Lancia: Lancia Flaminia for the Presidents 🎥
TRADITION Since 1961, the Lancia Flaminia has been the official vehicle of the President of the Italian Republic. The vehicle has since been used at the inauguration of ten presidents to the delight of passers-by.
John F. Kennedy and heads of state, such as Queen Elizabeth II, traveled on the Flaminia on official occasions.
Now the presidential Lancia Flaminia was once again rolling through the streets of Rome. Sergio Mattarella, just re-elected President of Italy, drove it from Palazzo Montecitorio, where he took the oath of office in front of both houses of Parliament, to his residence.
In a symbolic embrace of the Italian capital, the route led from the Montecitorio to Piazza Venezia, the Monument to the Unknown Soldier and finally to Palazzo del Quirinale.
Landaulet from Carrozzeria Pinin Farina
Lancia presented the Flaminia model at the 1957 Geneva Motor Show. The brand's new flagship offered a V6 gasoline engine with 2.5 liters of displacement, luxurious equipment and high quality workmanship. In 1961, Carrozzeria Pinin Farina designed a so-called Landaulet for the fleet of the Italian president.
The vehicle, with a fixed roof at the front and a soft top at the rear, was given the model designation Lancia Flaminia 335, derived from the wheelbase, which was extended to 335 centimeters. Within a few months, Pinin Farina produced four examples.
Intercom for communication
Following the tradition of naming the stables formerly housed in the Palazzo del Quirinale, the four vehicles were given the names of thoroughbred horses of the Scuderie del Quirinale: Belfiore, Belmonte, Belvedere and Belsito.
All Flaminia were painted midnight blue and had black Connolly leather seat covers and an intercom system for communication with the driver. The rear bench seat and two additional fold-down seats provided seating for up to five people, while the driver's cabin had two additional seats.
Belfiore and Belvedere for special occasions
The Lancia Flaminia 335 first rolled over the streets of Rome in 1961, when President Giovanni Gronchi received the British Queen Elizabeth II in Italy. In 2001, the vehicles underwent a careful restoration. Two of the Lancia Flaminia 335 are still part of the fleet of the presidential palace.
Belfiore and Belvedere are still used today on special ceremonial occasions by the Italian president as well as the country's highest officials. Belsito has found a new home at the Historical Museum of Military Vehicles in Rome. And Belmonte has been on display at the National Automobile Museum in Turin since 2001.
