1955 Lancia Aurelia B12 Saloon Lhd on 2040-cars

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Lancia teases battery-electric Stratos that will begin brand reset

Last November, Lancia teased its "Emozione Pu+Ra" concept. Drawn by lead designer Jean-Pierre Ploue, the showcase looked more like sculpture or a car from 2523 instead of vehicular inspiration for production models that will begin arriving this year. We simply didn't know how to read the abstractions. Lancia teased another concept earlier this month, this one leading to an eventual battery-electric rebirth of the Lancia Stratos — we made clear connections between the Pur+Ra and what's ahead. Italy's given us another taste of what's to come, this time an overhead shot of the Stratos concept we're going to see on April 15. The circle in the roof signifies at least three things. It recalls Stratos themes evident elsewhere in the dual round taillights and the curved lines on the concept that stand in for the vintage car's louvers. It also represents part of Ploue's plan for Lancia design, the creative officer saying, "Our designs will be built with iconic shapes like the circle, square and triangle." Lastly, it signifies what will be a clear panel in the roof, Lancia saying a round aperture lets in more light than a square one. We imagine there will be a few questions about that when the reveal happens. Automaker CEO Luca Napolitano told media the Emozione Pu+Ra concept embodies the next century of Lancia looks. The Stratos concept aims more near-term. It "will be very close to the production car," and the bold strokes of the design will guide coming products. That's not just about sheetmetal, either; the feature set will encompass the path forward for "sustainability, technology and electrification" as well. The first model to take the revolution to European car buyers will be a new, all-electric generation of the Ypsilon expected later this year. The supermini hatch is the only car Lancia has sold since 2015, the car's market reduced to just Italy in 2017. According to Wikipedia, the Ypsilon is still the second-most-popular car on sale in that country. It's thought the coming version will be a sibling of the electric Fiat 500.  After that, a sedan is due in 2026, and two years later, the production version of the reborn Delta. At the moment, these remain Euro-only prospects. The automaker plans to grow an online retail operation to go with sales in initial markets of Italy, France, Germany, and the UK. If all goes perfectly over the next five years, who knows how far afield a Delta EV could end up.

FCA's new Heritage HUB showcases 250 rare Fiats, Lancias and Alfa Romeos

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) has opened a new facility near Turin, Italy, dedicated to preserving and celebrating the company's Italian brands, as well as the historic cars each has created. It's bigger than the average Costco, and it houses more than 250 pieces of automotive art, some of which have never been publicly displayed. It's called the FCA Heritage HUB. The HUB building is itself a piece of history. FCA restored the old Officina 81 in Via Plava of the historic Mirafiori industrial district on the south side of Turin. At 161,459 sqare feet (the average Costco is 145,000 sq ft), it's a massive open space that allows for both business and pleasure. In the rafters, photos and text tell the timeline of Mirafiori, but the floor focuses on Fiat, Lancia, Abarth, and Alfa Romeo. Although part of the space is dedicated to the "Reloaded by Creators" vintage restoration sales department, the portion we're interested in is shown in the massive gallery above. FCA says it has more than 250 vehicles on display, and some have never been shown. The "central area," which explores cars from 1908 to 2008, is separated into eight themes, each of which has eight cars. The eight areas include Archistars, Concept and Personalized Cars, Eco and Sustainable, Epic Journeys, Records and Races, Small and Safe, Style Marks, and The Rally Era. Some of the cars featured at the new shop include the Lancia Lambda, the Fiat 500 Topolino A, the Fiat 130 Familiar, the Fiat X1/23, the Fiat Ecobasic, the Fiat Campagnola AR 51, the Fiat 1100 E, the Fiat 124S, the Lancia Delta HF Integral Group A, the Fiat S61, the Lancia Alfa Sport, the Lancia D50, the Lancia Beta Montecarlo Turbo, the Lancia LC2, the Lancia Augusta, the Lancia Ardea, the Fiat ESV 1500 and 2000, the Fiat Barchetta, the Lancia Aurelia B20, the Lancia Fulvia HF 1600, and the Lancia Stratos HF. Check out the gallery and below videos to see the full extent of what the HUB has to offer. Featured Gallery FCA Heritage Hub View 47 Photos News Source: FCA Alfa Romeo Fiat Lancia Automotive History Classics FCA fiat chrysler automobiles

Lancia Pu+Ra HPE concept combines the next 10 years of design and tech

The teaser campaign that started with a stylized sculpture last November culminates in this, the Lancia Pu+Ra HPE concept. This represents the long awaited — and perhaps overdue — reboot of a storied brand's design and tech vision for the next ten years. As such, designers packed so much of the past and the future that it's better to see the Pu+Ra as a combination of elements and philosophies coming to future Lancias instead of as a 1:1 template for how Lancias will look. There's also the matter of Lancia's sole market being Italy and tempered expansion from there taking place over a few years. That means a lot of what's here speaks loudest to the single market, which also happens to be the home market.  The HPE looks back to the 1970 Beta HPE shooting brake, when HPE stood for High Performance Estate. After Pu+Ra which mean Pure + Radical, those letters now stand for High Performance Electric and some impressive tech targets. Lancia wants a range of more than 435 miles on the WLTP cycle, battery efficiency of less than 10-kWh per 62 miles, and battery recharging times from 10% to 80% in ten minutes.   The big design strokes are simple geometric shapes, the light signature grille that doubles as a battery level readout, hollow round taillights a la the Stratos, the new Lancia logotype, and the new Lancia badge.     Inside, Lancia plans to create a "home feeling," similar to the 'living room space' characterization that often comes up in relation to autonomous vehicles. Lancia's called the tech component of this concept S.A.L.A., initials for Sound, Air, Light, and Augmentation that happen to spell the Italian word for living room, sala. No swiveling seats here, though. Interior designers worked with Italian furniture maker Cassina on fabrics and textures, resulting in a pair of deep bucket armchairs in wool cloth that look procured from a villa in Via Reggio. They're separated by an armrest that ends in a freestanding table. Elsewhere around the cockpit can be found sustainable wool, velvet, wood marquetry, door panels fabricated from marble dust, and nubuck leather produced without chrome tanning.  S.A.L.A.