Lancia Astura

The Lancia Astura History, Variants & Ultimate Guide

Lancia introduced the Astura in 1931 as a more affordable vehicle for the masses.

Based on avant-garde technical concepts from the Lambda, an initial model, the Dilambda, was launched in 1929. But it was launched at the height of the world economic crisis, and its high price limited sales to less than 1,000 units in three years. Vincenzo Lancia quickly realized the situation and changed his plans, launching a study of two new models that were very similar, but only in appearance: the mid-range Artena, with a V4 engine, and the top-of-the-range Artena, with a V8 engine, which were both presented at the 1931 Paris Motor Show.

A single model was undoubtedly not enough to replace the famous Lambda, which had evolved from a light 2.1-litre Torpedo to a 2.6-litre luxury saloon car over the decade of its existence. Vincenzo therefore decided to offer two cars in parallel, one relatively simple and economical, called the Artena, and the other, called the Astura, which was a powerful and luxurious saloon car, but sold at a much lower price than the Dilambda, which was still featured in the brand's catalog. With these two models, as well as the small, popular Augusta saloon car introduced in 1933, Lancia abandoned the Greek alphabet for the first time and chose names of localities for its cars. This approach corresponded to the nationalist spirit of the time. Astura was the name of a historic castle in Nettuno, south of Rome, and Artena was the name of a small town to the east of the Italian capital.

Lancia sold the Astura as a complete vehicle or as a bare chassis, to be completed by independent coachbuilders. The four-door sedan was luxurious and featured rear-hinged front doors and regular ones for the rear passengers. Like most of the Italian cars built in that era, the driving post was on the car's right side so that the driver could see better the road's edge. One specific detail about the Astura was the slightly raked radiator, built to improve its aerodynamics.

Inside, there was room for five adults with plenty of legroom and headroom thanks to the car's high greenhouse. The dash-panel featured center-mounted dials for speed, revs, oil pressure, ammeter, coolant temperature, a clock, and fuel level. In Pininfarina convertible body shape, the Astura still featured the same wheelbase as the sedan, resulting in a true four-seat rag-top.

Under the hood, Lancia installed a V-8 engine with just 17 degrees between the cylinder banks. It was a concept developed by the Italian carmaker since WWI, and it proved to be a good idea. The four-speed gearbox was not synchronized, but the car featured adjustable rear dampers via a turning knob under the dashboard. That was something unusual for luxury cars from that era.

The 1933 model was offered as a complete car by Lancia. It was a sedan with four doors that offered enough interior room and style to be considered a premium vehicle. At the front, Lancia installed the electric headlights on the same rim that supported the radiator grille, with its vertical slats. The 1933 Astura was considered by the journalists to be one of the best European cars in the 3-liter class available at the time. At first glance, the Artena and the Astura share many similarities, the result of a desire to standardize for economic reasons.

Regardless of the car was sold as a chassis or complete vehicle, Lancia fitted the car with a three-spoke steering wheel and a dash-panel. The dials were installed in the middle. Vincenzo Lancia considered that the driver should have an individual seat and didn't want to install benches at the front. Moreover, the gearstick was on the floor, next to a lever needed for a fixed accelerator position.

The Astura 1933 was built for a year until 1934, and the latter models featured hydraulic brakes, while the former ones were fitted with cables for the four-drum braking system. Under the hood, Lancia installed a V8 engine for the Astura. A similar-shaped vehicle, but with an inline-four unit, was built especially for authorities and police forces.

No Lack of Options

The Artena and Astura models resembled each other and shared the same chassis structure. At first glance, the latter may seem less modern in design than its predecessors.

However, a closer look reveals that the innovation that has been Lancia's hallmark from the outset has gone just as far, albeit in different directions. The self-supporting bodywork introduced on the Lambda has been abandoned in favor of a classic separate chassis with boxed side rails reinforced by a cross-member. At the front, the whole is extended by a reinforcing cross-member which supports two slightly tapered longitudinal beams accommodating the engine.

At the rear, rigidity is provided by a welded sheet on top of the side rails at the end of the chassis. At the front, the radiator grille in thick sheet metal has been removed, but the suspension's tubular crossmember and solid bolt-on bumper provide plenty of rigidity. The suspension chosen for the front axle is the innovative one introduced on the Lambda.

It features independent wheels, vertical coil springs and telescopic hydraulic shock absorbers. At the rear, there's a conventional rigid axle with semi-elliptic leaf springs and Siata friction dampers. However, hydraulic shock absorbers adjustable from the passenger compartment were available as an option. In addition, the engine itself was suspended by a new system of short leaf springs riveted to the chassis, which absorbed the vibrations and oscillations of the V8.

Both are offered with basic 'factory' coachwork: four-seater saloon or six-seater limousine. The difference was in the chassis, with the Astura's wheelbase on average 19 cm longer to accommodate its larger V8 engine. The first series of Asturas (1931-1932) Type 230, like the second (1932-1933) Type 230, still featured the 2,604 cm3, 19°-open V8 (Type 85) developing 72 bhp. The third series was offered in two versions: Type 233L ("Lungo" produced from 1933 to 1937) and 233C ("Corto" produced from 1933 to 1936) with a wheelbase of 333.2 cm and 310 cm respectively. This series, which benefited from the new 2,972 cm3 17° 30' open V8 (Type 91) offering 10 bhp more power, interested the leading coachbuilders of the day, who fitted the Astura with flamboyant bodywork. The fourth series (1937-1939) Type 241, with a wheelbase of 347.5 cm, marked the end of the Astura's career. Between 1931 and 1939, 2,912 cars were produced in all versions.