1932 Lancia Dilambda

Vincenzo Lancia (1881-1937) was the youngest child of a wealthy Turin soup manufacturer. At an early age, he displayed a passion for automobiles and earned his racing victory at Padua in July 1990. Between then and 1908, he had a number of competition successes, including winning the 1904 Coppa Florio. His decade-long racing career was brief but he amassed a total of 19 outright and class victories.

Vincenzo Lancia worked as FIAT's chief test driver and Chief Inspector (at the age of 19) before founding his own company in 1906. He was a gifted automobile engineer and the early Lancia cars quickly demonstrated independence of thought and a departure from conventional design. His first car, called the 18/24 Lancia, was ready in time for trials in February 1907. Before it left the workshop, a fire destroyed the car, tools, and all the drawings. Starting over from scratch, a second car was ready seven months later. Sixteen cars were built in 1907, and approximately 120 the following year with body styles that included a double phaeton, landaulet, and limousine. The first Lancia was known as the 12 hp, but the second model which had a larger engine of 3,120cc, was dubbed the Beta, starting the company's long association with letters of the Greek alphabet.

Along with automobiles, Lancia soon built lorries, vans, military vehicles, and aero engines, the latter endowing Lancia with valuable expertise in the design and construction of vee-configuration engines. The V8 Trikappa sportscar of 1922 was the company's first vee-engined model, and the third was the Dilambda of 1929. Making its debut at the Paris Salon, it used a separate chassis, unlike the previous model, the Lambda V4, which employed a stress-bearing body. The single overhead cam V8 engine - a development of the Trikappa of 1922 - displaced 3,960cc, breathed through a single carburetor, had cylinder banked at a 24-degree angle, and developed 100 horsepower at 4,000 RPM. There was a four-speed manual transmission, four-wheel mechanical drum brakes, a Sliding Pillar independent front suspension, and a live rear axle. Depending on coachwork, the Dilambda was capable of 85 mph. The Dilambda's received a wide variety of luxurious custom-crafted bodies by the era's finest artisans. Pininfarina bodied the majority of Dilambda's, as Vincenzo Lancia was himself a minority stakeholder in the firm.

Production continued until 1935 with 1,685 examples built.

by Dan Vaughan

Phaeton by Viotti
Chassis number: 232140

Vincenzo Lancia (1881-1937) was the youngest child of a wealthy Turin soup manufacturer and became involved with automobiles at a relatively early age. He participated in racing for the FIAT-owned Ceirano manufacturing plant; in July of 1900 at Padua, he was rewarded with his first victory. A number of competition successes followed, including winning the 1904 Coppa Florio. During his ten-year motor racing career, Vincenzo earned a total of 19 outright and class victories.

At the age of 19, Vincenzo was offered the position of Chief Inspector at Fiat's new factory by the then president of FIAT, Giovanni Agnelli. It was here that Vincenzo met Claudio Foolin, who was working for FIAT as a test driver in Lancia's department. It was not long before the two began discussing setting up their own business. Vincenzo would continue to design and supervise the development and production of the cars while Fogolin would look after the sales and commercial side of the business.

In November of 1906, Lancia finally took the plunge and formed his own company, with the backing of several friends, including one of the owners of FIAT, Count Carlo Biscaretti di Ruffia. Lancia purchased a factory from a company called Itala, which had moved to a larger facility, and set about hiring 20 employees. His first car was ready for trials in February of 1907; it was called the 18/24hp Lancia. Before the car left the workshop, a fire destroyed the car, tools, and all the drawings. Lancia had to start again from scratch, and seven months later, he had another car ready.

Sixteen cars were built in 1907, followed by about 120 examples in 1908. Body styles included a double phaeton, limousine, and landaulet. The first Lancia was known simply as the 12hp, but the second model with a slightly larger engine of 3120cc was called the Beta, starting the company's long association with letters of the Greek alphabet.

In 1922, Lancia introduced the Lambda, which was arguably the most famous Lancia model ever made. Powering the Lambda was a V4 engine, but with an angle between the cylinders of only 13 degrees, compared with 90-degrees for the average V-engine. The cylinders were cast in one aluminum block and crankcase, and a vertical shaft drove the single overhead cam. The original Lambda engine displaced 2120cc and offered 49 horsepower at 3000 RPM. The Lambda entered production in 1923. At first, the only factory body style was an open torpedo tourer; this was followed by two styles of hard top, one to make a comfortable saloon, the other a coupe de ville. Lambdas were made in nine series from 1923 to 1931.

The Dilamdba was a derivative of the Lambda and was designed as a more luxurious version of the original design. This luxury model made its debut at the Paris Salon in 1929. Powering the Dilamdba was a four-liter, V8 engine offering 100 horsepower at 4000 RPM. Many patents were filed with the Dilambda, most notable being the criss-cross boxed steel frame, the overhead-camshaft timing system, and centralized frame lubrication.

Along with being more luxurious, the Dilamdba was also heavier and more powerful than the original Lambda. The Dilamdba had a separate body-frame type construction, four-wheel drum brakes, a longer wheelbase, and a more open floor plan that was designed to give more emphasis to coachbuilder's creativity. Pininfarina bodied the majority of Dilambda's, as Vincenzo Lancia was himself a minority stakeholder in the firm.

The Lancia Lambda went into production in 1923 and lasted until 1931, with a total of 13,501 units produced. Production officially ended in November 1931.

The Dilambda was a derivative of the Lambda and was aimed at being a more luxurious version of the original design. This luxury model made its unveiling at the Paris Salon in 1929. It was powered by a four-liter, V8 engine that offered 100 horsepower at 4000 RPM. The Dilambda also had many patents filed with it, the most notable being the criss-cross boxed steel frame, the overhead-camshaft timing system, and centralized frame lubrication. The V8 engine had overhead valves operated by pushrods from a single camshaft.

Production of the Dilambda lasted for five years with a total of 1,685 units produced.

This example came with custom coachwork by Viotti, a 3.960-liter 24-degree V8 motor, overhead valves, and a center cam developing 100 bhp. This particular body was ordered by a prominent Italian businessman on a standard chassis. It is shifted via a four-speed gearbox. It boasts many sophisticated engineering features, including Lancia's patented independent sliding pillar front suspension with coil springs, a patented electrically welded box frame with center 'X' member and an integral gas tank that forms part of the rear frame, and distinctive shield-shaped headlights that mimic the Lancia insignia.