Photo: Antonio Paglia on Behance
Top Gear said that you need to have owned an Alfa Romeo to be a true “petrolhead” but the same can be said about Lancia if you think about it. The lesser known of the two Italian brands is four years older, founded in 1906 in Turin by racing drivers Vincenzo Lancia (hence the automaker’s name) and Claudio Fogolin.
Absorbed into the Fiat Group in 1969 under the guidance of head honcho Gianni Agnelli, Lancia is known for many firsts in the automotive industry that shaped series-production cars as we know them today. The Theta of 1914, for example, offered a complete set of electrical components as standard.
Then came the Lambda in 1921, introducing independent front suspension, the transmission tunnel on the floor, and a luggage compartment incorporated into the stress-bearing body structure, things that we currently take for granted. Many more examples can be given in this regard, but more importantly, Lancia still holds the most World Rally Championship titles of any automaker.
From the Fulvia to the Stratos to the 037 and the Delta, it’s easy to associate Lancia with the rallying scene thanks to marvelous exploits such as winning against the Audi Quattro with two- instead of four-wheel drive. In addition to the Martini livery we all know and love, Alitalia has also sponsored the Italian automaker on the dirt and beyond it. That livery is pretty much gone these days as the Italian government prepares to nationalize the air carrier over financial turmoil.
Thanks to the magic of pixel manipulation, architect and designer Antonio Paglia has brought back Alitalia onto a car that’s worthy of wearing the green and red decals over white paintwork. Enter the Gran Turismo, a design study that is bite-the-back-of-your-hand beautiful in street specification as well.
The side exhaust of the racecar isn’t shared with the road-going counterpart, nor are the carbon-fiber aero components and humongous rear wing. The two brothers, however, feature cameras instead of conventional mirrors as you can also get on the Audi e-tron and Honda e EVs and the Lexus ES sedan.
“Sportiness, elegance, long journeys” are the keywords behind this design concept that Lancia won’t make. “This is my vision of a luxury sports car,” said Antonio, adding that whatever hides under the hood is hybridized. Speaking of which, the Ypsilon supermini is now available as a mild hybrid.
Then came the Lambda in 1921, introducing independent front suspension, the transmission tunnel on the floor, and a luggage compartment incorporated into the stress-bearing body structure, things that we currently take for granted. Many more examples can be given in this regard, but more importantly, Lancia still holds the most World Rally Championship titles of any automaker.
From the Fulvia to the Stratos to the 037 and the Delta, it’s easy to associate Lancia with the rallying scene thanks to marvelous exploits such as winning against the Audi Quattro with two- instead of four-wheel drive. In addition to the Martini livery we all know and love, Alitalia has also sponsored the Italian automaker on the dirt and beyond it. That livery is pretty much gone these days as the Italian government prepares to nationalize the air carrier over financial turmoil.
Thanks to the magic of pixel manipulation, architect and designer Antonio Paglia has brought back Alitalia onto a car that’s worthy of wearing the green and red decals over white paintwork. Enter the Gran Turismo, a design study that is bite-the-back-of-your-hand beautiful in street specification as well.
The side exhaust of the racecar isn’t shared with the road-going counterpart, nor are the carbon-fiber aero components and humongous rear wing. The two brothers, however, feature cameras instead of conventional mirrors as you can also get on the Audi e-tron and Honda e EVs and the Lexus ES sedan.
“Sportiness, elegance, long journeys” are the keywords behind this design concept that Lancia won’t make. “This is my vision of a luxury sports car,” said Antonio, adding that whatever hides under the hood is hybridized. Speaking of which, the Ypsilon supermini is now available as a mild hybrid.
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