Beschreibung:

B20S1859 was the second to last B20 to leave the production line being completed on October 8, 1958. As with many in the collection, the Lancia is fortunate to retain interesting early documentation thanks to the diligence by its owners in researching the car's history. These include a copy of the original invoice which confirms that the car was sold from Lancia in Turin to a company named Everest S.A. of Mexico on December 23, 1958. The car was supplied in grey paint and matching grey interior and additional charges were made for a Blaupunkt stereo and electric aerial, as well as for export documents from Genoa. Copies of concurring documentation on arrival in Mexico note it to have been registered new on July 6, 1959. Everest S.A. can be assumed to be local agents as the name that is then listed is Guillermo Gallegos Vargas of Lomas, Mexico. There are two further copies of registration documents still with Vargas in 1962 and 1965, while also on file is an invoice from Lancia and Abarth agents MotorItalia of Mexico for 5,000 pesos for an engine change to number 5528 in June 1962. The car's history beyond 1965 is not charted. But, by 1979 the car had crossed the border and was with a Dr. Vincent Whitehead of Houston, TX, who wrote to the American Lancia Club and supplied photos of the car which were subsequently published in the October/November issue of Lanciana. Still wearing Mexican registration plates for '78/79, the car must have been a recent acquisition at this point by Dr. Whitehead. As illustrated at this point, the car wore then as it does now Carrozzeria Touring badges on its rear fender sides and on its hood. It also sported stacked headlights, non-standard tail lights and a dramatically lowered roof line behind its doors backwards, with long tapering rear windows. This raked profile and details represent something of a conundrum. It is a trail that the owners have pursued with Fiat, who can confirm no more than the date that Lancia produced the car, and that they had no evidence that says that Touring did or did not build the car! However a more helpful response was received from Bonhams own recent inquiries with the Lancia Club in Italy and Francesco Gandolfi who was able to confirm that he himself had questioned Touring's Carlo Anderloni while he was still alive on the topic whether he had ever worked on this or other cars that claim a similar link and he had confirmed that he had not built any Aurelias, period. This is of course endorsed by the fact that the car is steel bodied and not on Superleggera principles. On balance, it seems that this styling can only be explained as having been a former owner's own interpretation or modification of this late B20S, a 'period custom' for want of a better expression, which is known to have been popular as popular in this period as it is today. An Aurelia had always been on the wanted list for the collection and when this appeared for sale, it was naturally very intriguing. It was acquired more than a decade ago as a near finished restoration, requiring re-fitting of its interior, chrome and motor. When listed for sale it was stated to have had only two owners and to have covered just under 59,000 kilometers. It was listed as equipped then as now with Nardi floor change, Nardi twin two-barrel Weber carb set up, cast Nardi fan and Nardi steering wheel. The owners undertook to have all of this work completed, starting with having the engine rebuilt by Engines by Elsasser, the chrome replated by Paul's Chrome Plating Inc. of Mars, PA. and the remaining mechanical aspects attended to by Gran Turismo Service of Holtsville, NY, with parts supplied by Lancia Parts Consortium America of Pittsburgh. Invoices on file are in excess of $20,000. The body was restored in house, during which time they examined the coachwork closely and found it to have been well-constructed and not a 'home-made' affair, again suggesting that its modification had been carried out by professionals at wha