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PortugalLANCIA'S SAGA
LANCIA'S SAGA
Rédaction : Albert Lallement
THE INDUSTRIAL ERA (1945 ONWARDS)
In the aftermath of the war, Lancia, celebrating its fiftieth anniversary, remained an innovative and original manufacturer, resolutely thinking outside the box, with growing ambitions on the racing scene.
When Vincenzo Lancia, the founder of the Turin-based brand, died in 1937, his wife Adèle took over at the head of the family business, keeping Lancia afloat despite the loss of many employees and facilities during the Second World War. In 1944 she was succeeded by Arturo Lancia, a cousin of Vincenzo.
Arturo became the mentor of Gianni Lancia, the family son, who then took over the management of Lancia in 1947 at the age of 23. The young engineer faced the challenge of developing a new range of models with finances severely strained by the war years. Now that peace had returned, he had to guide the company into the industrial age...
The Fulvia was Lancia's most important commercial success until the late 1970s and the first model to bring success to Squadra Corse HF. © IXO Collections SAS - Tous droits réservés. Crédits photo © Lancia D.R.
Vincenzo Lancia passed away just a few days before the launch of the Aprilia, his ultimate masterpiece. This prestige saloon, produced until 1949, redefined the car known up to that point, once again using state-of-the-art technology. It featured a cylinder head with hemispherical combustion chambers, four-wheel independent suspension, a streamlined, supporting body and rear brakes mounted on the differential to reduce unsprung weight. All of these elements were to be incorporated into mass production during the 1950s and 1960s. Vincenzo Lancia was truly decades ahead of his time...
The delicately elegant lines of the 2003 Lancia Musa, and in particular its chrome grille, recall the Golden Age models of the Turin-based brand. © IXO Collections SAS - Tous droits réservés. Crédits photo © Lancia D.R.
IN HIS FATHER'S FOOTSTEPS
Gianni Lancia intended to follow in his father's footsteps by building a range of exceptional cars. In 1948, he decided to replace the Aprilia model that had made the Turin-based manufacturer so successful for over a decade. During the 1950s, the years of European reconstruction and economic growth, Lancia introduced a car that would become an international automotive pioneer in its own right: the Aurelia. Once again, Lancia was to make a significant mark on its era, in the purest tradition of the Turin-based brand.
In fact, it was the first car in the world to feature a 60° V6 engine with an integrated clutch, gearbox and differential mounted on the rear axle. Another innovative feature was the use of aluminium for a large part of the bodywork. Each new Lancia model was eagerly anticipated by Lancia enthusiasts and its competitors as an introduction to new technologies. However, Lancia's financial situation at the time was fragile. Economic recovery was slow to materialise and Lancia was severely affected, lacking the funds to invest in production facilities to meet the new demands of the market.
The engineer Vittorio Jano, who joined Lancia in 1937, was responsible for two of the Italian brand's major models, the Aprilia and the Aurelia. © IXO Collections SAS - Tous droits réservés. Crédits photo © Lancia D.R.
Innovate to survive
In 1951, the company, facing serious difficulties, applied to the ECA (European Cooperation Administration). The application was rejected, but Lancia received aid from the Italian government between 1951 and 1953, obtaining orders for the production of military vehicles and buses. The government's support was politically motivated, as it considered Lancia to be an important part of Italian industry, particularly the Bolzano plant, employing 2,500 people at the time. The result of this economic aid was the Appia, a small, popular car that was produced for ten years. At the same time, the Aurelia proved to be a powerful and agile racing car that was increasingly appreciated by private drivers.
Gianni Lancia, an engineer with a passion for racing, wanted to involve the brand more actively in competition and, in 1952, the ‘Scuderia Lancia’ was created. Gianni was supported by talented engineers such as Vittorio Jano and Francesco De Virgilio who, through the brand's Research and Development department, also worked on future models such as the Flaminia. The company made regular appearances in international races, but its Formula 1 debut was unfortunately a failure. The adventure ended when the factory team ceased to exist and was sold to Ferrari in 1955. Lancia was heavily in debt and had to give up racing, whilst the company was bought by the industrialist Carlo Pesenti, CEO of the Italcementi group.
From 1962 to 1993, most Lancia models were produced at the historic Chivasso plant, near Turin, as in this case the Fulvia. © IXO Collections SAS - Tous droits réservés. Crédits photo © Lancia D.R.
A NEW GLOBAL CONTEXT
When Carlo Pesenti took over the management of Lancia, he recruited the engineer Antonio Fessia as head of the Design Department. Fessia was tasked with designing a mid-range car that would sit between the top-of-the-range Flaminia launched in 1957 and the small, popular Appia saloon introduced in 1953. Under his guidance, the Flavia was launched in 1960, followed by the Fulvia in 1963, which became a benchmark in terms of style and performance. The Fulvia also allowed Lancia to return to racing through Team HF, Lancia's new official sports division. However, Carlo Pesenti was unable to provide the funds needed to develop new, technologically competitive models.
As a result, in 1969 Lancia was acquired by the Fiat SpA Group. It was the Lancia Beta in 1972 that revived the brand, followed by other commercial successes such as the Gamma in 1976, the Delta in 1979 and, more recently, the Y10 in 1985. As part of a vast multi-brand group, Lancia slowly lost its former originality, while trying to retain the image of a manufacturer synonymous to Italian elegance. In 1998, the Turin-based brand was part of the Fiat-Chrysler-Daimler Benz merger, followed by FiatChrysler in 2014, before becoming part of the new Stellantis entity in 2021. Today, Lancia has reclaimed its former identity by being made one of the top-of-the-range branches of the new group.
The Lancia Fulvia, here a Coupé designed by Pininfarina, was the first Italian car to adopt front-wheel drive technology. © IXO Collections SAS - Tous droits réservés. Crédits photo © Lancia D.R.
Two historic facilities
Lancia's industrial history is marked by two facilities that contributed to its economic growth. The oldest is Borgo San Paolo, named after a district of Turin, which was the company's headquarters from 1911 to 1969. Vincenzo Lancia acquired the site in 1910 to transfer his business activities, which until then had been located in the Via Ormea and Corso Dante city streets. After the war, this site, like those in Verrone and Bolzano became overloaded, and the new Chivasso plant was therefore opened in 1962 to accommodate the production lines for the Flavia and Fulvia. Chivasso, east of Turin, was the main production site for Lancia cars until 1993.
THE TRIUMPH OF THE ENGINEERS
During the war Lancia’s Research and Development department was moved to a secret location in Padua, where work was carried out on modernising the existing Ardea and Aprilia, while also preparing the future Aurelia. The two principal Italian engineers who contributed to this model were Vittorio Jano (1891-1965) and Francesco De Virgilio (1911-1995). The former joined Ferrari in 1955 when Scuderia Lancia pulled out of competition. De Virgilio joined Lancia's design department in 1939 and worked on the development of the V6 engines that were to power series production models as well as prestigious racing cars such as the Stratos and Beta Montecarlo. Among the architects of Lancia's post-war revival was Antonio Fessia (1901-1968), the creator of the second generation Appia, as well as the Flaminia, Flavia and Fulvia, which were the flagship models of the Lancia range during the 1950s and 1960s.
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