・Rare RHD model

・Extensive restoration in 2010

・Under 48,000 miles from new

・Enthusiast owned and maintained

・MOT-exempt and zero-rate VED

While the World Rally Championship might be best known for its 1990s Japanese homologation specials and the Group B era, the most successful brand in the sport's history is Lancia. That success was built on the back of the brand's Fulvia.

Originally a relatively ordinary four-door saloon – or “Berlina” - Lancia introduced the Coupe model Fulvia in 1965 and used that for a return to motorsport, this time on the rough stuff. The Fulvia was so successful that it won the last championship before the modern WRC – the International Championship for Manufacturers – in 1972, and jointly won the 1974 WRC with its replacement, the famous Stratos.

Zagato used the Coupe to create the Sport model. Designed by Ercole Spada, the Zagato Sport was a more aerodynamic and cultured machine for fast road use.  Only around 7,000 were built, in two generations, with the last cars produced in 1972.

This Zagato is one of the Series I models, reaching the UK's roads in August 1970. It's run through six owners since then, although the paper trail seems to indicate that two of the owners might be the same person.

It hasn't changed hands quickly either. Two of the owners have kept the Z for 13 years apiece, and it's been in the current owner's hands since 2013. In that time it's covered 48,000 miles, and only 3,000 of those have come in the last decade.

The previous owner, and thus the car, is well known among the Lancia Motor Club owners' collective. It benefited from what appears to be a total overhaul – everything but “glass and gearbox” - under his ownership in the early 00s, to the point of being awarded the club's “Peter Pompili Trophy” for concours condition Sport Zagato cars in 2011.

After that, the current owner picked it up and it has been in storage ever since. It's part of a large private collection, some other examples of which are also available through Car and Classic Auctions.

There's a good-sized folder for the Zagato, largely assembled by the previous owner. That consists of a significant number of invoices and receipts for work carried out, including a bare metal repair and respray of the shell, along with Wilton carpets. Combined, these two bills alone account for £3,500 of work, and that's before the sheaf of receipts from Lancia specialist Omicron Classico.

In addition there's a stack of photographs from shortly after the car's restoration, a collection of tax discs dating back to 1982, old MOTs (and the car has flown through every one since 2006), and even photocopies of old V5/V5C documents back to 1980. There's also an original Lancia Fulvia Coupe instruction book.

It's a small cabin for a small car, but the Zagato Sport packs a lot in. Technically the car is a 2+1, with a rear bench behind the front seats, although it's not somewhere that looks terribly comfortable!

The rear bench and the front seats are in excellent condition, with no hint of wear or damage to the surfaces. All three are covered in black vinyl which extends throughout much of the car – the rear interior panels and door cards – and all is in similarly great condition.

There's green carpeting throughout, extending into the surprisingly generous rear boot space. Along with the black fabric headlining, it appears to be unmarked.

The Fulvia's wood dash looks original, or close to it, and all the instruments are clear and functional. One of the Zagato's curious party pieces is the rear hatch, which opens a small amount on an electric switch to extract air from the cabin; when we went to see it, the function didn't work, but this seems to be intermittent.

Part of the restoration in 2000-2001 included a complete strip, weld, and repaint of the body shell, and the Zagato's red paintwork has largely stood up to the passage of time since. For the most part it's still in excellent condition, with the odd stone chip around the front wheel arches.

There's a larger patch on the boot lid which looks like a crack over filler, though it's confined to this small panel and easily addressed. Importantly, we can't find any sign of paint bubbling anywhere.

That continues underneath, where you can see the most benefit from the restoration. The floorpan appears to be in excellent condition, and all the mechanical components are similarly clean and true. There's no indication that this is a 51-year old Lancia living on the UK's heavily salted roads whatsoever.

All four wheels are also in great condition, and unusually sport the chromed Flavia hub caps with Lancia lettering. Each has a radial Michelin tyre with plenty of tread.

Like other models in the Fulvia range, the Zagato is powered by the famous narrow-angle Lancia V4 – in this case a 1.3-litre unit. Starting from warm, the V4 sounds just as it ought, although the current keeper advises that sometimes from cold it appears to only run on two cylinders.

Nonetheless, in our presence the engine  behaved itself, starting up and idling well. There's no smoking that would indicate a serious defect either.

In the low speeds around the storage compound we couldn't detect any fault with the steering, brakes, or suspension, and the four-speed manual gearbox seemed to function well in both forward and reverse gears.

Combining the famous brands of Lancia and Zagato into one machine should be enough appeal all by itself, and the Fulvia is perhaps the most accessible Zagato-styled car out there. The rest of the car's attributes speak for themselves, and values are starting to soar on these highly desirable machines.