An Astura fit for Scrooge McDuck

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A Lancia Astura that’s had the Pinin Farina treatment is always something special. Lancia’s V8-powered top model from before the War came in a number of varieties from the Pinin Farina ateliers, all of them different with several of them challenging aerodynamics; all of them looking lavish like million dollar cars in their time. No wonder they attracted some of the more affluent customers, including some protagonists of the Third Reich. These Asturas remain stunning cars to this day and still make their entrance to the more upmarket concourses d’élégance every now and then.

Lancia Astura

But this two-seater roadster just has to top them all in its dramatically low and slippery style, fit for Scrooge McDuck, or so it seems. Designer Mario Revelli di Beaumont is believed to be the man responsible and indeed it would fit in with some of his other work. Like it or loathe it, it’s quite something! But information about it is scarce. Confusion starts with the base vehicle: some have it as a 1937 Series 3 autotelaio while others mention it as a 1939 Series 4 car. Then there’s the time of its Pinin Farina (re)body, claimed to be 1946 with the car being unveiled during the Turin Grand Prix of that year. Could that mean it spent the war tucked away as an unfinished rolling chassis?

Up next is the customer who commissioned the coachbuilder to come up with these fantasy forms. Once more there appear to be two possibilities: ‘An Oriental Prince' and ‘An American customer named Huriburn’. As so often, we’d love to be educated here.

Words Jeroen Booij. Pictures Catawiki / coachbuild.com.

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