British classic and vintage restoration specialist, Thornley Kelham, has revealed the full story behind its restoration of one of the most significant historic Lancias, the Aurelia B20GT raced by Giovanni Bracco.
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For years, this competition Lancia Aurelia B20GT with great racing heritage and a unique lowered roofline was thought to have been lost. But it was found by chance in a storage facility in Southend by Simon Thornley, co-founder of Thornley Kelham.
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The car was bought new in 1951 by Giovanni Bracco, a wealthy privateer and associate of Gianni Lancia himself, and took the racing world by storm just days after it left the factory. That year, within 3 months, it placed 2nd overall at the Mille Miglia, 1st at the Caracalla Night Race and 1st in class at Le Mans 24 Hours. Later that year it would go on to win the Pescara 6 Hour Race, also with Giovanni Bracco at the wheel.
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The car lined up at 1951’s Carrera Panamericana with its newly lowered roofline, but Bracco crashed out of the race on Day 4 while in a strong position. The following year, it headed back to the Panamericana with a new driver at the wheel. Mexican architect, Paredo, had bought the car from Bracco, rebuilt it and went on to finish 9th in class at the gruelling 2,000-mile border-to-border race in Mexico. From there, the car’s history is scarce and it was thought to have been lost for years, until it was found in the USA.
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Simon Thornley inspected the car and found that the engine and chassis plates were correct, filled in holes in the bonnet matched up to bonnet straps fitted in period and a lever next to the passenger seat seemed to fit with an internal system for adjusting the rear suspension, which was said to have been fitted to this car.
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Underneath the peeling white paint, the hump back rear – grafted on at some point in its life – and the rust, all signs pointed to the fact that this was indeed B20-1010: the very same car that dominated Europe’s rally scene in the summer of 1951.
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Thornley Kelham took up the challenge to restore this car back to the condition in which it lined up at the 1951 Carrera Panamericana with Bracco at the wheel, preserving as much of its originality as possible.
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The whole rear had to be removed and a new one was crafted by the Thornley Kelham team to specifications assembled from 3D scanning and fibreglass moulds. The metalwork team were also responsible for making the body structurally sound, salvaging what they could of the original and strengthening where necessary.
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The B20-1010 was black in period but – as was traditional for Italian cars – painted red for its outing at Le Mans before being painted black again for its Carrera Panamericana debut. So, the Thornley Kelham team set about painting it black, then red and then black again.
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Much of the interior was unrecognisable, but careful research eventually led the team to the discovery that this Aurelia was fitted with Lancia Ardea seats in period. Using images from its race at the Carrera Panamericana, Rob O’Rourke began the process of perfectly retrimming the interior to its original specification.
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Taking into account the extensive bodywork, interior trimming, mechanical restorations and paintwork, the Thornley Kelham team spent well over 4,000 hours and more than three years restoring the ex-Bracco Aurelia B20GT.
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The restoration work led to the creation of Thornley Kelham’s limited-edition Aurelia ‘Outlaw’. The one-of-nine cars each feature a lowered roofline, like the Bracco car, but come with a number of bespoke upgrades, including a bored-out fuel-injected Flaminia engine, modern disc brakes and nitrogen-filled front suspension.
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