2017 & 2018 Lancia Cars, Trucks & SUVs Reviews & Ratings

Italian car manufacturer Lancia was founded in 1906 by Vincenzo Lancia and Claudio Fogolini in Turin, Italy. The two men originally worked as test drivers and technicians for Fiat (which Lancia officially joined with in 1969. The first Lancia model, the "tipo 51" (later labeled Alfa) was designed in 1907 and produced beginning in 1908 and held 12 horsepower and 58 bhp. Vincenzo died of a heart attack in 1937, and the company was taken over by his wife and son who hired Vittorio Jano (a famous race car designer of the time) as their engineer. Lancia is known for using the Greek alphabet when labeling its vehicle models.

From the years 1910-1920, Lancia was known for making fast, unique middle-class touring cars and was always ahead in innovative technologies. The Lancia Lambda, for example, was given a unitary body structure due to Vincenzo's ship hull design inspiration in 1922. The vehicle also featured independent front suspension, all-around braking, and a powerful V4 engine. The Lambda went through several alterations and was finally replaced by the Lancia Dilambda in 1931. The market wasn't really ready for the Dilambda, however, and its separate chassis was a definite step back for the company. With the arrival of 1936 brought the return of the unitary body structure in the Lancia Aprilia, which featured hydraulic brakes and independent suspension.

By 1950, Lancia had further perfected its craft by the 1950s. With the Lancia Appia Series I and II (produced from 1953-1959), as well as the Pinin Farina, Vignale and Zagato models (from 1956-1962), Lancia was really doing well against its competitors such as Alfa Romeo, Maserati, and Fiat. The Lancia Aurelia premiered in 1950 and was available in several different saloon models, a two-plus-two coupe model from 1953, and as Convertible and Spider models from 1954 onwards. Farina's Aurelia B20 Spider and B20-2500 GT are absolute highlights from this era. Yet, the Aurelia was replaced in 1957 by the Lancia Flaminia series- a luxurious, top-range automobile series with a ton of clout.

The Flaminia series included disc brakes, a De Dion rear axle, and an independent suspension, among other fantastic features. Like the Aurelia line, the Flaminia was built in several different model types, and overall, over ten thousand of these models were built. In 1960, the Lancia Flavia, featuring front-wheel-drive came on the scene (with a cheaper construction plan than other automakers), and in 1965 it was complemented by fuel injection technologies. By 1969, Lancia was struggling so much financially that it had to be handed over to FIAT to survive as a company. Fiat/Lancia introduced the Lancia Flavia Coupe and Berlina in 1969 and continued to build Flavia models until 1974.The Lancia Fulvia 1963) was one of the most popular Lancia models, as it won several races; it was also available as a Zagato Sport model.

The years of 1970-1984 saw many popular vehicle's under Fiat's ownership, such as the Lancia Beta, the Lancia Stratos (1970), the Lancia Gamma saloon and the Lancia Rally 037. Currently, Lancia is producing the NEW YPSILON Black & Red, the standard YPSILON, the DELTA, the NEW THEMA, the NEW VOYAGER, and the Lancia MIUSA.