LANCIA FLAMINIA 1959 TOURING GT 2.5 (Italian made)
My hobby for the past 30 years has been the restoration of Classic and Vintage cars. A very time consuming hobby that takes many hundreds of hours on each and every car.
To start with you have to find a car that is worthwhile restoring, regardless of what condition it is in. All of my restorations have been a ‘bare metal’ restoration, where the car is totally stripped down of all parts.
Strip paint and rust
After the removal of all parts, the body is stripped of all paint and rust. This is achieved by dipping the body in a large vat of acid for a short period of time. Next step is to do all repairs and getting all body lines perfectly straight. The body is then primed in preparation for painting.
Body fillers are applied and sanded back ready for the painting to begin. Including the undercoats and topcoats, there is usually up to seven or eight coats applied, plus a final clear-coat.
Reassembly
The reassembly then begins with all original parts that have been fastidiously restored. All of the original nuts, bolts and screws re-zincked to look like new. Its a labor of love, with an end product to be very proud of.
See pictures of the Flaminia in various stages of restoration. The process from beginning to end took over four years to complete.
Originally found in California
The car was found at a wreckers in California and imported to Australia. I would hate to say what $$$ have been spent on the restoration. These cars are presently selling for up to US$150,000.00. All of my cars are returned to original paint colour, trim colour and all other specifications.
A brief story and a list of my previous restorations will appear in the next edition of WAD BEYOND.
Keith Schafferius (Australia)
