1952 Lancia Aurelia GT Coupe

The first new car to appear from Lancia after World War Two was the Aurelia. It replaced the Aprilia, a design from 1936 developed under the direction of company founder Vincenzo Lancia in 1950. In good Lancia tradition, it not only had original looks but also featured innovative engineering.

Underneath its attractive body, the B20 GT had the regular Aurelia V-6 and transaxle setup. To enhance the performance of the car, the engine was enlarged to 1991 cc and tuned to produce 75 horsepower @ 4500 RPM.

Ghia stylist Mario Felice Boano was responsible for the design of the Aurelia B20 Gran Turismo coupe. It was a very modern slab-sided and streamlined style following the latest fashion of that time. The execution of this design, however, was uniquely pure and functional with hardly any items that could spoil its lines.

Despite being a rather sizable car, the body of the B20 GT looked well-balanced and appeared more nimble than it actually was. It also was elegant and immediately pleased the eye. These features made this design a definition of what a GT car should look like, and characteristics of this design still echo in modern front-engine sports car styling today.