Chassis plate markings

[LanciaFin]

I'm in possession of a Flavia Berlina with chassis plate marking beginning as "819.310/5", when other very few Flavias (type 815) I've seen don't have this "/5" marking, or anything like that. What does it stand for, and are there other similar options too? Of course the stamped chassis number on the body doesn't have this extension.

Is there any kind of service at Lancia (like there is at Alfa), which could tell the production year from the chassis number?

[Michael Findlay]

The 819/310 models started in 1967 and finished in 1970. Lancia body numbers tended to start at 1001 and they made 4334 of these ones. You should be able to work out the rough date of production by dividing that figure into the four year production run. If I do the same with my 1963 PF Coupe which is no. 5883 and start from 1001, I assume it was the 4883th produced. It was registered in 1963 which was the first year of production and the model stopped in 1968 with 15,568 produced. There is a lot of chatter that the Lancia build records were lost in a flood some years ago. I have no idea if this is so. I also do not know what the '5' indicates. I assume the full body number follows?

Good luck with the search,

Michael Findlay

[LanciaFin]

According to the VIN's of my Berlinas (65xx and 63xx), they made way more than 4334 of these ones. The newer one is stated to be model '69 in its registration papers. The engine castings have year '68 on them, and on the cylinder heads there are more precise dates 15.3.68 and 27.3.68 on them. Of course I cannot be sure, if the engine is original. The older one (which has the /5-extension on chassis plate) didn't have an engine with it, so there's no possibility to compare.

The one with /5-extension is LX-spec, maybe that explains something? My project Berlina has lost its chassis plate (along with many other parts I've been collecting for a while.) I'm interested of this topic just to get the markings as they originally are supposed to be, when I get a new plate.

[lancialib]

I have also wondered about the /5 chassis designation. When I was UK Lancia Club Librarian, and afterwards, I collected many chassis numbers and have records of cars throughout the 819 Flavia saloon range and the 2000 820 Saloon range with the /5 suffix to the chassis type. I used to think that it meant 4-speed or 5-speed gearbox, or possibly some other option like power steering or final drive ratio, but now, after studying the parts book carefully, I have noticed that the saloon Flavias were offered with an option for individual front seats, instead of bench seats. This would mean the car was a 5-seater rather than a 6-seater (3 in front, 3 in back). This is of course a guess.

In the case of the 820.211/5 for which I have a record, this could indeed mean a 5-speed and reverse gearbox. When they first came out they had a 4-speed and reverse gearbox.
Weernink's books give no clue about this, or any other books I have.
I attach an image of my Flavia 819 chassis plate (long-since scrapped), and this car did have separate front seats!

For the production records for the Flavia models, have a look at the factory records up-loaded not long ago to the http://www.viva-lancia.com/specials/cd/vin.php website.
Perhaps someone in Italy knows about this for sure.
Paul Mayo

[LanciaFin]

I think your assumption about power steering matched at least in my case. There had been power steering in the Berlina with /5 designation. The options of bench seats/individual seats are very probably binded with the location of gear shift lever, and that is designated in VIN: 819.x00 for column shift, 819.x10 for floor shift.