{"id":16139,"date":"2010-09-17T11:31:59","date_gmt":"2010-09-17T10:31:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.influx.co.uk\/wordpress\/?p=16139"},"modified":"2023-01-24T14:11:02","modified_gmt":"2023-01-24T14:11:02","slug":"montecarlo-or-bust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/features\/montecarlo-or-bust\/","title":{"rendered":"Montecarlo or Bust!"},"content":{"rendered":"

The North of the 80s, the North of my coming of age felt like a giant oil-grey canvas and we stamped our youthful enthusiasm across it in a rainbow of defiance. Against a backdrop of the miners strike<\/a>, soaring unemployment and football violence I lived for the tones of Marlene Shaw extolling the virtues of California Soul<\/a>, lighting up some dark, smokey club we had descended on, candy coloured Lambrettas lined up outside in the drizzle.<\/p>\n

We robbed and plundered elements of caf\u00e9 culture from across the globe. We shunned the parka, but embraced the three-button suit, we snubbed the common lines of the Escort, the Capri, but worshiped at the temple of all things Auto Italia. Not that the latest Milanese exotica were within our reach \u2013 just keeping a GP200<\/a> in two star was costly enough. Perhaps that\u2019s why I still harbour dreams of cruising the Riviera in something fast, in something stylish, in something born of the imagination of one of Italy\u2019s great design geniuses.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n

And there she sat, preserved in her humidity-controlled catacomb, lines clearly visible under the shroud: two seats, mid-engined, flying buttresses, penned by the great Carrozzeria Pininfarina. But the object of my attention was not the 60s icon on my left. The Sophia Loren like curves of the red Ferrari 246 Dino<\/a> may have caught my eye, but it was the Series 2 Lancia Montecarlo tucked away at the back that I was here to see.<\/p>\n

A metallic blue brooding beauty, she was all high cheekbones, dark eyebrows, sharp jaw-line in that Margaux Hemingway 1980s kind of way. As an ex-press car, she\u2019d been splashed in glamorous spreads across the glossies and I\u2019d lusted after her through finger-worn features. Now she was coming home with me.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n

Launched as the spiritual big brother of Fiat X1\/9<\/a>, the Montecarlo was not a sales success. For all its sharp lines, inspired chassis and free-revving willingness, many reviews labelled it underpowered and noisy.<\/p>\n

After a couple of years the car was quietly withdrawn. That would normally be the end of the story, but being Italian, endings are made to be re-written, redesigned. With fettled brakes, larger alloys and a grill to match the Delta Integrale<\/a>, the re-launched Montecarlo hit the streets at the start of the Walkman<\/a> decade.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n

So how is it living with an 80\u2019s supermodel? This rarefied beauty certainly attracts attention at watering holes. The sculpted cockpit is reminiscent of many Ferraris of the era. Sitting in the space-frame seat, the beautiful leather Momo wheel is small and perfectly positioned. Yes it may block out the speedo, the indicator, the warning lights, but you can see the rev counter and in an era that was all about power lunches and power dressing, seeing the needle race through the power band was what it was all about.<\/p>\n

The engine sits just behind the driver in the centre of the chassis and at mid revs, with the windows closed, the interior reverberates to the amplified roar of the sports exhaust. But where the Montecarlo really comes into its own is blasting along rural blacktops, winding though coastal lanes: it roams the countryside swooping and turning like a Peregrine Falcon<\/a>, totally unflappable through the esses.<\/p>\n

On a warm autumn day with the windows down, I dream of sweeping along the Italian coastline, heading for some beachfront caf\u00e9 bar to nonchalantly abandon my ride in a no-parking zone, knowing the passing Carabinieri <\/a>will merely nod in admiration at this stylish little \u2018automobile raffinata\u2019 before ticketing the oil-grey Audi parked alongside.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n

Photography: Demi Taylor<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chris Nelson recounts his affair with an 80s supermodel<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1779,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cars","category-features"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMontecarlo or Bust! | Influx Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The story of one man's love affair with his Lancia Montecarlo, an Eighties supermodel.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/features\/montecarlo-or-bust\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Montecarlo or Bust! | Influx Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The story of one man's love affair with his Lancia Montecarlo, an Eighties supermodel.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/features\/montecarlo-or-bust\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Influx Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-09-17T10:31:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-01-24T14:11:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/Monte-badge.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Michael Fordham\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@influxmag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@influxmag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Michael Fordham\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/features\/montecarlo-or-bust\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/features\/montecarlo-or-bust\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Michael Fordham\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/#\/schema\/person\/a6c91b312024b67eded5a6ab27166bac\"},\"headline\":\"Montecarlo or Bust!\",\"datePublished\":\"2010-09-17T10:31:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-01-24T14:11:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/features\/montecarlo-or-bust\/\"},\"wordCount\":598,\"commentCount\":2,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/features\/montecarlo-or-bust\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/Monte-badge.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Cars\",\"Features\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/features\/montecarlo-or-bust\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/features\/montecarlo-or-bust\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/features\/montecarlo-or-bust\/\",\"name\":\"Montecarlo or Bust! 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