Lancia 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.
LANCIA
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.
Vincenzo Lancia was born on 24 August 1881 in Fobello, Val Sesia, Italy. the son of Cavalier Giuseppe Lancia, who had made his fortune in the preserved food industry.
Since they were quite well-to-do, Vincenzo’s family would spend the summer in their villa in Fobello and the rest of the year in Turin, in a property they owned in corso Vittorio Emanuele. Cavalier Lancia had already mapped out the future for each of his four children: Giovanni, Arturo, Maria and Vincenzo, who was affectionately known as Censin. Vincenzo was earmarked to become a solicitor.
At school, however, ‘Censin’ proved to be a disaster. He was certainly bright enough, but he simply couldn’t apply himself in his studies. He was lazy and easily distracted, and eventually his father reluctantly gave up on the idea of making a lawyer of him. Instead, at the age of twelve, he was sent off to college in the hope that he would at least gain a diploma in accounting.
The young Vincenzo Lancia was distracted from his studies, however, by the workshop opened by the Ceirano brothers in the yard of the family home. They built and sold bicycles under the name of Welleyes, because at the time English names had more clout with the public. Censin was a regular visitor to the Ceirano workshop and before long he became a novice mechanic.
When the two brothers eventually started work on their first automobiles, the young Vincenzo was fascinated by engines. He left school and succeeded in obtaining his father’s permission to go to work for the Ceirano workshop.
He was taken on as an accountant (seemingly at the insistence of his father, who considered the position of accountant to be slightly less demeaning than that of mechanic), but instead of working on the company’s books, he busied himself repairing engines.
In 1899, having secured financial backing, the Ceirano brothers began producing a small car designed by the engineer Aristide Faccioli. The Welleyes automobile was a great success, but the Ceirano brothers simply couldn’t keep up with demand.
In July of that year, they accepted Giovanni Agnelli’s offer, and for the sum of 30 thousand lire they sold their entire plant and the patents for the Welleyes car, which would soon be the basis for the Fiat 3.5 HP. Lancia, then 18 years old, as was Felice Nazzaro, who had recently joined the company, were both taken on by Fiat as test drivers. In its early years, Fiat took a very active part in competitions, with Lancia and Nazzaro behind the wheel. Nazzaro was a real ‘stylist’ when driving. Lancia, on the other hand, was impetuous but also quicker, whenever he wasn’t hit by mechanical failure, that is.
Meticulous and demanding at work, away from the workplace Lancia was light-hearted and jovial. A big, strapping lad when he was young, he grew to become a large man with a passion for good food, drinks with friends and the opera. He was quite a music buff, and was particularly fond of Wagner. In 1906 he started building cars, and on 29 November the same year, together with his friend Claudio Fogolin, he founded Lancia.
In 1922, by now a successful businessman, he married Adele Miglietti, a secretary, with whom he was to have three children: Anna Maria, Gianni and Eleonora. Vincenzo Lancia continued his personal involvement in the development of new models, often test driving the cars himself.
Vincenzo Lancia died prematurely on 15 February 1937 at the age of 55, the victim of a heart attack during the night. At first he thought it was nothing and did not want to wake his wife, and it wasn’t until seven o’clock in the morning that the family doctor was sent for, who came as quick as he could, but by then, tragically, it was too late.
Thus, one of the men who had contributed so much to the history of motoring had unexpectedly died. His work as a manufacturer was marked by intuition, originality and courage. It is no accident that his spiritual legacy is a car: the Aprilia.
The model, which seems to sum up the traditions of the company and the virtues of the man, was initially received with scepticism and a certain degree of incredulity. The design seemed too daring while the technical aspects were too innovative. It took some time for this Lancia to become the queen of the road: dynamic, extremely stable, with an incredibly modern style appreciated by all. And it was the genius of Vincenzo Lancia that foresaw it all.
By 1972, the Fulvia Coupé 1600 HF had reached the end of its career, but it still carried Sandro Munari to major successes (such as the Monte Carlo Raly), and brought Lancia the World Rally Championship. By 1972, the Fulvia Coupé 1600 HF, nicknamed the ‘Fanalone’, had reached the end of its career but it still carried Sandro Munari to major successes (such as the Monte Carlo Rally), and brought Lancia victory in the FIA Cup, which was to become the World Rally Championship.
In the Stratos, Lancia had the winning card that brought it three consecutive world championship titles, in 1974, 1975 and 1976. Specially designed for rallies, and with only 500 models built (the requisite number for official recognition), the Stratos was a small saloon with a centrally-placed engine, designed by Bertone and fitted with the Dino Ferrari V6 engine.
In 1979 Lancia returned to the race track with the Lancia Beta Montecarlo Turbo. For two years, 1980 and 1981, it won the Constructors World Championship title in the endurance category. In 1983, Lancia claimed victory once again in the World Rally Championship with the Rally 037, created almost as a bet to challenge the supremacy of the German four-wheel drive cars. The Rally 037 was to be the last two-wheel drive car to win a World Rally Championship.
After the experience with the ultra-powerful Group B cars and the decision to limit rallies to cars with less than 300 bhp, Lancia shelved development of the Delta S4 and concentrated on the Delta HF 4WD with permanent four-wheel drive. That was in 1987. For the next six years, the Delta HF 4WD and the subsequent Delta HF ‘integrale’, ‘integrale 16v’ and ‘integrale 16v Evo’, dominated the world rally scene.
The list of successes included six consecutive Constructors World Championship titles, five World Drivers Championships, 46 outright victories in 66 world championship races, plus countless other successes in national races – a string of successes that would be difficult to equal and remains unbeaten to this day.
Auto-sep.com v1.1 2007
