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131-556: The brand is known for its strong rallying heritage, and technical innovations such as the unibody chassis of the 1922 Lambda and the five-speed gearbox introduced in the 1948 Ardea . Despite not competing in the World Rally Championship since 1992, Lancia still holds more Manufacturers' Championships than any other brand. Sales of Lancia-branded vehicles declined from over 300,000 annual units sold in 1990 to less than 100,000 by 2010. After corporate parent Fiat acquired

262-503: A European Rally Championship (at first called the "Touring Championship") of eleven events; it was first won by Helmut Polensky of Germany. This was the premier international rallying championship until 1973, when the FIA created the World Rally Championship for Manufacturers . Initially, most of the major post-war rallies were fairly gentlemanly, but the organisers of the French Alpine and

393-403: A Rally4 version of the same model, signaling an (initially limited) return to rally championships . As of July 2024, Lancia Ypsilon closed the first half of 2024 with 24,709 units sold, with a 3% increase in volumes and a market share of 2.8%, in line with last year's performance, confirming itself as one of the best-selling cars in its segment. On July 18, 2024, the first new Lancia Ypsilon

524-556: A V4 engine . Other innovations involved the use of independent suspension in production cars (in an era where live axles were common practice for both the front and rear axles of a car), and rear transaxles, which were first fitted to the Aurelia and Flaminia range. This drive for innovation, constant quest for excellence, fixation of quality, complex construction processes and antiquated production machinery meant that all cars essentially had to be hand-made. With little commonality between

655-552: A hillclimb and a speed trial, but it was marred by poor organisation and confusing regulations. One participant had been Prince Henry of Austria, who with the Imperial Automobile Club of Germany, later created the first Prinz Heinrich Fahrt (Prince Henry Trial) in 1908. Another trial was held in 1910. These were very successful, attracting top drivers and works cars from major teams – several manufacturers added "Prince Henry" models to their ranges. The first Alpine Trial

786-599: A certain single-minded ruthlessness. Rather gentler (and more akin to modern rallying) was the Glidden Tour , run by the American Automobile Association between 1902 and 1913, which had timed legs between control points and a marking system to determine the winners. The First World War brought a lull to motorsport. The Monte Carlo Rally was not revived until 1924, but since then, apart from World War II and its aftermath, it has been an annual event and remains

917-407: A dedicated series. In 1937, Vincenzo died of a heart attack. His wife, Adele Miglietti Lancia, and his son, Gianni Lancia , took over control of the company. They persuaded Vittorio Jano to join as an engineer. Jano had already made a name for himself by designing various Alfa Romeo models, including some of its most successful race cars ever such as the 6C , P2 and P3 . Lancia is renowned in

1048-524: A distinctive crescent-shaped wrap-around windshield providing maximum forward visibility with almost no rear visibility. The prototype had three different engines in its early development life: the Lancia Fulvia engine, the Lancia Beta engine and finally, for the 1971 public launch, the mid-mounted Dino Ferrari V6 producing 190 hp (142 kW) in road trim. The use of this engine had been planned from

1179-484: A form of motorsport. A touring assembly may have an organised route and simple passage controls but not any form of competition held or prizes given. One example, the Gumball 3000 , which calls itself ' a rally not a race ', explicitly states in its terms that no form of competition between participants must take place. The FIA defined this activity under 'rally of the touring kind' at least until 2007, though have now separated

1310-520: A mix of types. Road rallies are the original form held on public highways open to traffic. In its annually published International Sporting Code , the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) includes the following definition of rally: Rally: Road Competition with an imposed average speed run entirely or partly on roads open to normal traffic. A Rally consists either of a single itinerary..., or of several itineraries converging on

1441-855: A more southerly route before boarding a ship in Lisbon. Disembarking in Rio de Janeiro the route travelled southward into Argentina before turning northwards along the western coast of South America before arriving in Mexico City. The Ford Escort of Hannu Mikkola and Gunnar Palm won. These were followed in 1974 by the London-Sahara-Munich World Cup Rally, and in 1977 by the Singapore Airlines London-Sydney Rally. The 1974 London-Sahara-Munich World Cup Rally followed four years later. The rally travelled southwards into Africa but

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1572-516: A motoring rally. One early example of a true motor rally, the 1909 Auto Rally Day in Denison, Iowa , United States, gathered approximately 100 vehicles owned by local residents for no other real reason than to give rides to members of the public, using fuel paid for by local businessmen who hoped the event would help sell cars. In the case of the 1910 Good Roads Rally held in Charleston, South Carolina ,

1703-543: A navigational error saw most of the rally become lost in Algerian desert. Eventually only seven teams reached the southernmost point of the rally in Nigeria with five teams making it back to West Germany having driven all legs and only the winning team completing the full distance. This, coupled with the economic climate of the 1970s the heat went out of intercontinental rallying after a second London–Sydney Marathon in 1977. The concept

1834-716: A new rally car based on the ideas of Bertone's designer Marcello Gandini . Gandini had already designed the Lamborghini Miura and was working on the Countach at the time. Lancia presented the Bertone-designed Lancia Stratos HF prototype at the 1971 Turin Motor Show , a year after the announcement of the Stratos Zero concept car. The prototype Stratos HF (Chassis 1240) was fluorescent red in colour and featured

1965-496: A new subcompact car - which became the fourth generation of Ypsilon ; a compact crossover (codenamed L74) - confirmed later in April 2023 as a five-door fastback CUV named Gamma, scheduled for a 2026 release; and a compact hatchback, likely to be a new Delta. On November 28, 2022, Luca Napolitano laid the cornerstone of Lancia's "renaissance" by revealing a new logo and introducing the new Pu+Ra (Pure + Radical) Design language - through

2096-468: A personal interest in designing and producing the bodywork. A dedicated calculations engineer from Lancia was tasked with performing calculations on many of the chassis, steering, suspension and engine components: Nicola Materazzi. Lancia undertook extensive testing with the Stratos and raced the car in several racing events where Group 5 prototypes were allowed during the 1972 and 1973 seasons. Production of

2227-565: A quarter hours for the 550 km (340 mi) to Bordeaux, an average of 105 km/h (65.3 mph). Speeds had now exceeded the safe limits of dusty highways thronged with spectators and open to other traffic, people and animals and there were numerous crashes, many injuries and eight deaths. The French government stopped the race and banned this style of event. From then on, racing in Europe (apart from Italy) would be on closed circuits, initially on long loops of public highway and then, in 1907, on

2358-489: A rally was organised to promote the need for better roads. The rally itself had no competition and most vehicles were expected to be parked for its duration. The programme included a visit to some ongoing roadworks, a vehicle parade, with food, drink, dancing and music also arranged. However, the Automobile Club of Columbia , who had members attending the event, independently organised their own road competition to contest on

2489-474: A rallying-point fixed beforehand.... The route may include one or several special stages, i.e. events organised on roads closed to normal traffic, and which together determine the general classification of the Rally. The itineraries which are not used for special stages are called road sections. Speed must never constitute a factor determining the classification on these road sections. In an exclusively regularity rally,

2620-587: A regular round of the World Rally Championship. In the 1930s, helped by the tough winters, it became the premier European rally, attracting 300 or more participants. In the 1920s, numerous variations on the Alpine theme sprang up in Austria, Italy, France, Switzerland and Germany. The most important of these were Austria's Alpenfahrt , which continued into its 44th edition in 1973, Italy's Coppa delle Alpi , and

2751-507: A replacement for the aging Fulvia for use in rally sports . Bertone decided to design an eye-catching model to show to Lancia. Bertone used the running gear of a Fulvia Coupé which belonged to one of his friends and built a running model around it. When Bertone himself appeared at the Lancia factory gates with the Stratos Zero he passed underneath the barrier, to great applause from the Lancia workers. After that Lancia and Bertone agreed to develop

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2882-481: A sculpture called Pu+Ra Zero. Inspired by historic models such as the Aurelia, Flaminia, Delta and the 1970 Stratos Zero concept car, future electric models will be adorned by both organic lines and geometric shapes at the same time. The iconic calice grille was reinterpreted as a new Y-shaped LED light signature, with the new wordmark above them, instead of the shield. At the rear, round taillights pays homage directly to

3013-454: A series of manoeuvrability and car control tests; the latter a thinly disguised road race over some of Europe's toughest mountain roads. In Ireland, the first Ulster Motor Rally (1931) was run from multiple starting points. After several years in this format, it transitioned into the 1,000-mile (1,600 km) Circuit of Ireland Rally . In Italy, Benito Mussolini 's government encouraged motorsport of all kinds and facilitated road racing, so

3144-507: A serious accident in 1957 caused it to be banned. Meanwhile, in 1981, the Tour de France was revived by the Automobile-Club de Nice as a different kind of rally, based primarily on a series of races at circuits and hillclimbs around the country. It was successful for a while and continued until 1986. It spawned similar events in a few other countries, but none survive. In countries where there

3275-460: A single unit (a feature that would be employed in subsequent Lancias, up to the Appia that was replaced in 1963). In 1948, the first 5-speed gearbox was fitted to a production car (Series 3 Ardea). 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

3406-503: A social, political or religious cause. Motor car rallies were probably being arranged as motor clubs and automobile associations were beginning to form shortly after the first motor cars were being produced. "Auto Rallies" were common events in the USA in the early twentieth century for the purpose of political caucusing , however many of these rallies were coincidentally aimed at motorists who could attend in convenient fashion rather than being

3537-399: A speed limit of 25kph imposed, the competitive elements were partly based on cleanliness, condition and elegance of the cars and required a jury to choose a winner. However, getting to Monaco in winter was a challenge in itself. A second event was held in 1912. Rallying as a form of road competition can be traced back to the origins of motorsport, including the world's first known motor race;

3668-702: A stake in Chrysler in 2009, the Lancia brand portfolio was modified to include rebadged Chrysler products, for sale in most European markets. In the United Kingdom and Ireland however, Lancias were rebadged as Chryslers. As sales continued to drop the Lancia-badged Chryslers were no longer offered after 2015. Since then, the company's only product has been the Lancia Ypsilon , and sales outside of Italy ended in 2017. Despite Lancia's much smaller brand presence,

3799-439: A total distance of at least 5000 km. Hill rallies are a type of cross-country event found in the United Kingdom and defined and governed by Motorsport UK . Assemblies of car enthusiasts and their vehicles may still colloquially be called rallies, even if they involve merely the task of getting to the location (often on a trailer). However, static assemblies that simply 'meet' (akin to a caravan or steam rally ) are not considered

3930-450: A total of 11 Championships over the years and 15 European Championship from 1969 to 1992. Juha Kankkunen and Miki Biasion both won two drivers' titles with the Delta. Among other drivers to take several World Rally Championship wins with Lancia were Markku Alén , Didier Auriol , Sandro Munari , Bernard Darniche , Walter Röhrl , Björn Waldegård and Henri Toivonen . The history of

4061-514: A truly tough event. In 1956 came Corsica's Tour de Corse , 24 hours of virtually non-stop flat out driving on some of the narrowest and twistiest mountain roads on the planet – the first major rally to be won by a woman, Belgium's Gilberte Thirion , in a Renault Dauphine . These events were road races in all but name, but in Italy such races were still allowed, and the Mille Miglia continued until

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4192-544: A winner, which made it unattractive to foreign crews. In 1961, Jack Kemsley was able to persuade the Forestry Commission to open their many hundreds of miles of well surfaced and sinuous gravel roads, and the event was transformed into one of the most demanding and popular in the calendar, by 1983 having over 600 miles (970 km) of stage. It was later renamed Rally GB . Rallying also took off in Spain and Portugal and by

4323-574: Is claimed to accelerate to 100 km/h in 3.3 seconds and on to a top speed close to 320 km/h (200 mph). While shorter than its donor car, the New Stratos is a little larger than the original Stratos, with a length of 4,181 mm (164.6 in), 1,971 mm (77.6 in) wide and 1,240 mm (48.8 in) tall. There were reports that given sufficient interest a small production run of up to 25 cars could be possible. Ferrari did not consent to this plan, and forbade its suppliers to support

4454-516: Is finally delivered. As of August 2024, the new Lancia Ypsilon sold in the Italian market 1.362. As of September 2024, the new Lancia Ypsilon sold in the Italian market 1.055. While in October 2024 the data further decreased with only 805 registered cars. However, it must be considered that the car has only been on the market for a few months in an unfavorable market context, dominated by the difficulties of

4585-406: Is tested. Gimmick rallies have less of a concern on timekeeping or driving ability and include other fun and games. Examples include: These rallies are primarily amateur events. Stage rallying simply divides the route from the start to the finish of any rally into stages, not necessarily exclusively for speed tests on special stages . Each stage may have different targets or rules attached. In

4716-404: Is typically distinguished from other forms of motorsport by not running directly against other competitors over laps of a circuit , but instead in a point-to-point format in which participants leave at regular intervals from one or more start points. Rallies generally fall under two categories, road rallies and cross-country (off-road). Different types of rally are described however a rally may be

4847-575: The Automobile Club de France sponsored the longest race to date, a 1,710 km (1,060 mi) event from Bordeaux to Agen and back. Because it was held in ten stages, it can be considered the first stage rally. The first three places were taken by a Panhard, a Panhard, and a three-wheeler De Dion-Bouton . In the Paris–Madrid race of May 1903, the Mors of Fernand Gabriel took just under five and

4978-603: The 1974 , 1975 and 1976 championship titles in the hands of Sandro Munari and Björn Waldegård , and might have gone on to win more had not internal politics within the Fiat group placed rallying responsibility on the Fiat 131 Abarths. As well as victories on the 1975 , 1976 and 1977 Monte Carlo Rally , all courtesy of Munari, the Stratos won the event with the private Chardonnet Team as late as 1979 . Without support from Fiat, and despite new regulations that restricted engine power,

5109-512: The Chrysler division in October 2009. Fiat also announced that, depending on the market, some Chrysler cars would be sold as Lancias and vice versa. Francois' plans to re-establish the Chrysler brand as an upscale brand were somewhat muddied by the discontinuance of the Plymouth brand. At the 2010 Detroit Auto Show , a Chrysler-badged Lancia Delta was on display, but this did not result in sales in

5240-762: The Coupe Internationale des Alpes (International Alpine Trial), organised jointly by the automobile clubs of Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and, latterly, France. This last event, run from 1928 to 1936, attracted strong international fields vying for an individual Glacier Cup or a team Alpine Cup, including successful Talbot , Riley , MG and Triumph teams from Britain and increasingly strong and well funded works representation from Adolf Hitler 's Germany, keen to prove its engineering and sporting prowess with successful marques like Adler , Wanderer and Trumpf. The French started their own Rallye des Alpes Françaises in 1932, which continued after World War II as

5371-476: The Rallye International des Alpes , the name often shortened to Coupe des Alpes . Other rallies started between the wars included Britain's RAC Rally (1932) and Belgium's Liège-Rome-Liège or just Liège, officially called "Le Marathon de la Route" (1931), two events of radically different character; the former a gentle tour between cities from various start points, "rallying" at a seaside resort with

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5502-671: The Stratos sports car. All these design shapes were later applied into a fully-functional concept car: the Lancia Pu+Ra HPE Concept presented on 15 April 2023 in Milan. On 12 December 2023, a prototype of the fourth generation of Ypsilon was found at the deep of a canal in the Montbeliard region, France, close to a Stellantis' plant in Sochaux ; unveiling its final design few months before

5633-771: The Targa Florio at the wheel of the Lancia D20. The same year Lancia introduced the D24 sports racer, which was an evolution of D23 model, but rebodied as a spider by Pinin Farina. Its most significant victories were the 1953 Carrera Panamericana , the 1954 Mille Miglia and the 1954 Targa Florio . Rallying Rallying is a wide-ranging form of motorsport with various competitive motoring elements such as speed tests (sometimes called "rally racing" in United States), navigation tests, or

5764-551: The United States from 1975. Sales were comparatively slow, and the range was withdrawn at the same time as Fiat in 1982. In 2009, following Fiat's acquisition of a stake in United States–based Chrysler and part of Chrysler's restructuring plans, it was stated that Fiat plans for the Chrysler brand and Lancia to co–develop products, with some vehicles being shared. Olivier Francois, Lancia's CEO, took over as CEO of

5895-452: The World Rally Championship in 1974, 1975 and 1976; as well as winning the 1974 Targa Florio , winning the Tour de France Automobile five times and the Giro d'Italia automobilistico three times. Lancia traditionally used the design house Pininfarina and had not used Bertone before. Bertone desired to create an opportunity for a relationship with Lancia and knew that Lancia was looking for

6026-434: The World Rally Championship , Regional Rally Championships; and many countries' motorsport governing bodies organise domestic rallying championships using speed competitions. The stages may vary from flat asphalt and mountain passes to rough forest tracks, from ice and snow to desert sand, each chosen to provide a challenge for the crew and a test of the car's performance and reliability. A single-venue rally takes place without

6157-447: The 1894 Paris–Rouen Horseless Carriage Competition ( Concours des Voitures sans Chevaux ). Sponsored by a Paris newspaper, Le Petit Journal , it attracted considerable public interest and entries from leading manufacturers. The official winner was Albert Lemaître driving a 3 hp Peugeot , although the Comte de Dion had finished first but his steam-powered vehicle was ineligible for

6288-547: The 1960s had spread to their colonial territories in the mid-Atlantic. By the end of the 1960s events had not only begun in Madeira and the Canary Islands , but also on the far-flung Azores . Lancia Stratos The Lancia Stratos HF ( Tipo 829 ), known as Lancia Stratos , is a rear mid-engined sports car designed for rallying , made by Italian car manufacturer Lancia . It was highly successful in competition, winning

6419-549: The 1977 Safari Rally car. The Stratos also gained limited success in 24 Hours of Le Mans , with a car, driven by Christine Dacremont and Lella Lombardi , finishing 20th overall and 2nd in GTP class in 1976 . Another unique Group 5 car is the Lancia Stratos HF of Austrian Rallycross driver Andy Bentza. The car was first driven by his Memphis teammate Franz Wurz, father of Formula One pilot Alexander Wurz . In 1976 Wurz claimed

6550-424: The 1978 season the 24 valve heads were banned from group 4 competition by a change to the FIA rules (which would have required additional production of 24-valve cars for re-homologation). Even with this perceived power deficit the Stratos was the car to beat in competition and when it did not suffer an accident or premature transmission failure (of the latter there were many) it had great chances to win. The car won

6681-716: The 1980s, the company cooperated with Saab Automobile , with the Lancia Delta being sold as the Saab 600 in Sweden . The 1985 Lancia Thema also shared a platform with the Saab 9000 , Fiat Croma and the Alfa Romeo 164 . During the 1990s, all models were closely related to other Fiat models. Starting from 1 February 2007, Fiat's automotive operations were reorganised. Fiat Auto became Fiat Group Automobiles S.p.A. , Fiat S.p.A. 's branch handling mainstream automotive production. Simultaneously

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6812-502: The 500 cars required for homologation in Group 4 commenced in 1973 and the Stratos was homologated for the 1974 World Rally Championship season . The Ferrari Dino V6 engine was phased out in 1974, but 500 engines - among the last examples built - were delivered to Lancia. Production ended in 1975, when it was thought that only 492 were made (for the 1976 season, the Group 4 production requirement

6943-536: The Beta recall and, combined with a range of related factors (including poor residual values, which made their range uncompetitive), decided to withdraw from the United Kingdom (and other right-hand drive markets) in February 1994. The last model to be sold in the United Kingdom was the Delta, boosted by its rallying reputation, withdrawn from sale in 1995, although a small number of left-hand drive Lancia models have since reached

7074-555: The Chrysler badge. In 2015 Lancia's parent company Fiat Group Automobiles S.p.A. became FCA Italy S.p.A. , reflecting the earlier incorporation of Fiat S.p.A. into Fiat Chrysler Automobiles . After 2015, all models produced by Chrysler were discontinued in the European market. Since then, the Lancia brand has remained alive, only by continuing to manufacture and sell the Ypsilon - which received another slight facelift in 2020 - exclusively in

7205-415: The FIA ecoRally Cup for example, energy performance is measured on regularity stages ran in conformity with the clock. A gimmick rally may have stages with varying difficulty of the puzzle element. Also called rally racing or (special) stage rallying . Road rallies must use special stages where speed is used to determine the classification of the rally's competitors; the quickest time to complete

7336-573: The GT Division title of the ERC. The one and only 3.0 litre Stratos worldwide was raced by Bentza till the end of 1983. After keeping the car for another 30 years Bentza has sold the Stratos to Alexander Wurz. It was fully restored over a period of almost two years and revealed to the public in May 2016, converted back to its 1976 rallycross specification with Memphis livery. The Lancia Stratos Zero (or 0 ) preceded

7467-660: The German works teams shortly before their countries were overrun. This was one of five Liège wins for Trasenster; Trevoux won four Montes between 1934 and 1951. Rallying was again slow to get under way after a major war, but by the 1950s there were many long-distance road rallies. In Europe, the Monte Carlo Rally, the French and Austrian Alpines, and the Liège were joined by a host of new events that quickly established themselves as classics:

7598-606: The Giro d'Italia event again before it was shipped to Japan to compete in the Fuji Speedway based Formula Silhouette series, which was never raced. The car would then be sold and reside in the Matsuda Collection before then being sold to a collector of Stratos', Ernst Hrabalek, who had the largest Lancia Stratos Collection in the world at the time, 11 unique Lancia Stratos cars, including the fluorescent red 1971 factory prototype and

7729-570: The Italian market. Despite doubts about the brand's future following the completion of the Stellantis merger in 2021, Lancia was made part of a joint group with sister companies Alfa Romeo and DS Automobiles , to develop new premium models for the 2024 model year. As part of Stellantis' recovery plan for Lancia, Luca Napolitano was appointed the car maker's CEO, and Jean-Pierre Ploué its chief designer. Three new electric models were announced in June 2021:

7860-405: The Jeep brand instead. A small number of Lancia models were previously sold in Japan, such as Fulvia , Stratos and Delta . More recently, some models have been sold under the Chrysler brand, such as the Ypsilon . After Vincenzo Lancia's son Gianni became director of the firm, it started to take part more frequently in motorsport, eventually deciding to build a Grand Prix car. Vittorio Jano

7991-420: The Lancia Stratos HF prototype by 12 months and was first shown to the public at the Turin Motor Show in 1970. The futuristic bodywork was designed by Marcello Gandini , head designer at Bertone , and featured a 1.6 L Lancia Fulvia V4 engine. The Lancia Stratos HF Zero was exhibited in Bertone's museum for many years. In 2011, it was sold during an auction in Italy for €761,600. It has been displayed in

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8122-480: The Lisbon Rally (Portugal, 1947), the Tulip Rally (the Netherlands, 1949), the Rally to the Midnight Sun (Sweden, 1951, now the Swedish Rally ), the Rally of the 1000 Lakes (Finland, 1951 – now the Rally Finland ), and the Acropolis Rally (Greece, 1956). The RAC Rally gained International status on its return in 1951, but for 10 years its emphasis on map-reading navigation and short manoeuvrability tests made it unpopular with foreign crews. The FIA created in 1953

8253-448: The Liège (which moved its turning point from Rome into Yugoslavia in 1956) straight away set difficult time schedules: the Automobile Club de Marseille et Provence laid on a long tough route over a succession of rugged passes, stated that cars would have to be driven flat out from start to finish, and gave a coveted Coupe des Alpes ("Alpine Cup") to anyone achieving an unpenalised run; while Belgium's Royal Motor Union made clear no car

8384-595: The New Stratos was announced in 2010 based on the overall design and concept of the original Stratos and was designed and developed by Pininfarina . The car made use of a Ferrari 430 Scuderia as a donor car, using the chassis (shortened by 200 mm (7.9 in) resulting in a wheelbase of 2,400 mm (94.49 in)) and much of the mechanical elements including the 4.3 L V8 engine (4,308 cm ), tuned to generate 540 hp (403 kW) at 8,200 rpm and torque of 519 N⋅m (383 lb⋅ft) at 3,750 rpm. The New Stratos weighs 1,247 kg (2,749 lb) and

8515-462: The Royal Automobile Club held its 2,000 mi (3,200 km) International Touring Car Trial, and in 1914 the Light Car Trial for manufacturers of cars up to 1400 cc, to test comparative performances. In 1924, the exercise was repeated as the Small Car Trials. In Germany , the Herkomer Trophy was first held in 1905, and again in 1906. This challenging five-day event attracted over 100 entrants to tackle its 1,000 km (620 mi) road section,

8646-475: The Royal Automobile Club) organised the Thousand Mile Trial, a 15-day event linking Britain's major cities in order to promote this novel form of transport. Seventy vehicles took part, the majority of them trade entries. They had to complete thirteen stages of route varying in length from 43 to 123 miles (69 to 198 km) at average speeds of up to the legal limit of 12 mph (19 km/h), and tackle six hillclimb or speed tests. On rest days and at lunch halts,

8777-451: The UK as personal imports. After 1995, there were continuous rumours suggesting Lancia's return to the United Kingdom. In November 2005, What Car? reported rumours over the alleged return, to rival "affordable" premium makes, such as Saab and Volvo . In September 2006, What Car? reported that Lancia were returning to the United Kingdom. The relaunch date was set for August 2008. In April 2008, Car reported that Lancia had postponed

8908-416: The United States, with proposals to instead modify an Alfa Romeo for sale by 2013. Lancia's reputation was significantly undermined in 1980, when defective Lancia Beta models, suffering from significant suspension sub-frame corrosion problems, were purchased back from owners by the company in a highly publicised campaign. These cars were later crushed. The brand never recovered from the damage inflicted during

9039-554: The Ypsilon continues to be popular in Italy; in fact it was the second best-selling car there in 2019. The newly merged Franco-Italian-American company Stellantis stated that it would try to revive Italy's Lancia, with the move also suggesting there would be more than one model for the brand, as well as sales outside of Italy for the first time in years. Lancia & C. Fabbrica Automobili was founded on 27 November 1906 in Turin by Fiat racing drivers, Vincenzo Lancia and his friend, Claudio Fogolin. The first car manufactured by Lancia

9170-421: The Ypsilon supermini range. However, in 2024, the brand began to be exported to other markets again. In August 2024, Stellantis & You, a subsidiary of the Stellantis group dedicated to automobile distribution in Europe, has opened the very first Lancia point of sale located in La Défense , near Paris . While some models had been imported on a small scale during the 1950s to the 1960s, Lancias were sold in

9301-558: The ability to reach waypoints or a destination at a prescribed time or average speed. Rallies may be short in the form of trials at a single venue, or several thousand miles long in an extreme endurance rally. Depending on the format, rallies may be organised on private or public roads, open or closed to traffic, or off-road in the form of cross country or rally-raid. Competitors can use production vehicles which must be road-legal if being used on open roads or specially built competition vehicles suited to crossing specific terrain. Rallying

9432-432: The aim is to adhere to the itinerary by following the route and arriving and departing at checkpoints at the prescribed time, with penalties applied to entrants who arrive early, late or who deviate from the route. The entrants with the fewest penalties at the end of the rally are the winners. In trying to maintain the set average speed/s, the reliability of the vehicle, and the ability of the crew to drive, navigate and follow

9563-476: The amount referencing Lancia's foundation in 1906. The Lancia Ypsilon dominated the Italian market in the first months of 2024, recording exceptional numbers for the brand. Concluding the first quarter with 12,923 units sold, up 16.4% compared to the same period in 2023. In May 2024, Lancia announced the revival of the HF performance division, unveiling an all-new Ypsilon HF version, to be launched in May 2025, alongside

9694-509: 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

9825-479: The beginning of the project, but Enzo Ferrari was reluctant to sign off the use of this engine in a car he saw as a competitor to his own Dino V6 . After the production of the Dino had ended, the "Commendatore" (a popular nickname for Enzo Ferrari) agreed to deliver the engines for the Stratos, upon which Lancia suddenly received 500 units. The final design shares several striking features with Gandini's Lamborghini Miura:

9956-472: The body, which looked like a monolithic sculpture of vigorous and smooth shape. In 2000, Marcello Gandini created a modern interpretation of his Lancia Stratos, commissioned by the Stola of Turin. A concept car that is a two-seater coupe built with Ciba LY 5185, a new material considered more useful than traditional clay. At the 2005 Geneva Auto Show , a British design firm known as Fenomenon, who had rights to

10087-431: The brand in rallying is also tainted with tragedy, with deaths of Italian driver Attilio Bettega at the 1985 Tour de Corse in a Lancia 037 and then Finnish championship favourite Toivonen in a Lancia Delta S4 at the same rally exactly a year later. These deaths would eventually lead to the end of Group B rallying. In 1951 Mille Miglia , Lancia Aurelia B20 GT came second overall. . In 1953, Umberto Maglioli won

10218-611: The car would remain a serious competitor and proved able to beat works cars in several occasions when entered by an experienced private team with a talented driver. The last victory of the Stratos was in 1981 , at the Tour de Corse Automobile , another World Rally Championship event, with a victory by longtime Stratos privateer Bernard Darniche . When the Fiat group favoured the Fiat 131 for rallying, Lancia also built two Group 5 turbocharged 'silhouette' Stratos for closed-track endurance racing. The powertrain and aerodynamics were engineered by Nicola Materazzi based on experience gained with

10349-563: The cars were shown to the public in exhibition halls. This event was followed in 1901 by a five-day trial based in Glasgow The Scottish Automobile Club organised an annual Glasgow–London non-stop trial from 1902 to 1904, then the Scottish Reliability Trial from 1905. The Motor Cycling Club allowed cars to enter its trials and runs from 1904 (London– Edinburgh , London– Land's End , London– Exeter ). In 1908

10480-496: The company withdrew from Grand Prix racing. Altogether Lancia took two victories and ten podiums in Formula One. Remnants of the Lancia team were transferred to Scuderia Ferrari , where Juan Manuel Fangio won the 1956 championship with a Lancia-Ferrari car. Lancia has been very successful in motorsport over the years, and mostly in the arena of rallying . Prior to the forming of the World Rally Championship (WRC), Lancia took

10611-457: The cost – financial, social and environmental – of putting them on in an increasingly complex and developed world, although smaller road races continued long after, and a few still do in countries like Bolivia . In Africa, 1950 saw the first French-run Algiers-Cape Town Rally , a 10,000-mile (16,000 km) rally from the Mediterranean to South Africa ; it was run on and off until 1961, when

10742-430: The current company, Lancia Automobiles S.p.A. , was created from the pre-existing brand, and controlled 100% by FCA. In 2011, Lancia moved in another direction and added new models manufactured by Chrysler and sold under the Lancia badge in many European markets, such as the 300 (named Thema ), 200 Convertible (as Flavia) and Voyager . Conversely, Lancia-built models began to be sold in right-hand drive markets under

10873-443: The dual clamshell hoods (the front opening forward, over the spare wheel placed identically, and the rear hinging rearward, with stepped black louvres above the engine and integrating a trunk behind it) – as well as the way the door-glass bottom rears curve upward, giving the otherwise frameless doors an upward-swept frame section. In contrast though, the Stratos' body received an unmistakable short and wide wedge shape, so extreme that

11004-606: The earlier generation. These cars failed against the Porsche 935s on closed tracks but proved successful in hybrid events. Stratos won a record 5 times the Tour de France Automobile between 1973 and 1980, and also the 1974, 1976 and 1978 Giro d'Italia automobilistico , an Italian counterpart of the Tour de France Automobile. One of the cars was destroyed in Zeltweg , when it caught fire due to overheating problems. The last surviving car would win

11135-399: The electric transition in addition to having only one model in production for Lancia. In this context, Lancia will close the year 2024, if massive incentives and tax breaks do not intervene with sales of approximately 30,000 units only for italian market. Among the positive factors to consider for 2024, the expansion of Lancia dealers on the European market and beyond, while in previous years it

11266-810: The end of 1960, Lancia made their first landaulet - limousine for the President of Italy , called the Lancia Flaminia 335 Presidenziale . In 1989, Lancia made a limousine version of the Thema . 24 examples for Fiat-Group executives. In 1999, Lancia made a one-off limousine version of the Kappa and at the 2004 Geneva Motor Show , Stola showed a limousine version of the Thesis . In January 2014, in an interview with La Repubblica , Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne foreshadowed that Lancia would become an Italy–only brand, and focus only on

11397-797: The exhibit "Sculpture in Motion: Masterpieces of Italian Design" at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. It was at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta at the "Dream Cars" exhibit in 2014, on loan from the XJ Wang Collection of New York City. The car's body is wedge-shaped and finished in distinctive orange. It is unusually short in length (3.58 m (141 in)) and height (84 cm (33 in)), and it shares little with

11528-632: The final International Championship for Manufacturers title with the Fulvia in 1972. In the WRC, they remain the most statistically successful marque (despite having withdrawn at the end of the 1993 season ), winning constructors' titles with the Stratos ( 1974 , 1975 and 1976 ), the 037 ( 1983 ) and the Delta (six consecutive wins from 1987 to 1992 ). The Delta is also the most successful individual model designation ever to compete in rallying. All this gave Lancia

11659-643: The final push across Australia to Sydney. It attracted over 100 crews including a number of works teams and top drivers; it was won by the Hillman Hunter of Andrew Cowan/Brian Coyle/Colin Malkin. The huge success of this event saw the creation of the World Cup Rallies, linked to Association Football's FIFA World Cup. The first was the 1970 London to Mexico World Cup Rally which saw competitors travel from London eastwards across to Bulgaria before turning westwards on

11790-478: The first ever European Rallycross title recognised by the FIA with the car, by then still featuring a 2.4 litre engine with first a 12 and later a 24 valve head. For the ERC series of 1977 Wurz was entrusted with an experimental 24 valve engine by Mike Parkes, equipped with a special crankshaft to bring the engine capacity up to just under 3000 cc. For 1978 Bentza took the Stratos over from Wurz, sold his own 2.4 L 12V Stratos to compatriot Reneé Vontsina, and won

11921-468: The first purpose-built track, England's Brooklands . Italy had been running road competitions since 1895, when a reliability trial was run from Turin to Asti and back. The country's first true motor race was held in 1897 along the shore of Lake Maggiore, from Arona to Stresa and back. This led to a long tradition of road racing, including events like Sicily's Targa Florio (from 1906 ) and Giro di Sicilia (Tour of Sicily, 1914), which went right round

12052-482: The front engine rear transmission configuration later used by Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Porsche, GM, Volvo and Maserati, as well as the V6 engine, which is now common. It 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. The second generation Lancia Thema executive car (2011 – 2014)

12183-411: The global financial crisis, and the recession . In 2011, Lancia Ypsilon and Delta models were eventually reintroduced to the United Kingdom, but were sold under the Chrysler marque. In January 2014, the slow-selling Delta model was dropped from this line-up. In March 2015, Fiat Group announced that the Chrysler brand would be discontinued in the United Kingdom in 2017, citing a desire to focus largely on

12314-544: The island, both of which continued on and off until after World War II. The first Alpine event was held in 1898, the Austrian Touring Club's three-day Automobile Run through South Tyrol, which included the infamous Stelvio Pass . In Britain , the legal maximum speed of 12 mph (19 km/h) precluded road racing, but in April and May 1900, the Automobile Club of Great Britain and Ireland (the forerunner of

12445-474: The itinerary is tested. Most non-regularity rally itineraries follow this base structure even where driving tests or special stages are used, however these would not then be described as a regularity rally. Similar to a regularity rally, the itinerary may advise a time and/or distance, or may only advise a target average speed with no indication where the checkpoints may be. The ability of the crew to follow road signs or directions of varying depth of information

12576-427: The journey between the two cities. A prize of $ 10 was awarded to the motorist "approximating the most ideal schedule" between two secret points along the route and who had "the most nearly correct idea of a pleasant and sensible pleasure tour" between the two cities. Though this format of competition itself would later become known as a regularity 'rally', it wasn't at the time, however the trophy and prize were awarded at

12707-506: The name, exhibited a retromodern concept version of the Stratos, designed by Chris Hrabalek and following its exhibition at the Frankfurt show, developed by Prodrive . The concept was based around a mid-mounted 419 hp (312 kW) V8 engine. Following the stalled Fenomenon project, one interested backer funded a one-off model. Commissioned by Michael Stoschek (a keen rally driver and chairman of Brose Group) and his son, Maximilian,

12838-419: The need for public road sections though the format and rules remain. In the wake of the ever more advanced rally cars of the late 20th and 21st century is a trend towards historic rallying (also known as classic rallying ), in which older cars can continue to rally. Historic rallies are usually regularity rallies with no speed tests arranged. This discipline attracts some former professional drivers back into

12969-581: The new political situation hastened its demise. In 1953 East Africa saw the demanding Coronation Safari, which went on to become the Safari Rally and a World Championship round, to be followed in due course by the Rallye du Maroc and the Rallye Côte d'Ivoire . Australia's Redex Round Australia Trial also dates from 1953, although this remained isolated from the rest of the rallying world. Canada hosted one of

13100-582: The nose drops below the top crests of the front wheel wells, and made unique by the semi-elliptical greenhouse's windshield and door glass ensemble, when seen from above. The Stratos was a successful rally car during the 1970s and early 1980s. It started a new era in rallying as it was the first car designed from scratch for this kind of competition. The three leading men behind the entire rallying project were Lancia team manager Cesare Fiorio , British racer/engineer Mike Parkes and factory rally driver Sandro Munari , with Bertone's Designer Marcello Gandini taking

13231-534: The official competition. The event led to a period of city-to-city road races being organised in Europe and the USA, which introduced many of the features found in later rallies: individual start times with cars running against the clock rather than head to head; time controls at the entry and exit points of towns along the way; road books and route notes; and driving over long distances on ordinary, mainly gravel, roads, facing hazards such as dust, traffic, pedestrians and farm animals. From 24 September-3 October 1895,

13362-418: The official unveil. The model had been presumed stolen during development testing rides before the sinking. On 14 February 2024, Lancia officially launches the fourth generation of Ypsilon , first under a limited production edition called Ypsilon Edizione Limitata Cassina , codeveloped between Lancia and Italian high-end furniture manufacturer Cassina S.p.A. . Production of the model is capped at 1,906 units,

13493-570: The production version. The Zero appeared in Michael Jackson 's 1988 film Moonwalker . In 1978, Bertone created and designed a concept car based on the Stratos called the Sibilo . It was conceived as a futuristic two-seater coupè on the chassis of the Lancia Stratos, the wheelbase of which was lengthened from 2160 to 2280mm. The car's glass surfaces seemed almost integrated into the volumes of

13624-511: The project. However, on 10 February 2018, Italian coachbuilding firm Manifattura Automobili Torino of Paolo Garella announced that it would be commencing with the production of the originally planned 25 cars. The Autobot character Wheeljack from the Transformers franchise transforms into an Alitalia -sponsored Stratos in the Generation 1 toy line and its cartoon adaptation , albeit with

13755-759: 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. The company showed the Granturismo Stilnovo and Fulvia concepts in 2003. Lancia has shown the PU+RA HPE concept in 2023 as part of brand renaissance strategy. In

13886-496: The rally. The first known use of the word rally to include a road competition was the 1911 Monaco Rally (later Monte Carlo Rally ). It was organised by a group of wealthy locals who formed the "Sport Automobile Vélocipédique Monégasque" and bankrolled by the "Société des Bains de Mer" (the "sea bathing company"), the operators of the famous casino who were keen to attract wealthy and adventurous motorists to their 'rallying point'. Competitors could start at various locations but with

14017-459: The relaunch. In June 2009, Autocar reported that the relaunch of Lancia was now “very unlikely”. These rumours were credible since Lancia models, by that time, shared common parts with Fiat and Alfa Romeo models that were imported, sold and maintained by an existing dealership network. The cost to reestablish the brand would therefore be minimal. In December 2008, however, Fiat cancelled relaunch plans, due to financial concerns coinciding with

14148-472: The road car a 0–100 km/h (62 mph) time of 6.8 seconds, and a top speed of 232 km/h (144 mph). The car was sold as the Lancia Stratos HF Stradale. The Stratos weighed between 900 and 950 kilograms, depending on configuration. Power output was around 275 hp (205 kW) for the original 12 valve version and 320 hp (239 kW) for the 24 valve version. Beginning with

14279-455: The solution to the conflict inherent in the notion of driving as fast as possible on ordinary roads. The idea spread to other countries, albeit more slowly to the most demanding events. The RAC Rally had formally become an International event in 1951, but Britain's laws precluded the closure of public highways for special stages. This meant it had to rely on short manoeuvrability tests, regularity sections and night map-reading navigation to find

14410-489: The special stages wins the rally. These are sections of road closed to traffic and authorised to be used for speed tests. Special stages are linked by open roads where navigation, timekeeping, and road traffic law rules must be followed. These open road sections are sometimes called transport stages, somewhat complementing special stages in the make-up of a stage rally. These are the most common format of professional and commercial rallies and rally championships. The FIA organises

14541-469: The sport quickly restarted after World War I. In 1927 the Mille Miglia (Thousand Mile) was founded, run over a 1,000-mile (1,600 km) loop of highways from Brescia to Rome and back. It continued in this form until 1938. The Liège of August 1939 was the last major event before World War II. Belgium's Jean Trasenster ( Bugatti ) and France's Jean Trevoux ( Hotchkiss ) tied for first place, denying

14672-423: The sport. Other drivers started their competition careers in historic rallying. Also commonly known by its types rally-raid or baja ; cross-country rallies take place mostly off-road using similar competitive elements to road and special stage rallying competitions. When off-road, waypoints and markers are set using GPS systems, although competitors cannot use GPS for navigation. Crews must choose how best to cross

14803-492: The term 'Touring Assembly' without using the word rally in its definition. The word ' rally' comes from the French verb ' rallier ', meaning to reunite or regroup urgently during a battle. It was in use since at least the seventeenth century and continues to mean to synergise with haste for a purpose. By the time of the invention of the motor car, it was in use as a noun to define the organised mass gathering of people, not to protest or demonstrate, but to promote or celebrate

14934-633: The terrain to the next waypoint whilst respecting the navigational instructions provided in the roadbook. The challenge is mostly navigational and endurance. The World Rally-Raid Championship was inaugurated in 2022, including the annual Dakar Rally in its calendar, with joint sanctioning by the FIA and FIM . Cross-Country Rally : Competition with a total distance between 1200 and 3000 km. Baja Cross-Country Rally : Cross-Country Rally which must be run over one day (max: 600 km) or two days (max: 1000 km). A Super Special Stage may be run on an extra day. Marathon Cross-Country Rally : Cross-Country Rally with

15065-513: The various models, the cost of production continued to rise, while flat demand eventually affected Lancia's viability. Gianni Lancia, a graduate engineer, was president of Lancia from 1947 to 1955. In 1956, the Pesenti family took control, with Carlo Pesenti in charge of the company. Fiat launched a take-over bid in October 1969. It was accepted by Lancia as the company was losing significant sums of money, with losses in 1969 being £ 20 million. This

15196-821: The world's longest and most gruelling rallies in the 1960s, the Shell 4000 Rally. It was the only one sanctioned by the FIA in North America. The quest for longer and tougher events saw the re-establishment of the intercontinental rallies beginning with the London–Sydney Marathon held in 1968. The rally trekked across Europe, the Middle-East and the sub-continent before boarding a ship in Bombay to arrive in Fremantle eight days later before

15327-473: Was 'won' by Prince Scipione Borghese , Luigi Barzini , and Ettore Guizzardi in an Itala . The New York–Paris of the following year, which went via Japan and Siberia , was won by George Schuster and others in a Thomas Flyer . Each event attracted only a handful of adventurous souls, but in both cases the successful drivers exhibited characteristics modern rally drivers would recognise: meticulous preparation, mechanical skill, resourcefulness, perseverance and

15458-487: Was a re-branded second generation Chrysler 300 unveiled in 2011 to replace the Thesis . It reused the name of the Italian made 1984–94 Thema saloon. It used to be available in various European markets, but for the United Kingdom and Ireland it was only sold as the Chrysler 300C . It was discontinued in 2015. The Lancia Voyager was a large MPV unveiled in 2011, which was based on the Chrysler Town & Country . It

15589-485: Was expected to finish the Liège unpenalised – when one did (1951 winner Johnny Claes in a Jaguar XK120 ) they tightened the timing to make sure it never happened again. These two events became the ones for "the men" to do. The Monte, because of its glamour, got the media coverage and the biggest entries (and in snowy years was also a genuine challenge); while the Acropolis took advantage of Greece's appalling roads to become

15720-536: Was held in 1909, in Austria, and by 1914 this was the toughest event of its kind, producing a star performance from Britain's James Radley in his Rolls-Royce Alpine Eagle . In Estonia and Latvia , The Last Race of the Empire was held in the days prior to the outbreak of World War 1 in 1914. This period was later called the July Crisis . A 706 mile car race of six stages through what is now Estonia and Latvia. The race

15851-609: Was marketed in various European markets, but for the United Kingdom and Ireland it was only sold as the Chrysler Grand Voyager . It was discontinued in 2015. Between 2012 and 2014, the Chrysler 200 Convertible was rebranded and marketed under the Lancia Flavia name. The Flavia was only available in left-hand drive markets, and thus not sold in the United Kingdom or Ireland . Lancia has shown several concept cars to

15982-490: Was no shortage of demanding roads across remote terrain, other events sprang up. In South America, the biggest of these took the form of long distance city to city races, each around 5,000 to 6,000 miles (8,000 to 9,700 km), divided into daily legs. The first was the Gran Premio del Norte of 1940, run from Buenos Aires to Lima and back; it was won by Juan Manuel Fangio in a much modified Chevrolet coupé . This event

16113-411: Was not the end of the distinctive Lancia marque, and new models in the 1970s such as the Stratos , Gamma and Beta proved that Fiat wished to preserve the image of the brand it had acquired. Autobianchi , bought by Fiat Group just a year before, was put under the control of Lancia. During the 1970s and 1980s, Lancia had great success in rallying , winning many World Rally Championships . During

16244-491: Was only present on the Italian market, and the future expansion of the range with the new planned models of Lancia Gamma and Lancia Delta . Furthermore, Lancia's return to Rally competitions will certainly benefit sales and the relaunch of the brand. The Ypsilon is a premium 5-door supermini car produced since 2024. It is based on the CMP/e-CMP platform. It is a replacement for the Fiat 500 based model launched in 2011. It

16375-472: Was previously available for sale in many European markets; however, since 2017, it has only been available in Italy. In the United Kingdom and Ireland it was previously sold as the Chrysler Ypsilon . Although it is the only Lancia car in production and only for sale in Italy, the Ypsilon continues to be popular there; it was the second best-selling car in Italy in 2019. The Lancia Aurelia introduced

16506-528: Was reduced to 400 in 24 months ). The manufacturer of the car was Bertone in Turin, with final assembly by Lancia at the Chivasso plant. Powered by the Dino 2.4 L V6 engine that was also fitted to the rallying versions, but in a lower state of tune, it resulted in a power output of 190 PS; 188 bhp (140 kW) at 7,000 rpm and 226 N⋅m; 166 lbf⋅ft (23 kg⋅m) at 4,000 rpm of torque , giving

16637-546: Was repeated in 1947, and in 1948 an even more ambitious one was held, the Gran Premio de la América del Sur from Buenos Aires to Caracas , Venezuela —Fangio had an accident in which his co-driver was killed. Then in 1950 came the fast and dangerous Carrera Panamericana , a 1,911-mile (3,075 km) road race in stages across Mexico to celebrate the opening of the asphalt highway between the Guatemala and United States borders, which ran until 1954. All these events fell victim to

16768-709: Was revived in 1979 for the inaugural Paris-Dakar Rally . The success of the Dakar would eventually see intercontinental rallying recognised as its own discipline; the Rally Raid . Rallying became very popular in Sweden and Finland in the 1950s, thanks in part to the invention there of the specialsträcka (Swedish) or erikoiskoe (Finnish), or special stage. These were shorter sections of route, usually on minor or private roads—predominantly gravel in these countries—away from habitation and traffic, which were separately timed. These provided

16899-563: 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 PS (21 kW; 28 hp). In 1910, Lancia components were exported to the United States where they were assembled and sold as SGVs by the SGV Company. In 1915, Lancia also manufactured its first truck, the Jota , that continued as

17030-401: Was the new designer for Lancia and his Lancia D50 was entered into the 1954 Spanish Grand Prix , where Alberto Ascari took the pole position and drove the fastest lap. In the 1955 Monaco Grand Prix Ascari crashed into the harbour after missing a chicane. One week later Ascari was killed in an accident driving a Ferrari sports car at Monza. With Ascari's death and Lancia's financial problems

17161-562: Was the third Baltic Automobile and Aero Club competition for the Grand Duchess Victoria Feodrovna Prize. The participants were mainly of Tsarist Russian and German Nobility. Two ultra-long distance challenges took place at this time. The Peking-Paris of 1907 was not officially a competition, but a "raid", the French term for an expedition or collective endeavour whose promoters, the newspaper "Le Matin", rather optimistically expected participants to help each other; it

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