The ones that got away?
Lancia is currently in the middle of a renaissance: new models, a new design language and, for the first time in many years, the marque is being sold outside its homeland.
In chronological order, let’s look back at Lancia’s rich history of concept cars and prototypes, interesting ideas that didn’t quite make it to production.
Which is your favourite?
1. Aurelia PF200 C Spider (1953)
Pinin Farina (as it was known then) drew from the Space Age for a series of Aurelia-based creations.
Coupé and drop-top versions of the PF200 were produced, with five variations appearing in the early-to-mid 1950s.
This Spider was built for the 1953 Geneva and Turin motor shows, on an Aurelia B52 chassis.
The only car to feature a nose badge that reads PF200 C, it’s believed this was intended to be a sporting version of the PF200 design theme.
It’s the second of three PF200 design studies, but the only one with this circular nose.
2. Lancia Florida I coupé (1955)
Designed by Battista Farina for the 1955 Turin motor show, the Florida I was built on a Lancia Aurelia platform.
It was clearly conceived with one eye on the flamboyant American market.
Just one was created with a coupé body.
3. Florida I saloon (1955)
Pinin Farina built three further cars, but this time they were saloons, with no B-pillar and rear-opening doors.
The design was groundbreaking, featuring flat sides with a single crease above the wheel well, grille-mounted headlamps and more.
Although this car would not reach full series production, elements of its design were used in the Lancia Flaminia.
4. Flavia Giardinetta (1962)
Named after Via Flavia, a Roman road leading from Trieste to Dalmatia, the Lancia Flavia became known for its smooth, four-cylinder, boxer engine.
The range included a coupé, saloon and cabriolet, but it could very well have had an estate version.
Pietro Frua crafted this one-off from Francis Lombardi and, though stylish, was the Italian middle class ready for an estate-bodied Lancia?
5. Flaminia Speciale 3C (1963)
The success of the Flaminia gave Lancia the inspiration to challenge Zagato, Touring and Pininfarina (as it became in 1961) to come up with special bodies for its saloon car.
The competing coachbuilders arrived at the 1958 Turin motor show with three differing takes on the concept. Pininfarina eschewed the sportiness of Zagato and displayed a luxury 2+2.
It kept going with the concept and, in 1963, its designer, Tom Tjaarda, produced this for the Turin show.
Called the 3C, it sought inspiration from the Pininfarina-built Lancia Flavia Coupé 1500, but with smooth, focused side panels.
Battista Pininfarina was suitably impressed – he used it as his personal car for several years from 1965.
6. Flavia SS Zagato (1967)
The Lancia Flavia had already received the attention of Zagato, but in 1967 production was coming to an end.
Zagato’s Ercole Spada came up with a more radical SS version, which was to act as a design and aerodynamic study for the proposed new model.
Built on a shorter wheelbase, its style was closer to the sharper-edge looks brought in by the works of Giorgetto Giugiaro and Marcello Gandini.
Much of the development was paid for by Zagato, but Lancia had no money to take it on, so the ideas came to nothing.
7. Fulvia 1600 HF Competizione (1969)
Alejandro de Tomaso dearly wished to be the CEO of Lancia, and set about building the Fulvia HF Competizione to entice Ford into taking over the ailing manufacturer via his carrozzeria, Ghia, and ace designer Tom Tjaarda.
The engine was lowered by 30mm, an independent swing-axle shaft on the rear axle was fitted and there was a large, aluminium fuel tank out back.
It’s believed these changes were made with an attempt at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in mind.
It didn’t come to pass – Fiat stepped in to buy Lancia just after initial testing.
8. Aurelia Marica Ghia (1969)
Another one of de Tomaso’s ploys to get a hold of Lancia, the Marica Ghia was based on the ageing Lancia Aurelia.
Despite the behind-the-times mechanicals, the Tom Tjaarda-penned design was bang on trend; you can see elements in the De Tomaso Deauville that was to follow.
Sadly, Lancia didn’t have the money or the inclination to take it forward.
9. Lancia Stratos Zero (1970)
Lancia had a long association with Pininfarina, and Bertone fancied getting its fingers in that pie in the days after the marque’s takeover by Fiat.
Nuccio Bertone tasked Marcello Gandini to craft an 84cm-high automotive sculpture on the chassis of a crashed Fulvia rally car – Bertone promptly drove it under the barrier of the Lancia factory, to the amazement of its workers.
This car would eventually lead to the production Stratos and rallying success, however the Zero became a star in itself, with its role in Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker film.
10. Beta Mizar (1974)
Giovanni Michelotti’s take on a modern four-door car for the Turin show really pulled out the stops.
Designed to showcase safety and passenger comfort, it featured four separate gullwing doors for easy access.
It’s still the only car so equipped – apparently the Mizar could not be type approved because the door couldn’t open if the car overturned.
The prototype was, however, fully functional.
11. Sibilo (1978)
Another flight of Marcello Gandini fantasy, the Sibilo’s hand-beaten steel form covered Lancia Stratos mechanicals.
Revealed at the Turin show, it featured digital instruments in the middle of the dashboard to keep the driver’s eyes near the road, retractable headlamps, plus an electrically operated porthole in the side of the car.
Gandini’s aim was to create the idea of a seamless sculpture, with the steel body appearing cast from one item.
12. Gamma T-Roof (1978)
The Gamma was designed to bring Lancia back to the forefront of luxury, with a five-door hatchback and a two-door coupé.
However, in the same way the Beta package could be adapted in any number of ways, Lancia considered doing the same with the Gamma.
Pininfarina displayed the first of these possibilities with the T-Roof spider, with a removable sunroof attached to a central rear rollbar.
It’s certainly striking, and it would have made an interesting alternative to a Mercedes-Benz R107 SL.
13. Megagamma (1978)
Arguably one of the most influential concept cars ever, this was Giorgetto Giugiaro and ItalDesign’s response to the Pininfarina styling ideas we’ve just brought you.
Introduced at the 1978 Turin show, it was designed to be roomy, with a flexible cabin and a flat floor, the definition of the MPV that would become the must-have family car of the 1980s and ’90s.
Lancia owner Fiat thought the concept was too risky, though the boxy styling language would appear in the Uno and Panda. However, another what-could-have-been for Lancia…
14. Gamma Scala (1980)
If the T-Roof had a somewhat prosaic name for a stunning design, perhaps Pininfarina got it the other way round for the Scala.
Essentially a four-door version of the Lancia Gamma coupé, it was stylish, but it could be argued it was starting to look a little old fashioned in the light of aerodynamically optimised rivals.
15. Medusa (1980)
Giorgetto Giugiaro’s take on the four-door saloon/hatch of the future broke cover at the 1980 Turin motor show.
Underneath lay a Lancia Montecarlo/Scorpion, but this was a concept conceived to cleave the air as aerodynamically as possible.
The final car’s drag coefficient was 0.263Cd. In contrast, the aerodynamically advanced Audi 100, Mercedes-Benz 190E and Ford Sierra achieved figures larger than 0.3Cd years later.
The design was later adapted for De Lorean and then for Lamborghini, as the Marco Polo.
16. Olgiata (1982)
The luxury estate car was still a curious idea in the early 1980s, though many shooting brakes and specials had been built before 1982.
However, Lancia could have been there at the very beginning of the rush for aspirational load luggers with this Pininfarina concept.
With only two side doors, it was not quite as practical as the 123-series Mercedes-Benz estate, but it was just as stylish.
17. Lancia ECV2 (1988)
The 1986 World Rally Championship was a season of success, but also deep tragedy, for the Lancia Rally Team.
The loss of its driver Henri Toivonen and co-driver Sergio Cresto forced the banning of not only Group B, but also its replacement, Group S.
The ECV was designed for Group S, which used experimental composite materials for better safety, but also a new supercharged engine called the Triflux
Largely crafted from Kevlar and carbonfibre, the only steel part was the front chassis – even the wheels and the driveshaft were made from composite materials.
The Triflux engine had a crossflow cylinder head with two turbochargers, as well as a supercharger for better power at lower and high revs. It produced around 600bhp.
Even though Groups B and S were cancelled, work continued on the project, with 1988’s ECV2 offering a smoother, more futuristic design that was much more aerodynamically optimised.
It’s on display at the FCA Heritage Hub in Turin.
18. HIT (1988)
The work on the aforementioned ECV programmes helped develop the HIT, which stood for High Italian Technology.
Built by Pininfarina for the Turin motor show, it sought to integrate composite materials into a roadgoing car.
Under the skin lay a Lancia Delta Integrale 8v, while the interior featured Nomex and Alcantara for safety, a carbonfibre central tunnel and a relocated fuel tank to adapt the car from five doors to three.
19. Magia (1992)
British design consultancy IAD shocked the great and the good of the Italian motoring industry by bringing this Lancia Dedra Integrale-based concept to the Turin show.
Styled by Michael Ani and Chris Garfield, it was well received, but a commission from Lancia never came.
It was a functioning prototype, though not much has been seen of the car since it passed through a Coys auction in 1997.
20. Kayak (1995)
Bertone’s take on the Kappa coupé, the oddly named Kayak, was not revolutionary, but arguably better resolved than the car we actually got (which was once memorably described as a Bentley Continental heated in the middle and squeezed at both ends).
The Kayak, unveiled at the 1995 Turin motor show, was deemed too racy a design for Lancia at the time. Shame.
21. Diàlogos (1998)
Designed to evoke memories of the Lancia Aurelia, with rearward-opening doors, this was a true technical showcase.
The seats swivel through 90 degrees for easy access, and 180 degrees to form a rear-facing sofa, and the steering wheel and instrument panel can slide from one side of the cabin to the other depending on where you’re driving.
You could also set up the interior temperature, steering wheel, pedal position and so on via a personalised card.
Though not fitted with an engine, it was said to have an active differential with adjustable torque distribution to both axles.
It also featured adaptive headlamps, adaptive cruise control, anti-collision and lane-departure systems, and voice control.
Much of the styling inspiration made its way to Lancia’s Thesis saloon, launched in 2001.
The Diàlogos was developed in-house under Mike Robinson’s supervision, with a team of designers heralding from Pininfarina (Pietro Camardella was part of the team who crafted the F40, 512TR, F50, 456GT and Mythos), along with Flavio Manzoni (head of design at Ferrari) and Marco Tencone, who designed the Alfa Romeo Giulia.
22. Nea (2000)
Produced as a collaboration between the IDEA Institute and Lancia's in-house team, this concept car was another Mike Robinson project.
As such, it took on much of the Diàlogos’ ideas in terms of comfort and applied them to a compact car – the Nea was just 4.10m long.
Launched at the 2000 Paris motor show, it used composite materials extensively and featured internet connectivity, a DVD player, sat-nav, four-wheel steering, automatic climate control and parking sensors.
This was all very novel stuff for 2000 – and you can see its influence in later Lancia Delta models.
23. Granturismo Concept (2002)
Launched at the 2002 Bologna motor show, the GranTurismo Concept was a collaboration between Lancia, Studio Carcerano and Carrozzeria Maggiora.
Built on the Thesis platform, it featured a fully glazed compartment, plus styling to evoke memories of the HPE (high performance estate) models of Lancia’s yesteryear.
24. Fulvia (2003)
Is this the car Lancia really should have made?
Within its 990kg (2183lb) body lay a Fiat-sourced, four-cylinder engine good for around 140bhp, bringing modern pace to a pleasingly retro-themed design, in an era that championed it – after all, the then-new (BMW) Mini and VW Beetle, plus the forthcoming Fiat 500, were all doing the same thing.
Sadly, Lancia lacked the cash to take it forward, even though it was said to be production ready and crafted largely from the Fiat group parts bin.
Despite a revival of the plans as late as 2008, it came to nothing, and Lancia went down the path of rebadged Chryslers for its high-end models.
25. Kandahar (2005)
Leonardo Fioravanti has designed some of the world’s most beautiful Ferraris – and this chunky Lancia.
Using the marque’s Musa mini-MPV as the basis, the famed Pininfarina designer reimagined the car as a miniature off-roader.
Aside from the chunky bodykit, the interior was treated to wood panelling, plus there was innovative glasswork in the roof.
26. Ypsilon Zagato Sport (2005)
Lancias hadn’t really been anything sporty for some time by 2005, so the car maker turned to Zagato to add some vim and vigour to the Ypsilon.
The tasty bodykit and wheels helped elevate the model, but the engine was distinctly un-Zagato – it was a turbodiesel.
It was a powerplant very of its time, and around 150bhp and 226lb ft of torque from the 1.9-litre unit in something so small would have surprised many on the autostrada.
27. Haizea (2006)
Unveiled at the Geneva motor show in 2006, the Haizea – the Basque word for wind – was a project developed by students at the Masters in Transportation Design course at Turin’s European Institute of Design.
Under the eye of Hernan Charalambopoulos, students Iker Lòpez (exterior) and Yavuz Akyldiz (interior) built a full-scale model, around a central engine and rear-wheel drive, with two electric motors on the front wheels.
Lòpez went on to work for VW and, more recently, designed The Invictus GT project, based on a Lotus Exige S2.
28. Lancia Pu+Ra HPE (2023)
The concept car that heralded Lancia’s rebirth, it pointed the way forward to models of the future, but it also features some nods to the brand’s past, most notably its HPE estate shape, but also with the Stratos-style rear treatment.
Fully electric, it was designed with a range of 700km (435 miles) in mind and a 10-minute charging time.
More than 70% of this Lancia concept car’s aesthetic surfaces were sustainable, the seats and glass being recycled, and the carpet made of natural fibres.
We hope you enjoyed this gallery. Please click the ‘Follow’ button above for more super stories from Classic & Sports Car.