Hello everybody; this time I would like to talk about an history point :
why do the Lancia firm choosed the figures of red elephants on the "symbol label" of the famous "squadra corse" ?
that symbol is well known on the Fulvia HF; was it used before ?
Excuse my poor english; and thank you for any information
red elephants ,
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alan cooper
Re: red elephants ,
the elephants were originally blue and started some time in the 1950s, I was told on a visit to the lancia museum that the elephant was picked because it was regarded as lucky and was based upon some blue ceramic elephants that had been given to Gianni Lancia as a gift from India.....I think this is right but I remember the story badly. There are a few other legends as to why they used the elephants but this one seemed to me to be the most logical and came from a reliable source
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georges
Re: red elephants ,
Hi Alan, thank you for replying with intersting points of history in the Lancia family; Untill now I had not opportunity to visit the Lancia museum, I hope my wife will accept a trip to Torino the next time we go to Firenze or Venice...
I also searched aroud the roman history, to know who was Fulvia; she lived about 80 (died 40 years BC) and was married 3 times; the 2 first husbands were murdered (political opinions !) and the third was no less than Marcus Antonius, who later fell in love with Cleopatra....poor Fulvia !
She is the first women to be figured on a roman coin.
Most interesting, her grandfather (by her mother I think) was Cornelius Scipio Africanus himself and probably we have there a link to our elephants : Scipio defeated Hannibal (somewhere in Spain I think) (Hannibal well known to use elephants in his army) and may be our little elephants figures the enemys of the "Scipio-Fulvia" family and of Rome by the way; and I add one more supposition : the three elephants are represented running from right to left, what I suppose to mean they are running "back home" (and seem to be happy to do so !)
All this needs to be confirmed. Our Fulvias have a long and passionating history to tell..
I also searched aroud the roman history, to know who was Fulvia; she lived about 80 (died 40 years BC) and was married 3 times; the 2 first husbands were murdered (political opinions !) and the third was no less than Marcus Antonius, who later fell in love with Cleopatra....poor Fulvia !
She is the first women to be figured on a roman coin.
Most interesting, her grandfather (by her mother I think) was Cornelius Scipio Africanus himself and probably we have there a link to our elephants : Scipio defeated Hannibal (somewhere in Spain I think) (Hannibal well known to use elephants in his army) and may be our little elephants figures the enemys of the "Scipio-Fulvia" family and of Rome by the way; and I add one more supposition : the three elephants are represented running from right to left, what I suppose to mean they are running "back home" (and seem to be happy to do so !)
All this needs to be confirmed. Our Fulvias have a long and passionating history to tell..
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alan cooper
Re: red elephants ,
you absolutely must go to Torino! As regards the Lancia museum you must book a visit in advance as it is not open to the public but you can also visit many other interesting places that will keep your wife happy too (as well as the biscaretti museum which is an absolute must). The lancia museum is really just a collection of cars in a large building that was once part of the aurelia production line, I hope it is still there because I know there has been much talk about it being broken up given the current finacial crisis within Fiat and Lancia.
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alan cooper
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georges
Re: red elephants ,
Thanks for your recommandations and enthusiasm ! Now i can't avoid to prepare a trip in this area for the next spring; a mix of tour to the lakes and various museums. I'm still on the track of the "elephants story"
Best regards
Best regards
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Peter de Wit
Re: red elephants ,
Bad news for the old Aurelia production line. I was there this summer realizing that the building has gone. This due to the reconstruction of the city for the Winter Olympics. I heard the museum is still in existence, though.
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georges
Re: red elephants ,
Thinking to track little red elephants, I am now tracking a museum....strange world ! Fortunately we have the cars.