Lancia Aurelia B 20 Coupé - 1951

The good results achieved by the Lancia Aurelia B20 coupé on its competitive debut in 1951 came at a time of racing success for Lancia, which started the year with the class victory of the new Aurelia B21 in the Giro di Sicilia. The GT cars specially prepared for racing were equipped with the two-litre engine of the B21 with power increased from 75 to 90 HP, capable of a speed of 175 km/h.

The race chosen for the new car's debut was the 1951 Mille Miglia, in which Lancia competed with four virtually standard-production B20 GT 2000s. The car driven by Bracco/Maglioli finished a very encouraging 2nd overall behind Villoresi's Ferrari 4500, an excellent performance reinforced by the good finishes of the other three cars, in 5th, 7th and 17th positions. Commenting on the XVIII Mille Miglia in "Auto Italiana" magazine just after the event, the famous racing-driver, journalist and team leader Giovanni Lurani wrote: "If a fresh slogan had to be found to define every edition of the Mille Miglia, we would have to name the 1951 race the Lancia Aurelia Mille Miglia!"

In June 1951, Bracco's B20 won its class and finished twelfth overall in the Le Mans 24 Hours. Also in 1951, B20 cars won the Pescara "6 hours" and the Coppa delle Dolomiti.

The two litre B20 also repeated its racing success at the next year's Mille Miglia, with a third place overall and four cars finishing in the first ten: wonderful publicity, especially in view of how little was spent on preparing the cars, which earned the Aurelia the image of a production car so efficient and safe that it could even be used successfully in races.

 

1.991 cc

V6

90 PS @ 4.500 rpm

Vmax : 175 km/h

 

Techno Classica 2017

Essen

Deutschland - Germany

April 2017

Done