Lancia back in Britain

Lancia is set to return to Britain – but not before it has put the finishing touches to a new coupé cabriolet flagship inspired by the original Aurelia

Auto Express Car Reviews

Reborn Aurelia to share chassis with Maserati Spyder

By Dan Strong

15th June 2007

Sharing chassis design and engineering with the hotly anticipated Maserati Spyder, it will revive the Aurelia badge, last worn by the car pictured in our main image.

Featuring a metal folding roof, the two-plus-two would compete with the likes of the Jaguar XK and Lexus SC430, offering refinement and upmarket styling. Likely to be unveiled within the next 18 months – possibly at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show – the new drop-top will also offer a V8 engine and rear-wheel drive.

While prices are yet to be confirmed, given Lancia’s luxurious, top-end image, it’s expected that they will be higher than for equivalent Alfa Romeos, although less than those of Maserati. That means the car could cost as much as £50,000.

Yet the top-of-the-range Aurelia will not be the only Lancia to arrive in UK showrooms. Both the marque’s Musa mini- MPV, which is already on sale in its Italian home market, and the ever popular Ypsilon supermini look set to grace our shores as well. There are also plans to resurrect the formidable Delta name, famously applied to the four-wheel-drive hatchbacks of the Nineties, which were also the last Lancia-badged vehicles to be officially sold in Britain.

However, while the original Delta – particularly in sporty Integrale trim – owed much of its design and development to its roots in rallying, it’s anticipated that the new version will be a much less performance-oriented model similar to Fiat’s Bravo.