Western Lancia is the South West England's friendliest Lancia Specialist! It was formed when serious Lancista Alan bought a small company which specialised in rebuilding and restoring 1950s and 1960s Lotuses. See www.xtraspecialsevens.co.uk for details of what we do.
Mick, the Lotus mechanic who works with the business, and the 'knowledge' around here, is a former F2 mechanic (and what better recommendation - if you have a job like this you had better know what you are doing! Racing mechanics have to do 'all-nighters' to fix bent racing cars VERY well and VERY fast – and if they break during the race there are no excuses!).
Shortly after Alan started working with Mick he noticed that he had a large sticker on his toolbox that said 'Lancia'! It turned out that before he worked as a racing mechanic he used to work in a big Fiat/Lancia/Ferrari concessionaires (the first car he ever drove was a Ferrari!), and that he had 'cut his teeth' on Lancias around the time of the Beta, Gamma and Delta.
He even has some Lancia special tools in his toolbox, and he was responsible for a factory bulletin on the Beta, which rectified a weak point in the dash wiring loom. He can also do designs, plans and drawings on AutoCAD, and is an experienced panel and pattern maker.
The company operates from an industrial building in Devon which Alan had bought to accommodate his fleet of classic Lancias (this includes a lovely, almost all-original Series 1 Appia with an absolutely mint original interior, which was bought from the Minardi F1, Appia Furgoncino (van) in Britain, and a 'daily driver' Kappa V6. Alan also has an almost all-original 1937 Hudson Terraplane.Alan also runs http://www.oldcaraccessories.co.uk/ almost certainly the largest collection of period classic car accessories from 1930-1970 in the world.
Western Lancia can take on most jobs, and our labour rate is very low in relation most modern-day rates – and particularly in view of the specialist skills that we offer. Alan speaks good Italian, French and German, and this eases the search for parts considerably. He usually travels to Italy 3 times a year, partly for pleasure and partly in search of 'that elusive part'! If there is something 'hard to find' that is needed for your car while we are working on it, there is a good chance we can find it for you. We can also understand the Lancia books and manuals – no mean feat in itself!
We offer a unique and ground-breaking service that we think is a 'first'. For a small extra fee we can send you regular email updates with photographs of the work that has been done and information about the progress of your car. This stops that sinking feeling one so often gets when one goes to a garage to pay a bill, and it also means that you are in full control of what is happening to the car – and you can give instructions about the next day's work if you want to.
We will also photograph your car with a very high-quality (5 megapixel) digital camera during the repair process, and you can opt to have the pictures on a disc when it is ready (whether you have had them by email as well or not). This means that not only do you have full knowledge of what has happened to the car (so you know that we haven't hidden anything and we've done what we said we would!), but you also have the pictures and a permanent record, should you ever want to sell the car.
We have our own trailer with per-vehicle insurance of up to £22000, and can collect any car from anywhere in the U.K. or Europe for a very reasonable rate – try us for a quote, either if your Lancia doesn't run or if it is too nice to drive here for us to work on!
If were looking for a Lancia specialist who will sort out those difficult jobs, will be totally straight and up-front about the costs, and won't press you with 'fancy' bills, then do give us a try.
To sum up:
- Among the most competent mechanics you will ever find
- Very reasonable rates
- Quick work – you won't end up wondering where all the hours went, when you look at the bill!
- Parts found and provided if necessary – new or used
- Cars collected from anywhere in Europe for very competitive rates
- Regular updates by email and/or digital photographs – FULL accountability
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