Lancia concept

Lancia's rebirth so far has not included anything to capitalise on the brand's sporting past. Lancia has won several world rally championships, has raced at Le Mans and even in Formula One, but the car to mark the marque's revitalisation, the Delta, is pitched as a compact luxury car. Sporting connections have so far been played down for fear of a clash with Alfa Romeo's image. That's about to change. A rethink by Lancia CEO Olivier Francois, voiced at this week's media launch of the new Delta, revealed the news that the company's stand at next March's Geneva show will feature a two-seater, mid-engined sports car inspired by the Lancia Stratos and Monte Carlo. 'We need an image car, a performance car,' said Francois. 'So we will show one at Geneva. It will be a proper production car but very low volume, a Stratos and Monte Carlo type of car.' Does this signal a key change in the Lancia message? Backtracking slightly, Francois said: 'It will be more of a fun-to-drive car than sporting or racing. Our new Delta is fun to drive. It shows the philosophy of the old one except it will not race for the time being.' Those last words are enigmatic. It's hard to envisage a competition career for the Delta, a car deliberately longer in the wheelbase and roomier than the class average. So maybe Olivier Francois had in mind future competition in other new Lancias, such as the production version of the Geneva show car or the upcoming Fulvia, visually similar to the concept car of 2003. That car will be either a normal coupé, like the 1960s-70s car by which the concept was inspired, or a coupé-cabriolet. It will be based on the platform which will underpin the replacement for the Musa luxury mini-MPV, a smaller car than the Delta. Whatever, it seems the prospect of a sporting Lancia is not dead after all. Which makes sense, because the company's past brand values were as much about driving enjoyment and engineering innovation as luxury and style. Meanwhile, the first sign of Lancia's rebirth in the UK will be the Delta's arrival in July next year. That's later than originally planned partly because the 22 UK dealers, all of them Alfa agents who will continue in that role, are not yet ready with their separate showroom areas and separate sales people. Besides that, they will also have the new Alfa Mito to launch, a task they must complete before turning to their Lancias. From that point, they will have plenty more new Lancias to launch. The end of 2009 will see a new Ypsilon supermini, now with five doors instead of three (the rear handles will be concealed) and a more 'masculine' character. Next might come the current Musa; Lancia could easily bring it to the UK, as the Fiat Idea on which it is based came in right-hand drive, but with the new one in the plan Lancia might choose to wait until that car's launch in 2011. That will be followed by the Fulvia – if, as traditionalists hope, that name is kept. And in among there somewhere, we'll be welcoming back a Lancia with a mid-mounted engine and the prospect of a very entertaining drive.

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