Lancia Lambda at 100: celebrating Italy’s pioneer

By Simon Hucknall

| 2 Feb 2023

Classic & Sports Car – Lancia Lambda at 100: celebrating Italy’s pioneer

It would be difficult to conceive of a car on sale today that not just rewrote but completely shredded the rulebook
for automotive design, as the Lancia Lambda did a century ago.

Viewed via the prism of an already innovation-rich period in the motor industry, what Vincenzo Lancia presented at the 1922 Paris motor show becomes even more significant – especially given that it previewed much of what we take for granted when sitting behind the wheel of any modern car.

Lancia Lambda assembly at The Phoenix Green Garage with, left-right: 1927 Seventh Series ‘cut and shut’; ’29 Eighth Series long-chassis Torpedo; Eighth Series long-chassis saloon; ’27 Seventh Series short-chassis Torpedo

Those technologies trip off the tongue now, but going back 100 years the Lambda’s load-bearing unitary body, which carried its engine, suspension and other mechanicals, would have been anathema to most manufacturers wedded to traditional platform chassis.

So too would its industry-first independent front suspension, which, allied to the inherently lighter and stiffer chassis, would have transformed the driving experience for 1920s motorists.

Add in all-wheel braking (still in its infancy) and a compact and advanced overhead-cam V4 engine, and it was no surprise that the Lambda looked and performed like nothing else at the time.

You are greeted by a surprisingly modern arrangement of floor-mounted pedals upon entering the Lambda

While all but its independent front end had been seen before (Lagonda’s 1913 11.1hp was based on an all-steel riveted monocoque, and Daimler had produced a vee-formation engine as early as 1899), the Lancia successfully pioneered their marriage in one model.

Marque authority The Phoenix Green Garage regularly hosts a group of Lambda owners at its Hartley Wintney base, and we’ve joined them to see the wide variety of models produced and to sample two Eighth Series cars – a platform saloon and a Torpedo Tourer – from those gathered.

We’re then off to the nearby Historic Motor Car Workshops to sample a Fourth Series model.

The Lancia Lambda’s compact V4 engine enabled a relatively short front end

Series changes were often quite subtle, but driving these particular cars will illustrate the key differences between early and late Lambdas, and capture an essence of how the model developed over nine years and through nine series.

But before all of that, what was Vincenzo Lancia’s rationale for producing such a radical machine?

Designer Pinin Farina recounted many years later that Lancia had been inspired by the robust construction of the hulls of the ships in which he’d sailed to the USA when he was younger.

But as a skilled and successful racing driver, he also saw the benefits of lightness and strength to a car’s performance and dynamics early on.

Vincenzo Lancia was inspired by the construction of ship hulls when he first created a design for a car without a separate chassis

In a 1910 Lancia catalogue, he stated: ‘Weight is not strength; on the contrary, it is frequently associated with faulty design and cheap materials… The advantage of a light, fast, reliable automobile cannot be over-estimated.’

It was no surprise when, in 1918, four years before the Lambda was productionised, Lancia filed a patent for a car body without a separate chassis.

Its drawings revealed a central tunnel for the propshaft, providing ‘recesses for drivers and passengers’ feet on either side of the tunnel’, while referring to the body as a rigid shell and ‘the special form of this shell which allows of its being lowered below the plane of the axles, and also confers extra strength’.

A transmission tunnel topped by a straight gearlever is an unusual sight in a car from this era

The Autocar reported on Lancia’s filing, opining: ‘It will be recognised that this is a highly interesting patent, and not only should it have a great effect upon improving the stability, the road-holding qualities and the suspension of a car so designed, but it conceivably would have the effect of reducing weight to a very great extent.’

And so it came to be. The driver of Lancia’s vision was his lead engineer, Battista Falchetto, who also exerted some influence over the nascent Lambda programme.

Front-wheel brakes had been the topic of much debate in the industry, with even luminaries such as WO Bentley sceptical of their efficacy.

This Lancia Lambda Eighth Series Torpedo tourer has a busy dashboard

Lancia seemed to agree, but after Falchetto set up a simple test on a running prototype, with only the front axle braked, he successfully proved that there were no inherent stability issues – and when the rears were brought into play, it afforded important safety benefits.

But the Lambda’s unique concept of an independently sprung front end had been inspired by Lancia and his dislike of rigid front axles.

Falchetto presented no fewer than 14 design options for the system, all of which had to cope with the increased torsional stresses imposed by having independent coil springs.

The Lambda is a vintage car, but it doesn’t feel like one to drive

In the end, a sliding-pillar mechanism with ingenious valving to control oil flow was adopted and would become a Lancia trademark for the following 40 years.

That wasn’t the only part of the Lambda’s signature menu that endured. Its compact V4 engine – designed in-house by Primitivo Rocco and Augusto Cantarini, to enable a shorter front end, thereby improving handling – also became a company staple until the Fulvia’s demise in 1976.

With its staggered cylinder locations, the engine was short enough to allow a new, remotely operated three-speed gearbox to be accessible from under the bonnet.

Lancia’s lengthy Torpedo tourer can seat six people

Rocco and Cantarini developed a number of iterations before settling on a 2119cc unit with a 13° 6” vee, making an impressive 48bhp at 3250rpm.

With testing of the chassis and drivetrain under way, attention was given to the Lambda’s body design.

The prototype car used a rounded and not unattractive tourer body, but the combination of tooling requirements (of which more later) and an incoming trend for plain and flat-sided styling meant that a squarer-lined design prevailed.

The Lambda’s monocoque restricted the scope for elaborate coachbuilt bodies that were the norm in the immediate post-WW1 era so, until later in its life, factory-built bodies defined the distinctive long-wheelbase, low-slung look of the car.

The long-chassis 1929 Eighth Series is surprising for the contemporary ease with which it drives

And, since the first five series of Lambdas were all built as open Torpedo models, Lancia designed a fabric-and-wood Ballon Smontabile detachable hardtop to offer passengers some protection from the elements.

That there were nine versions of the basic Lambda design in as many years suggests that by 1931 the model had changed out of all proportion.

It had not. While the car ultimately became larger, heavier and, out of necessity, more powerful, Lancia’s original template remained intact.

Only minor revisions separated the first four series, with Fifth Series cars onwards gaining a four-speed gearbox.

This 1929 Eighth Series wears a saloon body by Albany Carriage Company

It wasn’t until 1925 and the launch of the Tipo 216 (Sixth Series) that notable changes became evident.

The potential to broaden the Lambda’s appeal brought the option of a chassis with a 320mm-longer wheelbase, at 3420mm, which allowed space for up to six occupants, with a commensurate upgrade in brake-drum diameter.

However, Officine Metallurgiche Fiat, which had been producing the Lambda’s chassis from the start, delivered a bombshell: not only could it not cater for the longer body, but all of its manufacturing was to be diverted to Fiat products exclusively, too.

This Weymann-bodied Eighth Series Lancia Lambda is an original UK-supplied car

Hand-building the cars averted halting production in the short term, but a deal was soon struck with a new contractor – Albino Arri – to take on the work. Just in time, too, because Lancia had more developments planned.

The compromises wrought by the Lambda’s monocoque needed to be overcome to offer a greater variety of bodies.

Having acquired a licence to produce saloon bodies under the Weymann patent, the Lancia team devised an ingenious central ‘platform’ section – a partial chassis, in effect, that could accept different body variants – to fit between the existing front and rear monocoques.

The Lambda’s small V4 allows for better handling and improves gearbox access

The first Weymann saloon was a mighty 16ft 3¾in (4973mm) in length and completed by the factory in February 1926.

The Seventh, Eighth and Ninth Series cars continued to offer more choice for customers – and more weight.

As a consequence, the first Seventh Series produced in June 1926 was equipped with a more powerful V4, displacing 2375cc and producing 58bhp at 3250rpm.

This series also offered four different ‘frameworks’ for the first time, with Torpedo (tourer) and platform (for saloon bodies) being available in long and short wheelbases (Tipo 216-219).

The steering feels light and uncorrupted, even in this 16ft vintage behemoth

The 1928 Eighth Series brought a further power uplift to 65bhp, thanks to an increase to 2568cc and the fitment of a larger 38HK Zenith carburettor, along with a revised exhaust manifold.

The Eighth was also the only series built in left-hand-drive form, reflecting Italy’s swap from left- to right-side running on public roads from 1924.

Inside, its dash was redesigned with a neat central instrument cluster, which was revised once more for the Ninth Series, along with a variety of minor changes for the final model.

The Eighth Series’ central binnacle houses five dials

On 15 September ’31, production ended after a total of 12,998 Lambdas had been built.

Colin Wise’s 1929 Eighth Series long-chassis Torpedo tourer epitomises perfectly the gulf of difference between the design of a Lambda and any other vintage car. It sits low, for a start, and viewed in profile looks unfeasibly long in the wheelbase.

It’s also strange to enter a car of this era and see a gear tunnel running between you and your passenger, topped by a stubby, straight gearlever, with three floor-mounted pedals following a conventional layout.

The Lancia 2.6-litre V4 is smooth, and has a modern tone and exhaust note

The central binnacle, bespoke to the Eighth Series, houses five clocks, the main two Jaeger items showing speed and revs.

Ergonomically it works well, and as you select first and pull away you’re immediately hit by the utter conventionality of it all.

The 2.6-litre V4 is smoother than you expect and has a distinctly modern tone and exhaust note.

Gears are notchy but only require the quickest double-declutch between short-throw changes, with the lower ratios eliciting a whine, absent in third and fourth.

The Eighth Series saloon’s imposing stature belies its impressive pace and agility

Dynamically, the Lambda confounds your expectations of how a vintage car should drive.

You sit low, and as soon as cruising speed is reached – 45-50mph feels comfortable – the deft control of the body, lack of play in the steering and eagerness to change direction (despite this being a long-chassis car) speak more of a competent early post-war machine.

Even its brakes, while needing a firm push, are strong and have plenty of feel.

Next up is Nick Benwell’s 1929 Eighth Series long-chassis platform saloon, which is another revelation.

The option of a longer-wheelbase chassis and clever re-engineering of the monocoque allowed Lancia to offer a variety of body styles over the years

An original UK-supplied car, its Weymann body was fitted not by Lancia but by the Albany Carriage Company in London, and it affords limousine-like levels of rear space.

Looking more like a Mafia staff car than a sporting saloon, the fact that this 16ft-behemoth can still be hustled along twisting Hampshire back-roads, thanks to a beguiling mix of grip, composure and relatively light, uncorrupted steering, perhaps presents the strongest case for what Lancia achieved with the Lambda.

One of the most influential cars of our time? An entire industry seemed to think so.

Images: Luc Lacey

Thanks to: The Phoenix Inn; The Phoenix Green Garage; WW Heale Historic Motor Car Workshops

How does an early Lambda compare?

A shortened wheelbase renders this Fourth Series tourer on the flighty side at times

Like the majority of Lambdas, Walter Heale’s 1925 Fourth Series UK car is not as it left the factory.

It was modified in 1936, with 2ft removed from its chassis, reducing its wheelbase from 3100mm to 2490mm.

Julian Jane of Vintage Sports-Car Club fame made the chop, which suggests the car was to be used for trialling or hillclimbing in period.

Heale has only recently acquired the 2.1-litre car with a four-speed ’box (upgraded from its standard three-speed), and is keen to swap the rugged-looking Blockleys for a correct set of beaded-edge tyres.

The cockpit in the 1925 Fourth Series Lancia Lambda is more basic than later models, but its gearshift is better and the dials are pretty

He’s also less than enamoured by the colour combination and will probably see to that, too. But in every other respect, this is a highly authentic early-series Lambda.

There’s a spartan purity about the cabin, compared with the Eighth Series cars.

The earlier layout has just three beautiful dials – speedometer, clock and a Le Nivex fuel gauge calibrated to 15 gallons – all set into an aluminium dashboard with various switches, including a headlight-dip lever, positioned around the central ignition pod.

The 2.1-litre Lancia V4 feels usefully torquey

The Autocar’s first 1923 Lambda test car weighed 1065kg and, with its abbreviated length, I’m guessing that this one is closer to 800kg, so it’s no surprise that it feels sprightly from the off.

If anything, gears can be changed even more quickly than in the later models, although with this car’s improved torque-to-weight advantage you tend to let it lug away, even up hills.

The steering is nicely weighted, but while its significantly shorter wheelbase makes this Lambda keen to turn in, its control over awkward surfaces suffers a touch and can lead to some entertaining moments during cornering.

But there’s no separate-chassis waywardness, and for a near-century-old car it inspires far more confidence than it has any right to.

Factfiles

Lancia Lambda Fourth Series Torpedo (Tipo 214)

Sold/number built 1924-’25/850
Construction pressed-steel monocoque
Engine aluminium-block, iron-head, ohc 2119cc V4, Zenith 36HK triple-diffuser carburettor
Max power 49bhp @ 3000rpm
Max torque n/a
Transmission four-speed manual, RWD
Suspension: front independent, by coil springs, sliding pillars rear live axle, semi-elliptic springs, friction dampers
Steering worm and sector
Brakes drums
Length n/a
Width 5ft 4in (1661mm)
Height n/a
Wheelbase 10ft 2in (3100mm)
Weight 2348lb (1065kg)
0-60mph n/a
Top speed 68mph
Mpg n/a
Price new £675
Price now £100,000*

Lancia Lambda Eighth Series Torpedo (Tipo 224)

Sold/number built 1928-’31/3901
Construction pressed-steel monocoque
Engine aluminium-block, iron-head, ohc 2568cc V4, Zenith 38HK carburettor
Max power 65bhp @ 3500rpm
Max torque n/a
Transmission four-speed manual, RWD
Suspension: front independent, by coil springs, sliding pillars rear live axle, semi-elliptic springs, friction dampers
Steering worm and wheel
Brakes drums
Length n/a
Width 5ft 4in (1661mm)
Height n/a
Wheelbase 13ft 2½in (3420mm)
Weight 2800lb (1270kg)
0-60mph n/a
Top speed 75mph
Mpg n/a
Price new £745
Price now £100,000*

Lancia Lambda Eighth Series Weymann saloon (Tipo 222)

Sold/number built 1928-’31/3901
Construction pressed-steel monocoque/platform
Engine aluminium-block, iron-head, ohc 2568cc V4, Zenith 38HK carburettor
Max power 65bhp @ 3500rpm
Max torque n/a
Transmission four-speed manual, RWD
Suspension: front independent, by coil springs, sliding pillars rear live axle, semi-elliptic springs, friction dampers
Steering worm and wheel
Brakes drums
Length n/a
Width 5ft 4in (1661mm)
Height n/a
Wheelbase 13ft 2½in (3420mm)
Weight 3196lb (1450kg)
0-60mph n/a
Top speed 75mph
Mpg n/a
Price new £875
Price now £100,000*