Martini Monday with Lancia and Porsche racers, and Aston Martin returns to F1 ...

Last week, we learned of the consignment of the hugely impressive Lancia Martini Racing collection built up by John Campion to the British dealer Girardo. This prompted us to take a dive into our archives and we stumbled upon our photography from the 2018 Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance when there was a dedicated Martini class. Today we highlight a pair of the cars on display two years ago that are now available from Girardo.
First up is the second Lancia LC1 built. This Group 6 car was driven to outright victory in the 1981 Nürburgring 1000 km race. It was later rebuilt to Group C spec with a roof but fortunately, chassis 0002 was restored to its former glory. In 1983, the LC1 was replaced by the LC2, which was a proper Group C machine and the only works car to take on the Porsches in the early years of the popular category. The LC2 in the Campion collection is the very first one, which appeared only at Monza and Le Mans in 1983. Following a longterm spell in the hands of noted collector Manfredo Lippmann, it joined the Campion collection in more recent years.
Also on display at Amelia Island, and in the same class, was this mighty Porsche 935. It was the very first 935 and one of only two that were built to 1976 specifications. Before its appearance at Amelia Island, 935-001 had been meticulously restored.
There was also some big Aston Martin related news last week as a cash injection from Canadian businessman Lawrence Stroll saved the ailing company for now. He also owns the Racing Point Formula 1 team, which from 2021 will be rebadged Aston Martin. That will increase the brand's involvement in F1 further after joining as a Red Bull Racing title sponsor a few years ago. Hopefully, Aston Martin's return to Grand Prix racing proper will be more successful as their foray into Formula 1 back in the late 1950s. Among the cars raced back then was this DBR4, which is considered to be the most original of three surviving cars.

Enjoy the links:

[URL="https://www.ultimatecarpage.com/chassis/2623/Lancia-LC2-0001.html"]1983 Lancia LC2 (0001)[/URL]

[URL="https://www.ultimatecarpage.com/chassis/1066/Lancia-LC1-0002.html"]1982 Lancia LC1 (0002)[/URL]

[URL="https://www.ultimatecarpage.com/chassis/998/Porsche-935-935-001.html"]1975 Porsche 935 (935-001)[/URL]

[URL="https://www.ultimatecarpage.com/chassis/2767/Aston-Martin-DBR4-DBR4-3.html"]1959 Aston Martin DBR4 (DBR4/3)[/URL]