You don’t get much more old school than this nowadays: a 1934 Lancia Astura Steady Special was unveiled this weekend (February 20th) at the 2015 Race Retro event.
After four years of extensive restoration, the car was able to take to the Motor Sport magazine stand, looking and functioning as well as was originally intended. It was unveiled by the British designer and International Guild of Specialist Engineers president Tony Southgate.
The car was once acquired by the road test driver and columnist Ronald “Steady” Barker more than 60 years ago and he is believed to have driven it to his interview with Autocar in 1955. He also wrote about this Lancia in Motor Sport magazine and was able to race it after he shortened the chassis, gave it a lighter sportscar shell and added a DB2 bonnet. Steady passed away last month.
At present, this Lancia is owned by Michael Scott, who is a classic car enthusiast, founder of the Guild of International Engineering Specialists and long-term friend of Steady’s. Mr Scott began the process of restoring the car back in 2011.
Mr Scott explained that this project was a challenge, saying: “Here we had a car that was crying out to be restored, but also the legacy of sketches drawn by Steady some sixty years ago, illustrating how he imagined the Lancia should look.”
Specialists Thornley Kelham got involved, along with 3D engineers, and brought state-of-the-art technology along with traditional skills to the table. Among the parts of the car that needed the attention of people involved in the restoration project were its engine, suspension, gearbox and brakes. Specialist Tim Samway was in charge of restoring the original 3.0 narrow-angle Lancia engine.
Following these stages, the car was brought to Ant Anstead, television presenter of For The Love of Cars, who runs a bespoke car manufacturing company called Evanta. He and his business partner Stewart Imber, who owns Themed Garages, were drafted in for the final stages and completion of the restoration project.
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