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THE HF BADGE & THE RED ELEPHANT

THE RED ELEPHANT

There are many contradicting stories with regards to the origin of the red elephant on all Lancia's competition cars. We believe the following to be correct…

In 1952, Scuderia Lancia competed in the Giro di Sicily with an Aurelia Series 2 with a lowered roof line. One of the drivers - Enrico Anselmi - had used an elephant as a personal emblem on his car for some years. He allowed the Lancia team to use "his" elephant. That was the first time the elephant was used on a Lancia competition car.

The symbol of the galloping elephant apparently originates in Eastern mythology as a symbol of victory, providing the trunk is stretched forward. This is how the elephant chosen by Gianni Lancia was drawn, first in light blue and later as now in bright red.

THE HIGH FIDELITY LOGO

In 1960, an exclusive club for loyal Lancia owners - the Hi.Fi. Club - was set up at the Geneva Motor Show by Lancia's Dr. Alfredo Della Seta. "Hi.Fi." stood for High Fidelity and owners who had purchased at least 6 new Lancia cars during any period were eligable for membership. Their radiator badge was engraved with the initials of the owner and the year of their first Lancia purchase. Stars corresponding to the number of Lancia cars owned were attached to the badge (white star for one car, blue for five and red for ten).

In 1961, the Flaminia Coupes competing in the European Touring car series (of which one was driven by Giorgio Pianta, one of the engineers heavily involved with the development of the later sports and rally cars) started using the letters H and F.

In 1963, a group of amateur owners set up the unofficial Lancia competition team. By 1965 this group grew into the official Lancia Squadra Corsa which had Cesare Fiorio as a freelance manager. His team combined the galloping red elephant and the letters "HF" on their cars.

In 1966, the letters "HF" for the first time were included in the name of the legendary Fulvia HF coupe which remained practically unbeatable on the world rally stages. The incredible success of the Fulvia HF ensured the "HF" badge became associated with high performance in motorsport and it was decided to make the "HF" sign the official logo of the company's sports cars. This tradition was further implemented when the mythical Stratos HF dominated rallying between 1974 and 1978.

In 1983, the HF logo was adopted again for the Delta HF turbo and thereafter on the Delta HF 4WD and the HF Integrale. With the introduction of the Evolution model of the Integrale, the HF letters were combined with the galloping red elephant. The elephants had been on the original badges for the Fulvia HF and the Stratos, at that time there were four elephants displayed.

FORMULA 1 - LANCIA D50

In 1953, after Lancia had been very successful with its D23 and D24 road racers, Gianni Lancia decided to aim at competing at the highest level of motorsport, a domain that was "owned"by the giants of that era - the Ferrari Supersqualo and the Mercedes-Benz W196.

The most famous racing car designer of that period was attracted - Vittorio Jano - the man responsible for the legendary Alfa Romeos P2 and P3. By introducing innovative and revolutionary design measurements, he created an absolute masterpiece - not only from a technical point of view but also aesthetically the car turned out to be, compared to its competitors, one of the most harmonious and proportionally pleasing single seater racing cars of all time . The list of major innovations is impressive:

The engine was tilted 12 degrees to its longitudinal axis. By doing this he was able to position the drive shaft adjacent the driver's seat as opposed to under the car. In turn this meant the frontal profile of the car was reduced and the centre of gravity was lowered, resulting in a more aerodynamic design with better road holding.

The gear box was combined with the differential and the multi-disc oil bath clutch. The entire unit was located transversely in the car to improve the weight distribution over both axles.

Two external fuel tanks were fitted between the front and rear wheels. This ensured again the weight of the fuel (whether the tanks are empty of ful) was evenly distributed. This also improved the aerodynamics of the car through continuity between front and rear wheels.

The gear box was combined with the differential and the multi-disc oil bath clutch. The entire unit was located transversely in the car to improve the weight distribution over both axles.

The 90 degrees V8 engine worked as a stress member in the metal tube chassis - the front suspension components were directly anchored to the engine. The use of the engine as a load bearing component of the chassis, was light years ahead of its time and is even today still used in Formula One.