Pneus Lancia Aprilia

History of the Lancia Aprilia

The Lancia Aprilia was Vincenzo Lancia's final design, with production starting on the month of his passing, February 1937. The design was a first for Lancia and the automotive industry as a whole, due to it being designed in a wind tunnel with the aid of Battista "Pinin" Farina and the Polytechnic University of Turin, leading to a record low drag coefficient of 0.47.

The body was designed with four pillarless doors with a Lusso and Lungo submodel line developed in the second generation (39-49) In 1931 Lancia had opened their first production facility outside of France in Bonnenuil which was where the French Aprilia rebadging, the Lancia Ardennes was built. The Aprilia struggled to take off in France due to the Citroen Traction Avant's success and pioneering engineering casting the Aprilia aside in the eyes of consumers. Due to brewing political tensions in France and Italy as WW2 approached, only 1,620 Lancia Ardennes models were produced until the war put an end to its production. A total of 20,082 Aprilias were built along with an additional 7,554 chassis produced in Turin and another 700 built-in Lancia's Bonneuil plant.