Lancia is an Italian automobile manufacturer founded in 1906. It became part of the Fiat Group in 1969. Lancia vehicles are no longer sold outside of Italy, and comprise only the Ypsilon supermini range, as Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne foreshadowed in January 2014. he first car manufactured by Lancia was the "Tipo 51" or "12 HP" (later called "Alfa"), which remained in production from 1907 to 1908. It had a small four-cylinder engine with a power output of 28 hp. In 1910 Lancia components were exported to the United States where they were assembled and sold as SGV's by the SGV Company. In 1915, Lancia also manufactured its first truck, the Jota that continued as a dedicated series. In 1937, Vincenzo died of a heart attack and both his wife, Adele Miglietti Lancia, and his son, Gianni Lancia, took over control of the company.
Lancia is renowned in the automotive world for introducing cars with numerous innovations. These include the Theta of 1913, which was the first European production car to feature a complete electrical system as standard equipment. Lancia's first car adopting a monocoque chassis – the Lambda produced from 1922 to 1931 - featured 'Sliding Pillar' independent front suspension that incorporated the spring and hydraulic damper into a single unit. 1948 saw the first 5 speed gearbox to be fitted to a production car. 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 manufacturer to produce a V4 engine. Other innovations involved the use of independent suspension in production cars and rear transaxles, which were first fitted to the Aurelia and Flaminia range.
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. The Lancia Stratos was a successful rally car during the 1970s and helped the company to improve its sporting credentials.
Lancia has shown several concept cars to the public including the Flaminia Loratmo (1958), Stratos Zero (1970), the Megagamma by Italdesign Giugiaro and Sibilo by Bertone in 1978, Hit (1988) by Pininfarina, the Bertone designed Kayak (1995), the Dialogos (1998) and Nea in 2000. More recently the company has shown the Granturismo Stilnovo and Fulvia, concepts in 2003. In the end of 1957 Lancia made their first limousine for the President of Italy, the model Lancia Florida. In 1989 Lancia made a limousine version of the model Thema. In 1999 Lancia made a limousine version of the Kappa and in 2004 Geneva Motor Show, Stola showed a limousine version of the Lancia Thesis.
