The first models
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 Distinguished, elegant, never excessive.
These are the characteristics that motorists have always associated with Lancia cars. But it should not be forgotten that few car manufacturers have contributed as much as Lancia to the progress of the automobile, offering innovative, sometimes revolutionary, technical solutions, often simply one step ahead of the needs of motorists. In 1907, the very first model, the Alpha, astounded the public with its high specific power, engine speed, and the front axle that seemed traditional but was in reality highly innovative: instead of solid steel, it was made in a tubular structure, bringing notable weight improvements without compromising the torsional strength.
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 In 1913, the Theta was the first car in Europe to fit a built-in electrical system. 1918 saw the issue of two ‘industrial privatisation statements’ that led to the patenting of an engine prototype with eight cylinders arranged in a 45° V and another engine prototype with twelve cylinders arranged in a narrow V of only 22°. This configuration, a narrow V shape with varying angles between the rows of cylinders, was to typify Lancia production for many years and the last engine with this structure was mounted on the Fulvia coupé 3 as late as 1976.
The engine, launched with its chassis at the London and Paris Motor Shows of 1919, was an impressive unit, with a crankcase cast in a single block and a crankshaft with twelve throws, six of which (the right-hand group) were angled at 40° to the others. The car was enthusiastically received, but never went into mass production due to financial and market reasons.
In 1921 the Trikappa, the brand’s elite, top-of-the-range model, was the first car in the world to mount a narrow V, 8-cylinder engine.
In 1922 the Lambda, the most revolutionary model, and emblematic of the brands philosophy, pioneered technical breakthroughs that were to prove fundamental to the automotive development: the load-bearing body, independent wheel front suspension, transmission tunnel incorporated into the floor, luggage compartment built into the load-bearing structure, and the first narrow V, 4-cylinder engine in the world.
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