Automotoclub Storico Italia officially delivers at the Quirinale the Certificates of Identity and the ASI Gold Plates to the four Presidential Lancia Flaminias which have served the Italian Heads of State since 1961, becoming a true symbol of the country. In the presence of the representatives of the General Secretariat of the Quirinale, of the Intendency Service, of the Cuirassiers Regiment and of the Garage and Car Park Sector, Alfredo Guarra, Anna Monorchio, Colonel Rino Coppola, Massimo Calvani and Luca Pastorelli, the ASI President Alberto Scuro handed over the certificates accompanied by the Vice President Agnese Di Matteo, the Federal Councilors Giuseppe Dell’Aversano and Costanzo Truini and the President of the Auto Technical Commission Vittorio Valbonesi. ‘I address all my gratitude – commented President Scuro – to the Head of State, the General Secretariat and the staff of the Quirinale for having chosen to honor the long career of these cars with the ASI Gold Plates in recognition of a very important historical and culture of our country. Heritage that we have the duty to protect as a memory of the evolution of knowledge.
This is the mission that ASI will continue to work in favor of historic motoring, alongside the institutions, because it represents part of Italy’s material heritage’. ‘Seeing Belfiore, Belmonte, Belvedere and Belsito all together – added Scuro – fills us with emotion. I thank the ASI Technical Commission for the commitment and expertise made available every day to the Federation and enthusiasts. Even today, more than sixty years after their construction, these four Flaminias are in a perfect state of conservation and originality thanks to the care and maintenance of the staff in charge of the Quirinale”. The Flaminia Presidential is the daughter of the model presented in 1957 at the Geneva Motor Show as the high-class flagship of Lancia. In 1961, Carrozzeria Pininfarina created the first long-wheelbase Presidential version, called ‘335’, used for the first time by President Giovanni Gronchi on the occasion of the visit to Italy of Queen Elizabeth II of England. In the following months, three more examples were made, baptized with the same names as the horses in the Quirinale stables. They are cars that have kept the honor of Italian motoring high during the visits of heads of state such as John Fitzgerald Kennedy and Charles De Gaulle. The Belfiore and Belvedere are always available at the Quirinale for official parades, while the Belsito and Belmonte are preserved and exhibited at the Historical Museum of Military Motorization in Rome and at the National Automobile Museum in Turin.
