Lancia Repair and Service PDF Manuals
"Fabbrica Automobili Lancia" was born on November 27, 1906. Its owner, race car driver Vincenzo Lancia, together with a friend decided to produce efficient cars with unusual design and technical characteristics. The central office of the company is still located in Turin.
A year later, in September 1907, the first model 18-24 HP was released, after some time it was renamed Lancia Alfa. The renaming of the brand was associated with the decision to separate the brand, naming all new projects with the letters of the Greek alphabet.
Many of Lancia's projects have become innovations. For example, the Dialfa car became the world's first car with a six-cylinder engine.
However, with the release of the Dialfa, experiments continued and already in 1913 an inexpensive and very reliable Theta was presented - the first model in the world with an electric starter.
The First World War left its mark on production technologies - the plant was militarized. The result of the war years was the successor of Theta - Karra, which was a modernization of an outdated model.
The legendary Lambda went into production in 1921 and was sold until 1932 in various modifications. Even a racing car that took the honorable third place in the Mille Miglia rally in 1928 was realized in this line. In total, 13,000 cars were sold in the Lambda line, which at that time was not a small sales volume. Lambda also distinguished itself with innovation - it was the first car with independent front suspension and monocoque body.
The line of innovations was continued by the luxury car Astura, whose engine was connected to the car's frame using a patented mechanism.
The last work of Vincenzo Lancia was Aprilia. The developer did not wait to leave the assembly line of this convenient and reliable machine, having died on February 15, 1937, shortly before the start of production.
In 1950 Lancia introduced the Aurelia model. Only the best specialists of their time worked on this car - the designer was Vittorio Yano, and the exterior was provided by the legendary studio "Pininfarina", creating a unique postless body with swing doors.
In 1957, the world's first model with external and internal wipers, the Lancia Flaminia, was released, which quickly became mega-popular both in Italy itself and abroad. The Flaminia maintained its top-selling status for 13 years.
Twelve years later, Lancia merged with the FIAT concern. Three years later, in addition to the innovative Beta, the first draft of the Stratos sports car with a Ferrari engine was released. This car has won world rallies for three years.
In 1984, the Lancia Thema was released, which was a revised Fiat Croma. In the early 90s, the company's reputation began to decline significantly due to claims of low reliability. Then in 1994, after a short lull, the line of proposals diversified with the eight-seater Lancia Zeta station wagon, and in 1995 - with the elegant Thesis sedan, which became the real flagship of this brand. Work on the last model did not end there, and in 2002 it came out in an improved form with a more powerful engine.
In 1996, in honor of its ninetieth anniversary, the company introduced such models as: Ypsilon, Delta, Dedra, Kappa and Zeta, and a year later - Elefantino.
With its Lancia Delta, the company was awarded five stars in 2009 for driver and passenger protection in EuroNCAP crash tests. In 2010, the famous British magazine Autocar conducted a poll in which it was necessary to determine "the best charged hatchback in history", and it again turned out to be the legendary Lancia Delta.
In October 2011, Lancia launched the Voyager minivan on the Chrysler platform. He received a 2.8-liter turbodiesel, developing power up to 163 horsepower.
Nowadays "Lancia" continues its work, but already as a developer and supplier of reliable, and at the same time, glamorous Italian cars with a graceful design and decent "stuffing".
