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Vincenzo Lancia was the youngest child of a wealthy Turin soup manufacturer. As a young man, he was a chief inspector and test driver for F.I.A.T. as well as a successful racer. In 1906, he formed his own company. Initially, Lancia produced luxury cars but by the 1930s, they saw a need to mass-produce a […]

The first small Lancia conceived under FIAT ownership was the Delta, which appeared in 1978. In 1987, a new model, the Delta HF Integrale, was launched. It had a more aggressive look to highlight its sporting personality. It retained the 1995cc turbo engine with intercooler and overboost, twin counter-rotating balancer shafts, and integrated electronic ignition

This tiny traditional-style sports car was conceived mainly with British Trials racing in mind. Trials racing is a popular motor sport in Great Britain which entails vehicles traveling up a steep hill with a challenging course layout to see who can go the farthest distance. As such, the Liège is a very simple, very lightweight

Guy Ligier, a successful French racing driver and rugby player, built his own sports car–the Ligier JS–and showed it at the Paris Salon in 1970. Ligier then went on to found his own Formula 1 racing team which he owned from 1976 to 1996. In 1980 Ligier introduced the JS4 microcar. With 7,000 sold in

This rugged 4-wheel drive vehicle was built for the French military. It is lightweight and intended for use by airborne troops. A large cargo plane can carry and launch six Lohrs while a helicopter can only carry one. It was built to be parachuted to the front lines with the capacity to carry equipment over

Italy had many small specialty car manufacturers in the 1960s and 1970s. Many small car makers used drivetrains from Fiat. This vehicle is based on a Fiat 500 drivetrain, with Fiat 600 transmission. The rear four wheels are chain driven from the transaxle. This vehicle was made to traverse difficult off road conditions and still

The Martin, despite vigorous promotion, never went beyond three prototypes. Before you is a one-of-a-kind aerodynamic vehicle built by Martin Aircraft Company of Garden City, New York. Martin’s concept was to create a four-seater streamlined car along jaray principles. Notice the pontoon-shaped underbody, fully covered rear wheels, and a deep-sloping front with the body tapering

René Bonnet continued to make cars under his own name and also became a driver for Renault. To support his competition exploits, Bonnet unveiled three cars at the 1962 Paris Salon. Under his new company, Automobiles René Bonnet (RB), the first examples were the CRB1 and CRB2, for Competition René Bonnet. The top range was