GOING WEST

What would you choose to drive nearly 3000 miles across the USA in two weeks? Massimo Delbò picked a 1930 Lancia Type 227 Dilambda Cabriolet - which wasn't without issues...

-  Massimo Delbò

Going West. Who hasn't dreamed, at least once in their life, of crossing the USA from ocean to ocean? For me, this desire stemmed from a mix of beautiful and inspiring on the road' books, Hollywood films, and stories of the legendary pioneers who made the journey in their Buckboard wagons. I didn't even once envisage the journey being from West to East. No, to my mind a proper Trans-Am odyssey has to follow the sun.

As for the car, forget a practical rental. It has to be a classic, even better if it's pre-war, to add some atmosphere to the adventure. As for my companion, I met Filippo Sole (coincidentally, his family name means 'sun' in Italian) a few years ago; he is ten years younger than me and crazier in his approach to life but we share many ideals, including a love of pre-war classics. He restores his mostly with his own hands.

We first talked seriously about a coast-to-coast trip in late 2019, proposing to use Filippo's 1938 Lancia Astura Cabriolet Pinin Farina. Then Covid hit and the project was put on hold; the car won its class at Pebble Beach in 2021 and, as we left the stage, we promised ourselves that Spring 2022 would be our time.

The choice of car changed: here you see Filippo's freshly restored 1930 Lancia Type 227 Dilambda Cabriolet by Carlton, chassis number 27-611. It is a one-off car, sold new in England to Sir Douglas Montgomery Bernard Hall, 2nd Baronet (1891-1962). It was he who commissioned the London-based Carlton Carriage Company to complete the rolling chassis with a sporty-looking body. The resulting Dilambda was nicknamed 'Blue Shadow' 'BS' was noted on the original registration document - likely because of the two-tone grey-blue exterior with blue interior.