Lancia Appia 1st Series Berlina

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The Lancia Appia was introduced in 1953 as a replacement for the Ardea which despite its contemporary design, dated from before the war.

The new Appia had a larger (1,100cc) version of Lancia’s characteristic V4 engine but in a clean-sheet design by Vittorio Jano which borrowed elements from the sensational Aurelia. The new engine was coupled to a four-speed gearbox with rear-wheel drive. The independent sliding pillar front suspension and pillarless doors were a long-standing Lancia tradition which also carried over to the Appia.

The car was beautifully made, as were all Lancias at the time ('the thinking man's Alfa Romeo') but it did not sell well, being rather expensive, especially when compared with the new Fiat 1100 or Alfa's new Giulietta - both excellent cars which provided fierce competition.

Performance was exceptional for the time and the 40bhp engine could propel the car along at nearly 80mph, with 30mpg economy, at a time when the Ford equivalent struggled to exceed 60mph.

This lovely 1954 1st Series car was imported into the UK in 1994 and has been in storage for much of that time. It has recently had a £3,000 overhaul/recommissioning by Thornley Kelham, mainly in the braking department but will still require a few small jobs before the engine is fired up once more.

In delightfully original condition, this little gem appears extremely sound structurally and looks to all intents and purposes like the ‘baby’ Aurelia that it is.

This particular car was the first ever Lancia owned by renowned Lancia Author and aficionado Wim Oude Weernink (who wrote ‘La Lancia’), so is the car that turned his head toward the marque and by all accounts holds many fond memories.

At the time of writing, we had not had a chance to view more of the car's history, but can confirm it has a V5C and is of course like all quality Italian cars of the era, RHD.