01
Origins
Vittorio Jano, who had designed Alfa Romeo's great racing cars before joining Lancia, led the engineering on the Aurelia, and Francesco de Virgilio did the work that made it significant. Manufacturers had tried six-cylinder vee engines before and been defeated by vibration; de Virgilio's analysis established that a 60-degree bank angle with the right crankshaft arrangement would run smoothly. The Aurelia, launched in 1950, was the first production car in the world with a V6. The rest of the specification was as considered. The gearbox and clutch were mounted at the rear in a transaxle, giving near-even weight distribution, with inboard rear brakes to cut unsprung mass. The front used Lancia's sliding pillar independent suspension; later cars adopted a de Dion rear axle. Engine capacity grew from 1.8 through 2.0 and 2.3 to 2.5 litres across the range.
2006 SAG - Lancia Aurelia Gran Turismo 1955-01 · Semnoz · CC BY-SA 3.0
