Steady Special ~ A Love Story

What is new from the other side of the Pond? My good friend submitted this Love Story

FAMOUS FORMER OWNER AND A VERY ‘SPECIAL’ LANCIA REUNITED AT AUTOSPORT INTERNATIONAL 2014 AFTER ALMOST SIXTY YEARS

The ex-Ronald ‘Steady’ Barker 1934 Lancia Astura makes its UK public début at Autosport International as the ‘Steady Special’, the car its owner redesigned almost 60 years ago

Currently undergoing complete restoration in Thornley Kelham’s workshops and, in the best coachbuilding tradition, soon to sport a bespoke body, the 1934 Lancia Astura ‘Steady Special’, once belonging to Autocar road tester and star columnist ‘Steady’ Barker, is unveiled at Autosport International 2014.

The Steady Special is no ordinary classic car: it is a piece of British as well as Italian automotive history. Steady Barker purchased it as a mammoth six-seat limousine and chopped almost four feet out of the chassis, replacing the limo body with a lighter, enclosed sports racer shell, fronted by a modified DB2 bonnet. This is the very car he drove to an interview for the position as Autocar's road tester in 1955, later securing the job as road test editor; he also raced it in the early Fifties.

Having lived a romantic life of varied fortunes, much like Steady himself, the car was delivered to specialist restorer Thornley Kelham’s premises in Gloucestershire in 2012. They were chosen by the Lancia’s current owner, classic car enthusiast and Guild of International Engineering Specialists founder Michael Scott.

“Our brief was to return the car to its original splendour, as well as turn Steady’s original design sketches of some sixty years ago into reality,” says Wayne Kelham, one of Thornley Kelham’s directors. “This has required a full restoration, including engine, suspension, gearbox and brakes. We are bringing the car back to life, including the fabrication of an all-aluminium body based on Steady’s sketches, turned into reality with the help of the latest technology, using the expertise of Stuart Brown of 3D Engineering.”

The car, fittingly unveiled at Autosport International (which, like Autocar, is part of the Haymarket publishing titles) will soon be ready to be driven again by Steady Barker, almost sixty years later. “I test drove the driving chassis in November, and was happy with the way the car responded; I cannot wait to see it, completed in all but details, at Autosport,” said Steady Barker. Big celebrations are planned for Steady’s 94th birthday in April, when the finished Steady Special will be a suitable carriage for the occasion.

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