The following is a chapter from the book “101 Automotive Jewels of India”, and it also includes a brief biography of Sanjoy Ghosh, who restored this remarkable Lancia Dilambda. Ed.
By Gautam Sen
Color images by Makarand Baokar
If the Lambda marked the very cutting edge of automotive technology in the 1920s, Lancia’s flagship model for 1929, the Dilambda seemed to be a step back in time. But there was a reason for that. The Dilambda project began in 1926 when Vincenzo Lancia decided to develop, for his wealthier clientele, a more modern follow-up of the famous Lancia Trikappa, to be powered by a large eight cylinder engine of 3.0-3.5 litres. And like the Lambda, it would also be a monocoque.
It so happened that a rich American customer, a certain Mr Flocker, when visiting the Lancia factory in Turin, succeeded in convincing Vincenzo Lancia that the brand could profit considerably by exporting to the US a model better adapted to the American market. [Read more…] about 1931 Lancia Dilambda Pinin Farina