1913 Lancia Theta

Sold for $216,700 at 2017 Bonhams : The Amelia Island Auction.
Vincenzo Lancia, who had previously been FIAT's chief test driver, founded his own company in 1906. The first Lancia cars were introduced a year later, in 1907. By 1913, they introduced their 35 horsepower Theta, which was powered by a 4940cc four-cylinder side-valve engine offering 70 BHP. The engine was capable of carrying the car to a top speed of around 120 km/h, depending on the coachwork.

The Theta was given a built-in electrical system that included an electric starter (the first of its kind in Europe). Two wheelbase lengths were available including a 3100mm and 3367mm platform.

The Lancia Theta was popular in the United States, despite its enormous price tag. To help keep the cars affordable, Lancia delivered the cars as chassis and they were typically bodied by coachbuilders in the New York area. Several Holbrook examples were built, as was this particular example, wearing Hayes and Miller coachwork.

This Roadster is a largely original car that has never been fully taken down and restored. It has resided in a small collection for many decades and has been well-maintained and used frequently but sparingly. It is believed that cosmetics may have been done in the 1960s. A few years ago, a second engine was fitted to the car, and the original and assorted spares still accompany the car.

The engine is a five-liter motor that is matted to a four-speed transmission.

By Daniel Vaughan | Apr 2017

Introduced in 1913, the Lancia Theta was the successor to the Lancia Epsilon and was a much larger version. Featuring electrical lights and a starter motor, the Theta featured a 4941.72 cc straight-4 side-valve engine with a 4-speed manual gearbox transmission. It had a wheelbase of 122.0 inches, a length of 183.1 inches, and a width of 63.6 inches. The Lancia Theta had a curb weight of 2337 lbs and a fuel capacity of 21 US gallons.

Lancia's first really successful model was the Theta, and it came with a variety of very innovative and unique features. Lancia was the first European manufacturer to feature electrical circuitry as standard which included a foot-operated electric starter, two headlights, an American Kettering generator, two driving lights, dashboard lights, and a tail lamp.

The cranking handle was no longer fitted, though one was provided as part of the toolkit. The wheels were in sheet steel; or with steel spokes rather than wooden wheels that had been utilized on earlier models.

The Theta was very successful in both America and the U.K. and continued to be constructed even after World War I, and a total of 1,700 units were produced during its lifetime.

By Jessica Donaldson