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Details
1928 LANCIA LAMBDA SERIES VIII FOUR DOOR SALOON
COACHWORK BY FARINA
Registration No. GC 8540
Frame No. 20145
Engine No. 18097
Two tone grey with white and yellow pinstripe and fawn cloth interior.
Engine: Tipo 67. four cylinders in narrow Vee, overhead camshaft, 2,570cc, 69bhp at 3,500rpm, Zenith Triple Diffuser carburettor; Gearbox: four speed manual; Brakes: four wheel mechanical; Suspension: front; Lancia patented independent with sliding pillars; rear; live rear axle with semi-elliptical leaf springs. Right hand drive.
On 15 March 1921 Vincenzo Lancia instructed his technical design staff to investigate ways of building a completely new car based on his 1919 patented monocoque design with independent front suspension and a narrow vee engine. Lancia tested the first prototype in September 1921 and delighted with his test drive sanctioned the development of the Lambda into production.
The Lambda introduced to the public at the 1922 Paris Salon was indeed a technical masterpiece. The combination of stressed hull frame, sliding pillar front suspension, vee four engine and four wheel brakes created a car that was low, spacious and offered good performance.
The stressed hull comprised a skeleton framework of 2mm pressed steel forming the overall shape crossbraced by the scuttle, bulkhead and seat assemblys. The propshaft tunnel formed the backbone of the crossmembers and gave longitudinal rigidity. A sheet steel skin was riveted to the skeleton frame. Tubes bracing the front frame and the bulkhead carried the engine and gearbox. The rear springs were suspended on a tube across the rear of the car. The bootlid closed the frame at the rear and the four doors and bonnet, the only non-stressed parts, completed the structure. Amazing torsional rigidity was achieved.
The vee four engine has an aluminium cylinder block with four cast-iron cylinders cast integrally and also bearing the crankshaft. The short and sturdy crankshaft ran in three main bearings with the vertical overhead camshaft driven by gears at the front. The cast iron cylinder head bears the overhead camshaft valve gear and has the inlet and exhaust manifolds (ports) cast integrally. All this achieved a stiff and light engine of compact size allowing the gear box to be located under the bonnet, thus giving more passenger space.
A multiplate dry clutch drove to a separate gearbox with the "first" remote control gear-lever. A two-piece propshaft with Hardy Spicer couplings completed the drive-train.
The Torpedo Tourer went on sale in 1923 and soon became renowned for its performance, handling and safe road holding. It was lower, more spacious and comfortable, lighter to drive and therefore faster and safer. It became and still is a favourite with car enthusiasts. Designed as a tourer it has sports car handling and road holding and achieved standards and solutions to car design decades before other manufacturers thought of them.
"The Best Medium Powered Car in the World" says 1925 Lambda advertisement. "Not built to a price but as a masterpiece of advanced design and engineering skill - to satisfy the most discriminating Motorist who demands the utmost in quality, appearance and performance". True today as proven by the enthusiastic following Lambdas have Worldwide.
History and development in particular is not always well-timed; while some manufacturers find their timing to be fortuitous others are often well-ahead of their day. The same was certainly true for the Lambda for, in a time when customers were used to buying their chassis and choosing their own particular type of coachwork, the standardised bodywork made necessary by the monocoque design limited their appeal. So much so that remarkably, by the later series such as this car, Lancia were forced to offer a platform chassis to allow their clientele this choice.
Even so, the chassis still lent itself best to compact narrow bodywork and this car, bodied new with the Farina coachwork it wears today, is a perfect example of the later, largest engined, Eighth Series Lambdas.
A variety of details feature from opening windscreen and single-action-opening front wondows, to front wing storage compartments and rear trunk. This extends through to the nickel plated 'Bibendum' wheels it wears which, far from often being the product of an overzealous restorer, are not a mis-interpretation but a correct Farina feature. The same is true for the 'acorn' hinges. The dashboard is equipped with Jaeger instrumentation and Bosch switch panel, as well as the car's chassis identity plate.
The car came into the UK in around 1990, having been retored prior to this in Portugal, its previous country of residence. It was bought at auction by the current owner shortly afterwards, and went on to participate in the Concours d'Elégance at Goodwood in 1995. A year later it was put into storage where it has remained since.
Cosmetically the bodywork is generally sound although showing the age of its restoration. The interior is in fawn cloth and again has suffered in minor localised areas from its storage over the last decade. Having not been run in this time, it is clear that the car will require full mechanical recommissioning before it is ready to use. Once this is completed, however, this Lambda will be a rewarding and elegant companion offering techinal superiority over most of its era, and a driving experience that continues to enthral many an enthusiast.
COACHWORK BY FARINA
Registration No. GC 8540
Frame No. 20145
Engine No. 18097
Two tone grey with white and yellow pinstripe and fawn cloth interior.
Engine: Tipo 67. four cylinders in narrow Vee, overhead camshaft, 2,570cc, 69bhp at 3,500rpm, Zenith Triple Diffuser carburettor; Gearbox: four speed manual; Brakes: four wheel mechanical; Suspension: front; Lancia patented independent with sliding pillars; rear; live rear axle with semi-elliptical leaf springs. Right hand drive.
On 15 March 1921 Vincenzo Lancia instructed his technical design staff to investigate ways of building a completely new car based on his 1919 patented monocoque design with independent front suspension and a narrow vee engine. Lancia tested the first prototype in September 1921 and delighted with his test drive sanctioned the development of the Lambda into production.
The Lambda introduced to the public at the 1922 Paris Salon was indeed a technical masterpiece. The combination of stressed hull frame, sliding pillar front suspension, vee four engine and four wheel brakes created a car that was low, spacious and offered good performance.
The stressed hull comprised a skeleton framework of 2mm pressed steel forming the overall shape crossbraced by the scuttle, bulkhead and seat assemblys. The propshaft tunnel formed the backbone of the crossmembers and gave longitudinal rigidity. A sheet steel skin was riveted to the skeleton frame. Tubes bracing the front frame and the bulkhead carried the engine and gearbox. The rear springs were suspended on a tube across the rear of the car. The bootlid closed the frame at the rear and the four doors and bonnet, the only non-stressed parts, completed the structure. Amazing torsional rigidity was achieved.
The vee four engine has an aluminium cylinder block with four cast-iron cylinders cast integrally and also bearing the crankshaft. The short and sturdy crankshaft ran in three main bearings with the vertical overhead camshaft driven by gears at the front. The cast iron cylinder head bears the overhead camshaft valve gear and has the inlet and exhaust manifolds (ports) cast integrally. All this achieved a stiff and light engine of compact size allowing the gear box to be located under the bonnet, thus giving more passenger space.
A multiplate dry clutch drove to a separate gearbox with the "first" remote control gear-lever. A two-piece propshaft with Hardy Spicer couplings completed the drive-train.
The Torpedo Tourer went on sale in 1923 and soon became renowned for its performance, handling and safe road holding. It was lower, more spacious and comfortable, lighter to drive and therefore faster and safer. It became and still is a favourite with car enthusiasts. Designed as a tourer it has sports car handling and road holding and achieved standards and solutions to car design decades before other manufacturers thought of them.
"The Best Medium Powered Car in the World" says 1925 Lambda advertisement. "Not built to a price but as a masterpiece of advanced design and engineering skill - to satisfy the most discriminating Motorist who demands the utmost in quality, appearance and performance". True today as proven by the enthusiastic following Lambdas have Worldwide.
History and development in particular is not always well-timed; while some manufacturers find their timing to be fortuitous others are often well-ahead of their day. The same was certainly true for the Lambda for, in a time when customers were used to buying their chassis and choosing their own particular type of coachwork, the standardised bodywork made necessary by the monocoque design limited their appeal. So much so that remarkably, by the later series such as this car, Lancia were forced to offer a platform chassis to allow their clientele this choice.
Even so, the chassis still lent itself best to compact narrow bodywork and this car, bodied new with the Farina coachwork it wears today, is a perfect example of the later, largest engined, Eighth Series Lambdas.
A variety of details feature from opening windscreen and single-action-opening front wondows, to front wing storage compartments and rear trunk. This extends through to the nickel plated 'Bibendum' wheels it wears which, far from often being the product of an overzealous restorer, are not a mis-interpretation but a correct Farina feature. The same is true for the 'acorn' hinges. The dashboard is equipped with Jaeger instrumentation and Bosch switch panel, as well as the car's chassis identity plate.
The car came into the UK in around 1990, having been retored prior to this in Portugal, its previous country of residence. It was bought at auction by the current owner shortly afterwards, and went on to participate in the Concours d'Elégance at Goodwood in 1995. A year later it was put into storage where it has remained since.
Cosmetically the bodywork is generally sound although showing the age of its restoration. The interior is in fawn cloth and again has suffered in minor localised areas from its storage over the last decade. Having not been run in this time, it is clear that the car will require full mechanical recommissioning before it is ready to use. Once this is completed, however, this Lambda will be a rewarding and elegant companion offering techinal superiority over most of its era, and a driving experience that continues to enthral many an enthusiast.
Special notice
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.