Delta Italian Rally Passion Fountain Pen

Tags

Delta, Delta Rally Passion, Italian, Italian Pen, Maiora, Nettuno

The manner in which Delta was reborn could have come straight out of Italian opera with two of the three original families seeking to keep the name. In the end Nino Marino was able to add it to his Maiora and Nettuno 1911 brands under his Maiora Pen Company. Since then Delta has been producing pens not only in the style of the old Dolce Vita but also new and interesting designs such as this.

From what I can tell there are actually three pens in the series. British Rally Passion in British racing green, French Rally Passion in Bleu de France, and this the Italian Rally Passion in rosso corsa. As a Brit you would assume I would want the green pen, but as a former Alfa Romeo owner (and one with the 3 litre Busso engine to boot) this is certainly the version most appropriate to me (though I do also rather like Alpines).

My old Alfa Romeo 164 Lusso 3.0 V6

I was leant this pen by the bleach and ink artist mystro himself, Nick Stewart.

From various sources.

Whilst this pen is advertised with a picture of a Lancia Stratos is it actually the Lancia Fulvia HF Coupe and GT Juniors which offer many of the design queues. Cars I would love to try to drive but could never own due to the fear they would rot within minutes of being exposed to the British weather.

The body is slim, cigar shaped and purposeful. The yellow ink window is reminiscent of the yellow tinted driving lights from night races, with a Tricolore bands between that and a ring before the section. While not on those red racing classics of the 1960s and 1970s, the Tricolore stripes were present on the white Martini Lancia Stratos. The red, or rather scarlet, reminds me of Ferrari, Alfa Romeo (as you can see above mine was red as well) and Lancia being hard driven round mountain passes and on race tracks with crowds and photographers lined up along on the edge and even in the road.

There is text stamped into the body in three rows, DELTA ITALY, ITALIAN RALLY PASSION, LIMITED EDITION 015/100. The stamping is consistent, so well applied, but a little ragged at some of the edges. Not something you would notice at a glance, but you will if you try to read the inscription. The bigger issue for me though is the positioning. It neither lines up with the top of the nib or the underside of the feed. Now sometimes it is positioned so you can read the text while holding the pen, with the it being seen in the crook of your hand. Not so here where the text is at about 210 degrees to the nib and so hidden from view. It is a lack of attention to detail that always worries me, especially with expensive pens. Sure Lancias (in fact all Italian cars) were not known for their build quality, but really this pen should not be trying to replicate that. Fortunately it is about my only issue with the Italian Rally Passion.

The section is pinched in the middle by about 10% of the width and quite comfortable to hold. The ring behind the threads is about where my thumb rests and so I barely feel the former. Certainly little enough that after a short while I no longer notice the threads. The balance point is just behind the middle of the pen so in the hand the weight feels like it is centred between the fingers and the crook. Certainly for me this works well.

The cap is wider than the body, allowing a fuller section and I think this is needed else the pen would be too thin to hold for most people. The matt black is reminiscent of bonnets (hoods to those of you from across the pond), though what many may not realise is that was not a factory option but rather slapped on the cars by the mechanics to cover the bonnet and the inner part of the wings/fenders. Look closely at the real rally cars and you will see brush strokes, blobs, and an untidy finish. The whole reason was to stop the sun reflecting off the bonnet into the eyes of the driver. The idea actually originated from USAAF pilots who flew the Northrop Lightening fighter plane in the Pacific (where it was painted in a silver finish). Anyhow, coming back on track (pun unintended), the cap will prevent reflections from your desktop lighting blinding you. The cap band is the chequered flag which I think is a superb touch. Note it is only about one and a half turns to remove the cap.

The clip is based on a spoke from a 1970s car. No airbags back then. Profile wise you can see it is quite straight with a roller at the end, I find it slips over the seam of a pocket with a little resistance and nicely holds the pen in place.

The nib here is an extra fine 14k gold unit which most likely has been made by Bock. Along with the branding it has been rather appropriately stamped with crossed chequered flags and a winners wreath. In theory this nib should be too stiff for me but I actually enjoyed using it. As to the size, it does not act or feel like an extra fine to me, I would suggest it is more like a wet writing fine. Still it is pleasant to write with. The feed is plastic. I am not sure how I feel about that with a pen of this cost but the key thing is for it to provides decent ink flow and this one certainly does.

The filling system is piston and it is very smooth to use. With the window I would be careful with filling the pen using sheening inks, especially those with a reputation for staining.

So what are my thoughts? Well as mentioned above this is a comfortable pen to hold and use but the real thing is I am a petrol head, have owned an Alfa Romeo, always had a soft spot for the rally Lancias, plus my late father was an amateur rally driver in the 50s and 60s until the works cars started to appear (as then you rallied in your car on a Saturday or Sunday then drove to work in the same car on the Monday). I am squarely in the sights as a target for this pen. Now price wise Nick insists it was £450 when he bought it (about €540/$600) which I think is a good price and at that I would grab one. Now I believe there may have been a second run of these and the present Rally Passions I have seen online are probably from that batch but they are now about €900 (£750/$1010) which I think is just too much. Personally I see this for more like about £500/€600/$670. Certainly if I saw one for that price I would be raiding the piggy bank. I may even have suggested to Nick Stewart that being based on a 1970s Lancia I was sure the body was starting to show signs of tin worm (rust) and the electrics just did not work so I would take it off his hands for scrap value. For some reason he turned down my offer….

Would I recommend this pen to others? Well if you are a petrol head like me then this is a good one to consider at the right money. Obviously once you reach this price level you should consider seeing if you can try the pen before buying, but size wise this will be comfortable for a larger range of people than the ‘oversized’ pens we now more commonly see.

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