As the main sponsor of the 63rd Venice International Film Festival, Lancia will present an exclusive selection of the most beautiful cars of all time, chosen from the Lancia Collection, at the Hotel Excelsior on the opening day of the Festival.

Today, the four-wheeled “divas” at the Lido will include: the Lancia Astura coupé Pinin Farina (1939) which once belonged to Galeazzo Ciano; the Lancia Aurelia B24 America Convertible (1957), which became a symbol of the young, carefree Italy of the 1960s, thanks to Dino Risi’s famous film Il Sorpasso (The Easy Life), with Vittorio Gassman and Jean-Louis Trintignant (1961); and a Lancia Aprilia Cabriolet Pinin Farina (1947), rescued from Hollywood in the 1980s. From history to the cinema, and from the world of racing: the Lancia D50 Formula 1 (1954) is the car that generated the Scuderia Ferrari, in which the young Argentinean driver Juan Manuel Fangio won the world championship in 1956.

Celebrations for the first 100 years of Lancia set for September 4 and 5

The most important days for the Lancia brand will be September 4 and 5, when Lancia welcomes its dealers and the press, to present its glorious past and to look forward to the its future. On September 4 there will be a gala dinner for 900 guests, in the unusual and striking setting of the Sorlini Hangar at the Lido. A number of the brand’s historical and current models will be on display, and the company’s top management will be present to celebrate Lancia’s centenary in great style, with fireworks and music. From 11 pm, the party will be open to the community of the 63rd Venice International Film Festival.

On Tuesday 5, in the prestigious venue of the Teatro La Fenice, Lancia will present the challenges and strategies of the coming years to the international motoring and economic media. In the afternoon, in the Lancia exhibition area in front of the Casino at the Lido, the Ypsilon Hour will strike, bringing a surprise for the audience in Venice.

Lancia and films, a historical partnership

Lancia has always had a very close relationship with the film world, since the start of the twentieth century. In the early days of the Turin silent film industry, cars, and Lancias in particular, were behind the rise of the great Italian male and female film stars, and Emilio Ghione, for one, used Lancias in his films. Later, in the so-called “white telephone” films of the Thirties, this type of car was chosen both to accompany the dreams of Italians “beyond the threshold of one thousand lire a month”, and almost to represent the key giving access to the modern world. Even more recently, Lancia cars have co-starred in a number of highly successful films. Since the 1950s, cars built by the Turin company have appeared on the screen often, and in some cases they have created the style and icons of particular periods.
 

The period after the World War II in Italy is the setting for a series of films based on the novels of Guareschi, and a Lancia Astura, an elite, luxury car produced in the 1930s, appeared in Il piccolo mondo di Don Camillo (1952). I soliti Ignoti of 1958 featured a Lancia Aurelia B10, a car that confirmed the brand’s philosophy after the war years, and was the direct forebear of the Aurelia B24 Convertible, the star of Il sorpasso (1962) by Dino Risi, with Catherine Spaak, Vittorio Gassman and Jean-Louis Trintignant, and certainly the best-known car in Italian film history. Claude Lelouch made the interesting decision to make a racing version of the Flavia Coupé sports car one of the ‘stars’ of A Man and a Woman in 1966, while a Lancia Thema was chosen for the less well-known sequel A Man and a Woman: 20 years later, in 1986.

Contemporary cars are used in period films, and it is significant that Lancia is represented by the best output of the day, as in the case of the Lancia Artena in the film Mussolini ultimo atto of 1974. Among more eclectic films, like Dario Argento’s Profondo Rosso of 1975, Lancia was present with the Fulvia Coupé, an outstanding model for its brilliant performance, elegance and beautifully finished interior. Even the film Herbie goes to Montecarlo of 1977 paid tribute to Lancia when two Lancia models, the Scorpion and the Stratos, were called on to express different missions, appearing in two distinct but real roles. In 1981, Alain Delon starred in Pour la peau d’un flic in a Lancia Delta, recently elected Car of the Year; subsequent versions of this model with permanent four-wheel drive later set a still unbeaten record, by winning six consecutive World Rally Championship titles, from 1987 to 1992.

More recently, the Lancia Ypsilon has starred in a short film Affinità elettive (2003) by Gabriele Muccino, with Nicoletta Romanoff and Milena Mancini. The Lancia Thesis also starred in an original short film, The Call (2006) by Antoine Fuqua, which marked Pirelli’s debut in cinema. The Lancia flagship is the powerful, quiet saloon that takes the exorcist (John Malkovich) to his appointment with Evil.

“With a similar background, it was inevitable that we should choose to be a partner of the 63rd Venice International Film Festival,” said Olivier François, Lancia Brand Manager. “It is a great honour for us to be part of the Festival. It is the ideal setting to celebrate the first one hundred years of our company and to look forward to the future, in front of an international audience.”

All the Lancias at Venice

This morning the following Lancias will be on display in front of the Hotel Excelsior: Artena Cabrio (1932); Aprilia Saloon 1^st series (1937); Aurelia GT B20 (1951); D50 Formula 1 (1954); D25 Sport Spider (1954); Flaminia Saloon First Series (1959); Flaminia 2.8 Coupé Pininfarina (1965); Fulvia Coupé (1967); Flavia Coupé 1.8 (1967); Gamma 2.0 Coupé (1978); Beta Montecarlo Spider (1980); Delta HF Integrale 16v Martini (1991).

These models have come to represent the different periods of Italian history and society. And to give a special significance to the inauguration party, an Astura Coupé Pininfarina (1939), Aprilia Cabriolet Pininfarina (1947), Aurelia B24 America Convertible (1957), and Flaminia GT Touring Convertible (1964), will parade like divas of the past, driven by private collectors and members of the Lancia Club Italia. A spectacular debut chosen by Lancia as a tribute to the Italian film industry. An Aurelia Granturismo 2500 Spider B24 (1955) will be on display throughout the 63rd International Film Festival, inside the Lancia exhibition area in front of the Casino. Over thirty cars from the current Lancia range that includes the Diva, Phedra and Thesis – the latter in the bicolore versions was inspired by the famous two-tone Flaminia – will also be on hand as the official vehicles for the stars staying at the Lido.