Vincenzo Lancia (1881-1937), a professional driver from the heroic days of motor racing, was a great connoisseur of engines. In 1906 he founded LANCIA & C. in Turin, with Claudio Fogolin as a partner until 1918. In those years the Turin-based company produced some of the most beautiful cars of the pre-World War I era.
At the 1913 London Motor Show the luxurious, powerful and fast Lancia Theta, also known as the 25/35 HP, was exhibited and admired. It had a bright cherry red body, a black leather upholstered interior and was the first production car to have a complete electrical system, so the front starter crank could be removed. The engine power of this jewel allowed the car a speed of 120 km/h.

Another masterpiece was the Lancia Lambda of 1922, exhibited at the Paris and London shows, which introduced the steel bodywork. It was one of the most used cars in the competitions of the 1920s, due to its road performance on the rough roads of the time. It took part in the first Mille Miglia and subsequent races with considerable success. From one innovation to another, in 1934/35 Lancia, in collaboration with the Turin Polytechnic to study the coefficient of aerodynamic resistance, created another car that became an epoch-making phenomenon, the Aprilia.
With this model, the profile line of Lancia cars changed completely, as it was born from the curvatures imposed by the laws of aerodynamics.

The Aprilia was presented at the Paris Motor Show in 1936, where it was very well received despite its non-traditional body configuration. Non-series versions were made by the best coachbuilders of the time, resulting in beautiful, very up-to-date but now extremely rare examples.