Evian les Bains

Last April I mentioned that I would soon be working in a garage at Evian les Bains, and so I am!

Evian is a very attractive town situated on the shore of Lac Léman (Lake Geneva for the English) and a very popular holiday destination, given the lake, the proximity of Switzerland (16km up the road) the excellent surrounding countryside - Le Chablais - and I mustn't omit to mention the superb cheese from Abondance which is not far from Evian.

Anyway, to get to the point, I am here at the garage ready to welcome Fulvia owners and offer a wide range of mechanical services. I rather hope that if you are a new or newish visitor to this blog, that you will take a little time to read my numerous articles here which should show you that my 28 years spent in the company of Lancias, and mostly Fulvias, have not been entirely spent in vain.

I must add that here we are also knowledgeable and capable on Morgans (which we offer for sale) and Land Rovers too.


A bientôt (j'éspère!)

Still Alive

Just in case you were wondering!

I was browsing the excellent fora on Atlas today; these really are excellent for those interested in Motorsport. Apart from the "Racing Comments" forum which is concerned with current events in F1, there is the superb Nostalgia Forum and also the Technical Forum. The contributors to this are very well informed - at least most of them - and some of the contributors are obviously in the highest echelons of the Motor Industry - or perhaps Motorsport industry. The expertise and breadth of knowledge to be found there is quite simply breathtaking.

And it was a thread there that prompted this post.

Those of you who are "hands-on" Fulvia owners who cannot resist taking things apart may have been distressed to notice the sad state of your rocker shafts... Yes, Lancia in its wisdom (or perhaps they let the cost accountants out for a breath of air) chose to run the forged steel rockers directly on the hardened steel rocker shafts. If you have removed the valve gear you will probably have noticed the depressing wear in certain places. I should add, that had Lancia bitten the cost bullet and lined the rockers with bronze bushes which would be the normal engineering procedure (oil retention) amazingly the shafts would have worn probably just as much. In the 1930s, Lancia produced the wonderful Aprilia, a car years ahead of its time - like so many Lancias. The engine, a narrow-angle V4 of course, featured duralumin connecting-rods. These had no bearings, the dural ran directly onto the steel, and it was the crank that wore - not the rods!

Well here's a thread from the Atlas Technical Forum that is concerned with the subtleties of rocker shaft design and manufacture. Should appeal to the engineers and mathematicians amongst you!

Meanwhile there is a chance that I shall finally be in a position to offer you proper Fulvia (mechanical) attention if you live in the Geneva area or perhaps if you are on a pilgrimage to Turin! I may well be operaitng at a garage in Evian les Bains directly on the shore of Lake Geneva. If my expertise fails to attract you, then surely the view will!


Watch this space.

A bientôt