competition history remained unknown. But the car went on show at the 1935 Villa d’Este concours d’élégance. It was thereafter sold to famous racing driver Felice Bonetto. It survived time, if in mystery, initially in Italy and subsequently it spend time in Swiss, the UK and Germany, finally to be acquired by the current Dutch Owner who had it meticulously restored to its original glory. Especially in England, every Lancia fanatic knew about its existence from immediate postwar years, even if it seldom showed up at club events. During the Eighties it silently disappeared but ended up in the famous Rosso Bianco collection of Peter Kaus in Aschaffenburg, near Frankfurt, Germany. When Peter was forced to sell his collection, this particular Lancia car fell into the hands of its current owner who not only started the extensive restoration but also had the car´s history researched. The chassis is standard 3rd series Lancia Astura with a 2.9 narrow-V8 engine, which was fitted with an additional oil cooler for racing. Its wheelbase had to be shortened to allow the Castanga bodywork, which started live on an Alfa Romeo 8C chassis, to be fitted. Now running on original wire wheels, with a new radiator grille reconstructed in original style (to replace a fake grille that was fitted following a road accident) and with distinctive rear-wheel spats, the dramatic looks alone of this lost cause of Italian motoring is worth to be seen in real live at Het Loo.
Text: Wim Oude Weernink
Photo: BMW Group
Photo: BMW Group