Vincenzo Lancia did not invent the motorcar, nor was he a pioneer who struggled to make a gasoline engine run for the first time. Instead, this well-to-do Italian was a visionary whose automotive creations were among the first to combine engineering excellence with strong individualistic character.
Vincenzo Lancia himself did not enjoy the commercial success of his famed Lancia Aprilia because he died suddenly in February of 1937, suffering heart failure at the young age of 56. A great man was gone – a man who had brilliant ideas where automobiles were concerned and a man who embodied the Italian spirit, a family man who was not only a father but a caring patron to his employees, a man who was larger-than-life in the best ways. Lancia’s Aprilia lived on well after World War II as the first sports saloon for those who needed everyday transportation but wanted to compete in racing over the weekend. The dozens of Aprilias that were entered in each of the Mille Miglias of the late 1930s and ’40s serve as evidence of this. Ultimately, over 25,000 Aprilias were made.
