Latest news with #Lancia
Edmunds
29-05-2025
- Automotive
- Edmunds
Behind the Scenes of Pirelli's New P Zero Performance Tire
To many drivers, tires are the unsung heroes of modern mobility. Even with all the cool new technology packed into every vehicle on the road, your tires are the only part of that vehicle that actually comes in contact with the ground. They're responsible for handling all the power, turning and stopping the vehicle safely and predictably for the entirety of their lives. So, you know, no big deal. Tires might go unnoticed by most drivers, but those who know know about the Pirelli P Zero. It's an icon of the automotive industry, so when Pirelli introduced the newest generation of its performance tire and offered me a chance to get a behind-the-scenes look into its development, I jumped at the chance. Where it started and where it's going Fittingly, 2025 marks the 40th anniversary of the P Zero's introduction. Originally developed for the growing number of fast (for the era) turbocharged and supercharged cars, the P Zero turned out to be the first modern ultra-high-performance (UHP) tire. Fun fact: The P Zero was still under development when the Lanica rally team used it as the road tire to get their legendary 037 between stages. During a particularly wet day, driver Miki Biasion liked the tire so much that he demanded he run it during the next stage. He did, and he won the stage. On a street-legal tire.
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Documentary on founder of famous car brand to be screened
A documentary on the founder of a famous car brand is set to be screened in Bicester. The charity StarterMotor, based at Bicester Motion, partnered with the Lancia Motor Club and Berlinetta Films for an exclusive screening of Vincenzo Lancia and the Birth of Modern Motoring on Thursday, May 22. The 90-minute film will be shown at Hagerty Clubhouse at 7pm, with doors opening at 6pm. Classic Lancias will be displayed around the Clubhouse, including an early Tipo Corsa, a 1924 Lambda, and an Aprilia from 1938. Feast will be in attendance to provide its range of street food. The documentary features interviews with Lancia family members, experts, and owners. It premiered last year at the former Lingotto factory. Tickets to the screening are priced at £10, and are available by emailing Alison Ure at alijoure@
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
A 1978 Lancia Montecarlo in Photos
More from Robb Report Thinking About Buying a Classic Land Rover Defender Overseas? Learn From My Mistakes. This Ultra-Rare Custom '57 Chevy Convertible Is Heading to Auction Why the Lamborghini Espada Is One of Italy's Most Polarizing Grand Tourers Best of Robb Report The 2024 Chevy C8 Corvette: Everything We Know About the Powerful Mid-Engine Beast The World's Best Superyacht Shipyards The ABCs of Chartering a Yacht Click here to read the full article. This 1978 Lancia Montecarlo sold through Bonhams for approximately $24,800 last year. Lancia's seductive two-seater came to North America as a 1976 and 1977 model called the Scorpion. The name change was due to the threat of litigation from Chevrolet, which had named one of its models Monte Carlo. A total of 7,798 examples of the Lancia Montecarlo were built from 1975 through 1981. The first production car designed and built by Pininfarina, the little Lancia looks like a miniature Ferrari 365 GT4/BB. This 1978 example, with a right-hand-drive configuration, showed 109,000 miles on the odometer when it sold at the Bonhams online auction. The Montecarlo originally came with a Fiat 2.0-liter inline-four engine that delivers 120 hp. While they'll never be highly valued, these cars are an exquisite expression of Pininfarina design flair at its very best. Both the Montecarlo and U.S.-spec Scorpion are best suited to mechanically inclined owners, as most examples have suffered neglect, rust, and maybe even some hideous modifications over the ensuing decades, and will benefit from sympathetic remediation.
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Meet the 1970s-Era Lancia Montecarlo, the First Production Car Designed and Built by Pininfarina
Lancia isn't a well-known marque among stateside car enthusiasts. That's primarily because Lancia models were expensive and rarely seen in the U.S. throughout the five decades before the automaker was acquired by Fiat in 1969, an acquisition that followed some challenging years prior to the takeover that saved the Italian manufacturer from extinction. The early 1970s ushered in Lancia's new Beta Series, launched in 1972 as an attractive upscale model line powered by Fiat underpinnings. Meant to reimagine the brand, it was a valiant re-badging effort, highlighted by the stunning Beta Coupé and Beta HPE shooting brake, both of whose front-wheel-drive platform was utilized by the more popular and affordable Berlina fastback sedan. More from Robb Report Thinking About Buying a Classic Land Rover Defender Overseas? Learn From My Mistakes. This Ultra-Rare Custom '57 Chevy Convertible Is Heading to Auction Why the Lamborghini Espada Is One of Italy's Most Polarizing Grand Tourers The last—and by far most novel—car in the Beta lineup was the Montecarlo, a mid-engine sports car that shared the Beta's 120 hp, 2.0-liter Fiat engine—but little else. Introduced in 1975, the seductive two-seater came to North America as a 1976 and 1977 model called the Scorpion—a tip-of the hat to Abarth's arachnid-inspired logo—due to Chevrolet naming one of its models Monte Carlo, and threatening litigation. The first production car designed and built by Pininfarina, the little Lancia looked like a miniature Ferrari 365 GT4/BB. Its unibody chassis and copious room in the rear made it the perfect platform for Lancia's new Group B rally car, which required that the racer be loosely based on a production model. The Lancia Rally project was designated Abarth SE037, powered by a Fiat Abarth twin-cam, inline-four engine—equipped with a Volumex supercharger—making more than 300 hp. For those, like this writer, who owned a 1977 Lancia Scorpion when new, that amount of power and performance would have felt staggering by comparison, insofar as the U.S.-spec production car—with a bark and appearance far more ferocious than its bite—made a whopping 81 hp from Fiat's detuned, 1,800 cc, DOHC inline-four engine. Those were the dismal days of power-robbing emissions systems adapted to otherwise delightful power trains. But the soul of the Scorpion was not easily vanquished, proving the axiom that driving a slow car fast is better than driving a fast car slow. Lancia launched the Montecarlo as a premium alternative to the popular Fiat X1/9, which used a 1.3-liter, single-cam inline-four engine and was an even slower barrel of fun. As with the smaller Fiat, the Lancia's engine was transversely mounted, bolted to a five-speed transmission and transaxle. Both cars used a similar unibody chassis, with MacPherson-strut front suspension and four-wheel disc brakes. Those Lancia Scorpion brakes were a problem, locking up with little provocation, resulting in a two-year delay (no Montecarlos were made from 1979 through 1980) until an improved (if less unique in appearance) Second Series Montecarlo was made from 1980 through 1981. That version, though, was only available in Europe. From the beginning, Europe got Coupe and Spider variants, with streamlined bumpers and integrated headlamps, whereas America only got Spiders with battering-ram bumpers and pop-up lights. Spiders featured a novel fabric top whose plastic holding straps inevitably broke and remain an Achille's heel of the convertibles. The U.S. models for 1976 had solid rear buttresses aft of the doors, replaced in 1977 by flying buttresses with glass panels that enhanced rearward vision and even improved on the profile of Maserati's Merak. Montecarlos aren't thick on the ground, with only 7,798 built from 1975 to 1981, and just 1,801 brought to America, many of which have doubtless gone to the grave. While they'll never be highly valued, these cars are an exquisite expression of Pininfarina design flair at its very best. Plan to pay around $10,000 (the Scorpion's price when new) for a decent example, to $20,000 for the best. Now that these European cars can be imported stateside, Second Series Montecarlos become a viable option, although at the high end of the valuation. Both the Montecarlo and U.S.-spec Scorpion are best suited to mechanically inclined owners, as most examples have suffered neglect, rust, and maybe even some hideous modifications over the ensuing decades, and will benefit from sympathetic remediation. The good news is that the mechanicals are robust, and those parts are plentiful, so apart from rust and the challenge of obtaining trim and pieces unique to the model (serious enthusiasts may want to buy a second Scorpion to cannibalize), these are really delightful cars. Lancia Scorpion people are a rare breed, and hat's off to them for keeping the flame of Robb Report The 2024 Chevy C8 Corvette: Everything We Know About the Powerful Mid-Engine Beast The World's Best Superyacht Shipyards The ABCs of Chartering a Yacht Click here to read the full article.
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Kimera is the Italian automaker keeping Lancia's legacy alive
Lancia was once one of the biggest names in Italian motoring, with some of the most famous cars in rallying bearing their name. For Luca Betti, the heritage is more personal, as his father was once a race driver behind the wheel of a Lancia. In 1980, he won the Italian Rally Championship in a Lancia Stratos. Coincidentally, racing is also how his father met his uncle and eventually Luca's mother. I guess you could say racing really is in the Betti family's blood. Luca, too, followed in the footsteps of his family as well as Brazilian racing driver Ayrton Senna. He became a race driver in the WRC, the European Championship, and Rally Monte Carlo, gathering a few wins of his the middle of his racing career, there was a moment of doubt about whether continuing to race was the right thing to do. Luca's family kept asking him to return to their business, but their relationship had never been the most loving. He decided to keep racing and painted the initials 'KMR' or 'Keeping my Road' on his helmet to inspire him to always follow his passion. This decision, along with that motto, gave birth to Kimera. The mythological chimera served as the perfect logo. 'Kimera is a deep, intimate story of me,' Luca said. 'It holds a very deep meaning to follow your dreams. I think it's the best way to live.'Given the Lancia heritage, Luca decided that Kimera would serve as a rebirth of the Italian marque's legendary rally cars, reinterpreted by modern standards. Their first creation, the Kimera EVO37, was a reimagining of the Lancia Rally 037. It wore a full carbon fiber body with a 2.1 L twincharged I4, meaning it was powered by both a turbocharger and a supercharger, mated to a 6-speed manual. It weighed just 2,310 lb and made a whopping 505 hp. Unlike the pure rally-bred Lancia it was inspired by, the EVO37 had modern amenities to make driving a little more enjoyable, including LED lights, an anti-lock braking system, and air conditioning. View the 12 images of this gallery on the original article The EVO38 followed a spiritual successor, being largely the same car but employing the use of all-wheel drive and churning out an additional 100 hp. Luca says the upcoming K39 will be Kimera's first production car, using the company's own chassis, engine, and VIN. The car will prove itself at Pikes Peak, where Luca aims to take back the record from electric cars. It seems that Kimera is doing well for itself so far. 'I didn't do this for business; I was driven by passion,' Luca said. 'Things always go very well when you're passionate, and I'm very happy with how Kimera is growing.' We're equally as excited to see Kimera's future creations. It's been a while since Lancia has done anything of this caliber, so seeing another company strive to keep that legacy alive through its own creations is always a happy sight. If you're after your own slice of la dolce vita, Kimera's homepage might be a good place to start. Just let us know if you end up being the lucky owner of a K39 in the future. Love reading Autoblog? Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get exclusive articles, insider insights, and the latest updates delivered right to your inbox. Click here to sign up now!
