Lancia Lambda 4th Series Torpedo Ballon

First production car with a self supporting body

Engineer Vincenzo Lancia and designer Battista Falchetto set a new standard with their innovative and advanced Lancia Lambda. The Lambda is a milestone in the history of the automobile. It is the first series produced car with a self supporting body that used the strength of the chassis to limit overall weight and increase rigidity and safety. The Torpedo version weighs only 850 kg. The model also features brakes on all four wheels and independent front suspension. Today we take that for granted, but at the Paris Motor Show where the Lambda debuted in 1922, it was revolutionary for a production model. Other innovations included the Balloon concept, a fully removable wooden roof, and its compact V4 engine with the narrow bank angle of just 13.6 degrees. Lancia initially staggered the four seats to make the car narrower and therefore lighter, but this never reached production. In total nine versions appeared, spread over nine years of production. From the 5th generation the Lambda had a four speed gearbox, from the 6th version there were two wheelbases, the 7th introduced a 2,370 cc engine and the 8th gained the option of left hand drive. Lancia built 13,000 examples of the ingenious Lambda.