All you need to know about Lancia
Born: 1906
Nationality: Italian
The story of Lancia is colourful and honourable both in style and performance. It began when Fiat test driver Vincenzo Lancia and a colleague Claudio Fogolin set up a small car factory in Turin in 1906.
Two years later the first fruits were shown at the city's motor show, appropriately named the Alpha. It began a tradition of naming cars after letters of the Greek alphabet. Within five years arrived Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, Eta, Zeta and Thema.
The Alpha's engine was ahead of its contemporaries in output, lubrication and carburation. The Zeta was a pioneer, with gearbox and differential in one unit on the rear axle. The Thema is claimed to be the first production car with an electrical system built in.
After a spell of military truck building during the first World War, the Kappa appeared in 1919 and in 1922 the Lambda arrived with the Lancia trademark "sliding pillar" independent front suspension. It also had an innovative V4 engine and brakes all round.
Up to the second World War, Lancia developed interesting cars with beautiful names such as Artena, Astura, Augusta, Ardea, and Aprila. The Astura pioneered flexible engine mountings and the Augusta and Ardea were the first small Lancias. The Aprilia revived unitary body construction.
The first new post-war Lancia was the Aurelia, revealed at the 1950 Turin Motor Show and boasting the first-ever V6 production engine. A year later it was the first Lancia to officially compete in motorsport - a racing spell cut off in 1955 because of financial problems.
The compact and stylish Appia, launched in 1953, had a six-year run, and became the basis of a number of specials built by coachbuilders such as Pininfarina and Zagato.
'F' was the letter for many models after 1957 - the Flamina, the Flavia and, in 1963, the Fulvia. The Flamina was technologically innovative and expensive, while the Flavia was the first production car in Italy to use front-wheel-drive. The HF version of the Fulvia was a rallying success.
Fiat took control of the financially-bunched company in 1969. In 1971 the Flavia was replaced by the 2000, and a year later came a brand-new saloon using a Fiat engine and reviving the Beta name.
Other cars followed quickly, including the mid-engined Montecarlo two-seat sports car and the HPE estate. The Trevi saloon and the Bertone-designed Stratos also appeared, the latter bringing Lancia back to rally prominence in some style.
What was to become an internationally iconic Lancia, the hatchback Delta designed by Giugiaro, was introduced in 1979, and three years later the Prisma booted version. Rallying versions of the Delta as the S4, the HF 4WD, and the Integrale were highly successful.
Lancia has no fewer than 11 World Rally Championships on its honour roll, six of them won with the Integrale.
A joint development in 1984 with Saab, Fiat and Alfa Romeo produced the Thema luxury saloon, which eventually included a turbocharged version. The Y10 supermini also arrived that year.
Finally, at the end of the 1980s, the Dedra small luxury saloon was developed on Fiat Tipo underpinnings. It continued in production until 1999, when the Lybrat replaced it.
Lancia left the Irish market in the mid-1990s - sales in Britain couldn't justify right-hand-drive versions. The most recent Lancia concept, shown at Frankfurt last September, revived the Fulvia Coupé name, though no production plans were revealed.
BEST CAR: Delta Integrale, with unlikely Fiat Ritmo origins
WORST CAR: We never much cared for the Y10
WEIRDEST CAR: The original Stratos concept - the only way in was through the windscreen.