1/43 Scale Lancia Flaminia 335 Presidenziale Diecast Model Car

• diecast and pre-painted, ready to display
• material: metal & plastic
• scale: 1/43

The Lancia Flaminia (Tipo 813/823/824/826) is a luxury car produced by Italian automaker Lancia from 1957 until 1970. It was Lancia's flagship model at that time, replacing the Aurelia. It was available throughout its lifetime as in saloon, coupé and cabriolet body styles. The Flaminia coupé and cabriolet were coachbuilt cars with bodies from several prestigious Italian coachbuilders. Four "presidential" stretched limousines were produced by Pininfarina for use on state visits.

12,633 cars were sold over its 13 year lifespan. The coupé outsold the four-door saloon, an unusual occurrence, especially in light of the Flaminia coupés' coachbuilt bodies making them considerably more expensive than the stately Berlina. After a seven-year hiatus, the Flaminia was effectively replaced by the Gamma as Lancia's new flagship in 1976.

When in 1960 Queen Elizabeth II announced her visit to Italy, the then President Giovanni Gronchi commissioned Pininfarina to supply four stretched Lancia Flaminia limousines to appropriately service the visit, and also renew the dated presidential fleet. The cars were built between 1960 and 1961 in the record time of six months, to a detailed specification and with the assistance of General Motors regarding the extra equipment.

The cars had a seven-seater landaulet body style and were built in a dark blue livery with black Connolly Leather upholstery, a Voxson radio and Pirelli tyres. The cars were first used in Turin for the inauguration of the Celebrazioni del Centenario dell'Unità d'Italia (celebrations for the centenary of Italy's unification), and subsequently for the state visit of Queen Elizabeth II.

This model was officially called the Flaminia 335 (due to its wheelbase of 335 cm (131.9 in)) and is also commonly referred to as Presidenziale or Quirinale (after Quirinal Palace, the residence of the President of the Italian Republic). The individual cars were named Belsito, Belmonte, Belvedere and Belfiore.

All four cars survive today, and were restored by Fiat Auto in 2001. Two of them are on display in automobile museums: one at Museo Nazionale dell'Automobile, to which it was donated by President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, and another at Museo Storico della Motorizzazione Militare together with other retired presidential cars. The remaining two are still kept in service for the most solemn state occasions, like the Republic Day parade or presidential inaugurations. There were rumours of a fifth 335 being donated to the Queen, but this seems unsubstantiated.

--copied from Wikipedia