Castlemaine 12

Dates 22 – 24 October, 1993
Guest of Honour Mr Ruggero Giannini
Feature

 

Poster

Castlemaine12

Rally Notes

Whilst Castlemaine Twelve followed the pattern of Castlemaine rallies developed over previous years, two new innovations were introduced which proved popular and have been continued in subsequent events. They were an alfresco lunch for early arrivals on Friday in the garden of the lovely old  home of  Paul Vellacott`s mother, Castlemaine identity Helen Vellacott; and a technical forum and discussion with the guest of honour on Saturday afternoon following lunch.

On Saturday there was no planned activity prior to morning tea at the historic Castlemaine Goal, leaving time to mingle and look at Lancias or visit points of interest in Castlemaine. After morning tea a chance to exercise the cars with a drive via Maldon to Rotunda Park in Newstead. Saturday evening continued the tradition of Dinner at the Castlemaine Town Hall.

Sunday started with assembly at the Castlemaine Market from where we drove via Smeaton to Laurel Park homestead in Kingston, in the region between Creswick and Daylesford, for our lunch, concours and presentation of awards.  Laurel Park was an early pioneering home of the Kingston district with more recently developed beautiful gardens;  the history of the homestead was well described in Kim Brownbill`s route notes.

As usual Kim`s route notes were well researched and full of interesting detail of the localities we passed through. Briefly quoting some of  the notes sums up his intentions in setting the route;

 “Roads to be driving roads- narrow, with lots of bends and dips – roads on which Lancias excel, …. countryside to be interesting and varied and routes to include some of the historical areas of the Central Victorian Goldfields”

After the rally Jamie Bryce (entries; 8th Series Lamda and 2nd Series Fulvia) wrote of his rally impressions in the Register Newsletter and eloquently described the enjoyment of Castlemaine and how well Kim had achieved his intention. Quoting Jamie, “Travelling in a Lancia always gets me thinking about the science of driving, a discipline that we have come close to losing in the technology-rich 1990`s. I frequently travel the country roads of Victoria in the course of my work, driving a modern car, very comfortable and very competent, but isolated and remote behind anti-lock, electronic assistance and air conditioning. The same roads driven in a Lambda or a Fulvia take on an entirely different perspective – you are involved all the time, reading the road, planning ahead …. enjoying every metre.” He continued; ” there are many other aspects that I could refer to, such as the visit to the Castlemaine Goal, the dinner at the Town Hall, or waking to the beat of a Lambda motor outside our motel. But basically they all contribute to the same end: Castlemaine is about people and Lancias, and enjoying both”.

Ruggero Giannini – Guest Of Honour

Castlemaine Guest of Honour, Ruggero Giannini was the man who showed the way forward with the Fulvia. When the Fulvia Berlina was released in March 1963 even the keenest Lancia supporter had to admit the car was under powered.

Ruggero Giannini was then  working in his family`s automotive tuning company and in association  with the Rome Lancia Concessionario, bought 500 of Lancia`s stockpile of Fulvias and modified the engines to increase power from 58 to 71 bhp. The sales success of the Giannini –modified Berlinas convinced the factory of the need for more power and the modifications formed the basis of the Fulvia 2C.

The Giannini Company had grown successful by specialising in preparing sports and racing engines in Italy and during the late sixties was producing up to 300 highly modified and embarassingly fast Fiat 500s a month.

Ruggero Giannini moved to Australia with his family in 1971 to work as a development engineer with Repco and later with the aluminium producer, Comalco. Ruggero`s standing in the international automotive profession was demonstrated by his role as consultant to firms as diverse as Fiat, Jaguar and General Motors prior to his retirement in 1991.

Other important overseas guests at Castlemaine 12 included our Patron, and Guest of Honour on a previous occasion, Dott. Ing. Carlo Bianchi Anderloni, noted Italian automotive journalist  Dott. Ing. Vittorio Fano and UK  Lancia Motor Club Honorary Life Vice-President Mrs. Betty Rees, a regular visitor to our Castlemaine Rallies.

Notes provided by Mick Allan

Trophy Winners

Class Winner Category Information
Pre-Lambda John Shellard, Kappa Tourer
Don Wright Shield John Hannan, 6th Series Torpedo Best Recent Lambda Restoration
“A” Series Award Rosemary Halliday, Ardea Berlina Artena, Augusta, Astura, Appia, Ardea
Fobello Trophy      Angelo Catalano, 1st Series Berlina Best Aprilia
Clive Beattie Award Kerry Reynolds, 4th Series B20 Best Aurelia
Flaminia Trophy Con Kiossos, Flavia Berlina
Fulvia Trophy Brian Kane, 1st Series Coupe
Beta Trophy John Fisher, 2nd Series Beta HPE
Gerald Batt Trophy Stuart Paton, California Top 6th Series Lambda Long Distance Award, Aurelia or earlier – 2001 km from New South Wales
Norman Steward Shield Bill Richards Best Effort by a Register Member – production and printing of artwork and posters
Best Car in Show Kerry Reynolds, 4th Series Aurelia

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