Nobody likes paying taxes. Perhaps none more so than the Italians.
Yet, as an Italian citizen and a classic car buff, I’m glad to know that at least some of my money goes into the upkeep and operation of what might very well be the most elegant government vehicle still in active service worldwide.
Built in 1960, the Italian presidential limousine is a unique derivative of the Lancia Flaminia known as the “335.” The number refers to the vehicle’s wheelbase length in centimeters (about 132 inches), and it’s no mere codename. In fact, the cars (four were made in total) are actually badged as such, with the number included in the chrome script placed between the rear bumper blade and the lower edge of the trunk. But while the Flaminia 335s undoubtedly are very handsome conveyances, there’s much more to them than that. And that’s because the story of how these special Lancias came to be is tied to a very specific time in Italian history.
In 1960, the Italian authorities were preparing to celebrate the nation’s first centenary with a large international labor exhibition scheduled to take place in Turin between May and October of the following year. And the timing could hardly have been better, as there were indeed plenty of reasons to celebrate.
The years between 1951 and 1963 saw Italy’s GDP grow by an average of 5.9% per year, peaking at 8.3% in 1961. Industrial output doubled over the same period, while exports rose by an average of 12% year-on-year. The country was going through what has since been called an “economic miracle,” and for good reason, as Italy had turned from a war-torn agrarian society into a modern industrial economy within a decade. So, while things weren’t by any means perfect, people felt, by and large, eager to embrace a future that looked bright and full of promise.
That aura of optimism was reflected in the design of the pavilions and exhibits of the “Italia ’61” Expo, which aimed to spread a glossy, positive image of technical progress. Many international heads of state and dignitaries were expected to visit, and that brought into sharp focus the rather sorry state of Italy’s presidential fleet.
At the time, the queen of the Italian presidential garage was still the Fiat 2800 “Torpedo Reale” from 1938. Not only were these vehicles well past their prime, but they also presented an image issue that was impossible to ignore. After all, welcoming the leaders of the free world in the same car that Mussolini used when he greeted Hitler would have been inappropriate, to say the least. There was no doubt the “new,” bustling Italy of the 1960s needed a presidential limo more befitting of the country’s new standing. And, with the U.K.’s Queen Elizabeth II expected to visit Italy in May of 1961, there was also no time to lose. So the call went directly to Lancia, with no formal contests or rival bids. That may seem slightly odd now, but it made perfect sense in the moment.
These days, the name Lancia is mainly associated with the Martini-liveried, fire-spitting rally cars of the 1980s. But in 1960, Lancia was something else. Exquisitely engineered and built with a remarkable contempt for trivialities like production costs and manufacturing efficiency, Lancias were arguably Italy’s finest cars. At the top of Lancia’s range sat the Flaminia, powered by a 2.5-liter V-6 engine that sent its power to a rear-mounted four-speed gearbox. As the largest and most luxurious sedan available in Italy at the time (the Maserati Quattroporte wouldn’t arrive until 1963), the Flaminia was thus the natural starting point for the limousine project. Still, by the time Lancia and Pininfarina were done with it, there would be surprisingly little left of the original car in the presidential Flaminias.
The Lancia Flaminia 335s are not only 24 inches longer than the regular model but also 5.5 inches wider and almost 5 inches taller. Therefore, every single body panel is different, even though it’s hard to tell, due to Pininfarina’s painstaking reproportioning of every element. But the differences don’t end there. The Flaminia, like all period Lancias, featured a unibody structure. Not so the presidential limousines, though, as the long wheelbase and convertible bodystyle led Lancia’s engineers to switch to a body-on-frame architecture to ensure adequate structural rigidity.
The finished result weighed in at over 4,600 lbs, nearly 1,300 more than a regular Flaminia sedan. Yet, surprisingly, no modifications were made to Lancia’s all-aluminum 2,457cc V-6 engine, rated at 102 HP. Drivetrain modifications were, in fact, limited to a shorter final drive for the manual transmission to allow the car to proceed at a walking pace without forcing the driver to abuse the clutch. Still, despite it being somewhat underpowered, the Flaminia 335 is said to return an average of 18 mpg and reach a top speed of approximately 90 mph. However, it’s fair to assume the latter hasn’t been put to the test in a very, very long time.
The presidential Flaminias racked up quite a lot of miles over their first few years. The list of illustrious passengers includes President Kennedy, who rode in the Lancia’s back seat during his visit to Italy in July of 1963.
Out of the four examples built, only two still reside in the presidential garage. One was gifted in 2001 to Turin’s National Automobile Museum, while another, the only one ever fitted with a transparent hardtop, is on display alongside other former presidential cars at a military vehicle museum in Rome. Currently, the Lancias only see the light of day once a year, on June 2nd, to carry the Italian president as he opens the traditional military parade along the Fori Imperiali in Rome.
Completely restored by Fiat at the turn of the Millennium, the presidential Lancias still look as good as they did over six decades ago, and thankfully, there are no plans to retire them anytime soon. The country and the world they were built for may be long gone, but the image of elegance and sophistication they project is utterly timeless, and it’s one I can definitely get behind.
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Matteo Licata received his degree in Transportation Design from Turin’s IED (Istituto Europeo di Design) in 2006. He worked as an automobile designer for about a decade, including a stint in the then-Fiat Group’s Turin design studio, during which his proposal for the interior of the 2010–20 Alfa Romeo Giulietta was selected for production. He next joined Changan’s European design studio in Turin and then EDAG in Barcelona, Spain. Licata currently teaches automobile design history to the Transportation Design bachelor students of IAAD (Istituto di Arte Applicata e Design) in Turin.
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