Zagato has followed up its stunning Bentley Continental GTZ (revealed at the recent Geneva motor show) with an even more ambitious recreation of a 1930s Lancia -- of which just a handful were built in the first place.
The Italian coachbuilder-cum-styling house had announced in 2006 its plans to create a modern-day replica of the 1937 Lancia Aprilia Sport -- a car crafted by current company boss Andrea Zagato's grandfather Ugo.
But here's where things get tricky. Just four examples of the Aprilia Sport were built in the first place, and none survive today, which meant all the Zagato team had to go on were a couple of faded photographs.
In the best carrozzeria (coachbuilder) practice, the streamlined bodywork of the new-age Zagato Lancia Aprilia Sport had to be sculpted into shape by hand and using traditional tools, just as had been done seven decades ago with the original.
Several recreations of vintage classics seem to inherit modern-day performance levels, but rest assured, the car pictured alongside is no tearaway.
Under its rounded snout resides an Aprilia VR-4 motorcycle engine that serves up a rippling 35kW. This adds up to a top speed around 125km/h, but even this modest rate of knots is likely to feel a lot quicker on those skinny tyres and with bugs smacking you in the chops.
The whole exercise wasn't purely for kicks, as Zagato plans to hand-build and sell nine examples of the Aprilia Sport, priced at €150,000 apiece (that's $255k in our money).
It's certainly not chump change, but it doesn't seem excessive either, given the apparent quality (and ultra-exclusivity) of the classic roadster.
It'd be just the thing to blow everyone away at the annual Auto Italia Canberra -- an Italian car extravaganza held annually on the lawns of the Old Parliament House (more here).
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