Lancia Automobiles S.p.A. 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 seen as 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 Lancia CEO is Olivier François.

History

Foundation and early years
Lancia Beta Torpedo (1909)
Lancia was founded on 29 November 1906 in Turin by Vincenzo Lancia and his friend Claudio Fogolin, both being Fiat racing drivers, as Lancia & C. The first Lancia automobile the "tipo 51" or 12 HP (later called Alfa) was made in 1907 and produced from 1908. This car had a small four cylinder engine with a power of 58 bhp. In 1937 Vincenzo died of a heart attack, and his wife Adele Miglietti Lancia and his son Gianni Lancia took over the firm. They persuaded Vittorio Jano to join Lancia as an engineer. Jano had already made a name for himself by constructing the Alfa Romeo 1750 Sport Alfa Romeo 6C, 2300, 2900, P2 Alfa Romeo P2 and P3 Alfa Romeo P3, some of the most successful racers of its time.
Lancia is famous for many automotive innovations. These include the 1913 Theta, which was the first production car in Europe to feature a complete electrical system as standard equipment. The first car with a monocoque-type body – the Lambda, produced from 1922 to 1931 also featured 'Sliding Pillar' independent front suspension that incorporated the spring and hydraulic damper into a single unit (and featured on most production Lancias until the Appia was replaced in 1963). 1948 saw the first 5 speed gearbox to be fitted to a production car (Series 3 Ardea). Lancia premiered the first full-production V6 engine, in the 1950 Aurelia, after earlier industry-leading 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. They also developed rear transaxles which were fitted to the Aurelia and Flaminia ranges. The innovativeness, constant quest for excellence, the fixation of quality, the complication of the construction processes and the antiqued machinery meant that all cars essentially had to be hand-made. With little commonality between the various models, the cost of production continued to increase extensively, whilst demand did not.
Logo
The original Lancia logo was designed by Count Carlo Biscaretti di Ruffia. The logo shows a lance and shield with flag. The Turin automobile museum is named after him as Museo Nazionale dell'Automobile “Carlo Biscaretti di Ruffia”. The logo was redesigned in 2007.

Association with other manufacturers
Lancia was not closely associated with any other manufacturer until the late 1960s. By this time, the company's expensive, 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 launched a take-over bid in 1969, they accepted. This was not the end of the distinctive Lancia brand, and new models in the 1970s such as the 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.

Automotive

Current models

Lancia Ypsilon
The Ypsilon is a supermini car produced from 2003, evolved in 2006 and is Lancia's best selling model as of 2006. Based on the Fiat Punto, available with small (1.2-litre and 1.4-litre) petrol and JTD diesel engines, is also signed by MOMO design in one version: the Ypsilon Sport Momo Design.
Lancia Musa
A small MPV produced since 2004 in two series, the Musa is largely based on the Fiat Idea.
Lancia Delta
A small family car unveiled at the 2008 Geneva motor show. Using stretched version of Fiat Bravo platform. Available as five-door hatchback.
Exclusive and limited production
Lancia Stratos
New Lancia Stratos by Pininfarina for Michael Stoschek

Past car models
Lancia has a long tradition of passenger, fast touring, sports and racing cars. They have tended to emphasize quality, appearance and sophisticated design, somewhat at the expense of power and competitive pricing. Among the most beautiful, desirable and unusual models are various Lancia Zagato models.
The Lancia Aurelia introduced the front engine rear transmission configuration later used by Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Porsche, GM, and Maserati, as well as the V6 engine, which is now common. It also had inboard rear brakes, an important way of reducing un-sprung weight.
Future models
At the 2011 Geneva Motor Show, three new Lancia vehicles were introduced, all based on Chrysler platforms. They include a car and convertible based on the new Chrysler 200 to be named Flavia and a luxury saloon/sedan and minivan, both based on the Chrysler 300, called Lancia Thema and Town & Country, respectively.

Trucks, buses and other historical production
Light commercial vehicles
Lancia Beta / Lancia Beta Diesel
Lancia Jolly
Lancia Superjolly
Trucks
Lancia Esadelta C
Lancia Eta (car with a loading area)
Lancia Jota (1915)
Lancia Dijota (1915)
Lancia Triota (1921)
Lancia Tetrajota (1921)
Lancia Pentajota (1924)
Lancia Esajota
Lancia Eptajota (1927)
Lancia Omicron
Lancia Ro (1932)
Lancia Ro-Ro (1935)
Lancia 3Ro (1938)
Lancia EsaRo (1941)
Lancia E 290 (1941) single-built electric truck
Lancia 6Ro (1947)
Lancia Esatau (1950–1968)
Lancia Beta / Lancia Beta Diesel
Lancia Esatau B (1955)
Lancia Beta Diesel (1959) Lancia Beta 190, with a supercharged twin-cylinder compressor – two stroke – diesel engine
Lancia Esadelta B (1959)
Lancia Esadelta C (1969)
Buses
Lancia Trijota
Lancia Tetrajota
Lancia Omicron
Lancia Ro
Lancia Esatau
Lancia Esagamma
Trolleybuses
Lancia Esatau V11
[edit]Military vehicles
Lancia IZM (1912) armored vehicle
Lancia 3Ro (1939) truck
Lancia EsaRo (1942) truck
Lancia Lince (lynx) (1942) armored car – a copy of Daimler Dingo MK I
Lancia 6Ro (1948) LKW
Lancia CL51 (Z 20) (1954) troop transporter
Lancia TL51 (Z 30) (1954) lorries

Lancia in the United States
Whilst some models had been imported on a small scale in the 1950s and 1960s, Lancias were officially sold in the United States from 1975. Sales were comparatively slow and the range was withdrawn at the same time as Fiat in 1982.
In 2009, following Fiat's acquisition of a stake in United States-based Chrysler and part of Chrysler's restructuring plans, it was stated that Fiat plans for the Chrysler brand and Lancia to codevelop products, with some vehicles being shared. Olivier Francois, Lancia's CEO, took over as CEO of the Chrysler division in October 2009. Fiat has also stated that, depending on the market, some Chrysler cars will be sold as Lancias and vice versa. Francois plans to reestablish the Chrysler brand as an upscale brand, a position somewhat muddied after the Plymouth brand was discontinued.[5] At the 2010 Detroit Auto Show, A Chrysler badged Lancia Delta was on display, likely the first Lancia to be sold as a Chrysler and possibly as a replacement for the Chrysler PT Cruiser.
Lancia in motorsport

Formula One

A Lancia D50A Formula One car
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.[7] Altogether Lancia took two victories and ten podiums in Formula One.
Remnants of the Lancia team were transferred to Scuderia Ferrari,[9] where Juan Manuel Fangio won the 1956 championship with a Lancia-Ferrari car.

Rallying

A Lancia Delta S4 Group B rally car
Lancia has been very successful in motorsport over the years, and mostly in the arena of rallying. Prior to the forming of the World Rally Championship, Lancia took the final International Championship for Manufacturers title with the Fulvia in 1972. In the WRC, they remain the most statistically successful marque (despite having withdrawn at the end of the 1993 season), winning constructors' titles with the Stratos (1974, 1975 and 1976), the 037 (1983) and the Delta (six consecutive wins from 1987 to 1992). The Delta is also the most successful individual model designation ever to compete in rallying. All this gave Lancia a total of 10 Championships over the years.
Juha Kankkunen and Miki Biasion both won two drivers' titles with the Delta. Among other drivers to take several World Rally Championship wins with Lancia were Markku Alén, Didier Auriol, Sandro Munari, Bernard Darniche, Walter Röhrl, Björn Waldegård and Henri Toivonen. The history of the brand in rallying is also tainted with tragedy, with deaths of Italian driver Attilio Bettega at the 1985 Tour de Corse in a Lancia 037 and then Finnish championship favourite Toivonen in a Lancia Delta S4 at the same rally exactly a year later. These deaths would eventually lead to the end of Group B rallying.

Sports car racing
A Lancia LC1 Group 6 sports car
During Lancia's dominance of rallying, 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 coupé which featured a Ferrari powerplant in 1983. The LC2 was a match for the standard-setting Porsche 956 in terms of raw speed, securing 13 pole positions over its lifetime, however its results were hampered by poor reliability and fuel economy and it only managed to win three European and World Endurance Championship races. The team's inability to compete against the dominant Porsche 956 and 962 sports cars led it to drop out of sportscar racing at the end of 1986 in order to concentrate on rallying, although private teams continued to enter LC2s with declining results until the early 1990s.

Engines
Lancia V4 engine
Lancia V6 engine
Lancia V8 engine
Lancia Flat-4 engine

TV
During the 3rd episode of the 14th series of popular British automotive show Top Gear, the presenters argued that Lancia had more 'great' models than any other car company. The presenters went on to test the Gamma, Fulvia, Aprilia, Montecarlo, Beta, HPE, Stratos, 037, Delta Integrale and Thema 832. They also stated during their review that Lancia made the best looking cars, even though they are unreliable.