'Lancia' (pronounced Lan-cha) is an
Italian automobile manufacturer founded in
1906 by
Vincenzo Lancia and which became part of the
Fiat Group in
1969. The company has a long history of producing distinctive cars and also has a strong rally heritage. Modern Lancias are renowned for presenting a more luxurious alternative to the models in the
Fiat range upon which they are based. One of the firm's trademarks is the use of letters of the
Greek alphabet as the names of its models. The firm was also known for persisting with right-hand drive until 1956.
Lancia is famous for many automotive innovations. These include the first production car with a
monocoque-type body (the
Lambda, produced from
1922 to
1931), the first full-production
V6 engine, in the
1950 Aurelia,
[1]and earlier experiments with
V8 and
V12 engine configurations. It was also the first company to produce a
V4 engine. Also, Lancia pioneered the use of
Independent suspension in production cars, in an era where
live axles were common practice for both the front and rear axles of a car.
Association with other automakers
Lancia was not closely associated with any other manufacturer until the
1960s. By this time, their expensive and high standards of production had become unsustainable. In aiming to produce a product of the highest quality, company bosses had sacrificed cost-effectiveness and when
Fiat launced a take-over bid in
1969, there was no choice but to accept. Many were concerned that this would be the end of the distinctive Lancia
brand but exciting new models such as
1970's
Stratos,
Gamma and
Beta served to prove that Fiat wished to preserve the image of the brand it had acquired.
During the
1980s, the company cooperated with
Saab Automobile, with the
Lancia Delta being sold as the
Saab 600 in
Sweden. The
1985 Lancia Thema also shared a platform with the
Saab 9000,
Fiat Croma and the
Alfa Romeo 164.
Automobiles
Lancia Musa
Current models
Lancia Musa
Main articles: Lancia Musa
A small
MPV produced by Italian automaker Lancia since 2004. It is largely based on the
Fiat Idea.
Lancia Ypsilon
Lancia Ypsilon
The Lancia Ypsilon is a luxurious
supermini produced from 2003 and it is Lancia's best selling model at the moment. Available with small (1.2 and 1.4-litre) petrol and
JTD diesel engines.
Lancia Thesis
Diplomatic Lancia Thesis
Thesis is an 4-door sedan executive car made by Lancia. It is produced from 2001 and has extensive equipment levels. The Thesis is the successor of the
Lancia Kappa.
Lancia Phedra
Main articles: Lancia Phedra
The Phedra is a prestigious
MPV made by Sevel, a joint-venture of PSA and Fiat Group. It is manufactured at
Sevel Nord factory in
France, near
Valenciennes and has been in production since 2002.
Lancia in the United Kingdom
Around the same time, Lancias in the
United Kingdom suffered an increasing image problem centered around a perception that Lancia cars were prone to
rusting. Fiat was at this time using
Russian steel which was less durable than that used by the majority of other manufacturers and many vehicles were plagued by corrosion.
However, according to the
July 2007 issue of ''
Classic & Sports Car'' magazine, The
Daily Mirror tabloid newspaper started a series of exaggerated articles, filled with half-truths and riddled with false claims about the rust problem in the
Beta model - a problem which was mostly restricted to the saloon version, which not only featured Russian steel, but also suffered from a lack of water drainage channels and holes. Always according to the magazine's article, the
Daily Mirror presented affected cars older than six-years old and falsely claimed that many were newer than that. In reality, the Beta did not rust worse than anything
British Leyland produced at the time, including even the
Jaguar XJ6. As a matter of fact,
BMW '02,
E9 and the
first-generation 3-series suffered very badly from corrosion and - always according to the classic car press (including both ''
Classic & Sports Car'' and ''Thoroughbred & Classic Cars'' magazines) - all generations of the
Ford Capri rusted profusely due to "penny-pinching" painting processes (namely, the paint was heavily diluted in water in a large tank; the car would then be dipped in the tank and, eventually, cars entering the tank later on would pick up more water than paint on their metal). Oddly enough, the British and German competitors of the
Beta were spared from any criticism, although their rust protection at that time was minimal to non-existent. To counter the problem, Lancia introduced - for the first time ever - a six-year anti-corrosion warranty, before the false accusations published by the
Daily Mirror.
While Fiat's popularity with British buyers soared in the
1980s and into the
1990s, Lancia sales slumped after the publicity created by the
Daily Mirror, never to recover again. The last right-hand drive model was sold in
1994, when Lancia withdrew from all right-hand drive markets.
However, as of
September 2006, it has been announced that the brand will return to the country with a right hand drive version of its
new Delta in
2008.
[2]
Lancia in the USA
Whilst some earlier models had been imported on a small scale in the
1950s and
1960s, Lancias were officially sold in the
United States from
1977. Sales were comparatively slow and the range was withdrawn at the same time as Fiat in
1982.
Lancia in motorsport
Formula One
After Vincenzo Lancia's son Gianni became director of the firm, it started to take part more frequently in motorsport, eventually deciding to build a Grand Prix car.
Vittorio Jano was the new designer for Lancia and his
Lancia D50 was entered into the
1954 Spanish Grand Prix, where
Alberto Ascari took the pole position and drove the fastest lap. In the
1955 Monaco Grand Prix Ascari crashed into the harbour after missing a chicane. One week later Ascari was killed in an accident driving a Ferrari sports car at Monza. With Ascari's death and Lancia's financial problems the company withdrew from Grand Prix racing.
[3]Altogether Lancia took two victories and ten podiums in Formula One.
[4]
Remnants of the Lancia team were transferred to
Scuderia Ferrari,
[5]where
Juan Manuel Fangio won the
1956 championship with a Lancia-Ferrari car.
Rallying
Lancia has been very successful in motorsport over the years, mostly in the arena of
rallying where, in the
World Rally Championship, they remain the most statistically successful marque, winning constructors' titles with the
Fulvia (
1972),
Stratos (
1974,
1975 and
1976),
037 (
1983) and
Delta (
1987,
1988,
1989,
1990,
1991 and
1992) models. The Delta is also the most successful individual model designation ever to compete in rallying. The history of the brand in rallying is also a tragic one, with both deaths of Italian and finnish pilots
Attilio Bettega on a
037 and
Henri Toivonen on a
S4. These deaths would eventually led to the end of
Group B.
Sports car racing
During Lancia's dominance of rallying, the company also expanded into sports cars in the late 1970s until the mid-1980s. Originally running the
Stratos HF in
Group 4, as well as a brief interlude with a rare
Group 5 version, the car was replaced with the
Monte Carlo Turbo. In 1982 the team moved up to
Group 6 with the
LC1 Spyder, followed by the
Group C LC2 coupe which featured a
Ferrari powerplant in 1983. The team was unable to compete against the dominant
Porsche sports cars, and so dropped out in order to return to rallying.
Engines
★
Lancia V4 engine
★
Lancia V6 engine
★
Lancia Flat-4 engine
Trivia
★ Lancia has won more
World Rally Championship (WRC) victories than any other manufacturer;
★ The Theta model of 1913 was the first car in Europe to feature an electrical system.
[6]
★ The marque introduced many important innovative developments, including:
[6]
★
★ a load-bearing body shell;
★
★ independent suspension for the front wheels;
★
★ the incorporation of the transmission tunnel into the floor of the car;
★
★ the incorporation of a luggage compartment within the load-bearing structure of the car.
Gallery
See also
★
List of Italian companies
★
List of automobile manufacturers
★
List of Formula One constructors
★
List of World Rally Championship Constructors' Champions
Footnotes
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
External links
★
Lancia Official page
★
Lancia Motor Club UK
★
Club Lancia Sport (UK)
★
Viva Lancia fanpage!
★
Information about the firm since 1881
★
Polish Lancia Official Club
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