You can begin by enjoying the exclusive world of the new Ypsilon and the Lybra Emblema SW, so reminiscent of the Sixties. And go on to admire our show car, the Lancia Fulvia Coupé and two non-standard models created on the base of the Phedra and Thesis. These unprecedented cars whisk us back in time to the Seventies, when the Fulvia Coupé 1.6 HF tore through the streets of Montecarlo to win the prestigious rally . 

It is in Lancia's Italian genes to produce models that are icons of their own time and often look to the future with their cutting-edge mechanical solutions. And all this out-and-out innovation is packaged in an unmistakable design that makes it impossible to miss a Lancia car on the road, today just as in the past. 

All this breeding and technology is evident at the Frankfurt Motor Show, where the area devoted to the Ypsilon is particularly attractive to visitors. In the background, you can see the Lancia building with the 'Via del lusso" and in front of you the Piazza Italiana, with innovative flooring made out of river pebbles embedded in resin. Here customers can stroll around and shop for all the world as though they were in an exclusive street in Rome or Milan. Or hang out at the exclusive and very special Terrazza Martini on the first floor of the Lancia building where they can enjoy a privileged view of the stand. A fountain playing next to the Terrazza Martini adds the flavour of a Roman street café and conjures up memories of the famous Trevi fountain. A New Dolce Vita thus takes shape through an ingenious interplay of hints and citations. 

The two showcases that look out over the piazza would not look out of place in the stylish shopping streets of Via Condotti in Rome or Via Montenapoleone in Milan. Here details of the car such as its grille and steering wheel nestle with other top-quality luxury items. The Lancia Ypsilon is the jewel in our crown. You can admire the car in a third showcase, just as is happening currently in Corso Como in Milan, where we have opened the house of 'Miss Ypsilon', a virtual character in a real world. We did the same thing a few months ago for the Lancia Thesis in Via Montenapoleone in Milan. The exhibition area also houses a glass case containing the new 1.3 16v Multijet engine. Last but not least, a Lancia boutique containing top-quality items looks out over the piazza. 

This is the sophisticated setting for a film entitled 'Fascination Ypsilon' that beautifully encapsulates the world of the Dolce vita, with an irreverent, modern slant courtesy of Lancia. 

The Ypsilon area also includes a Lybra Emblema Station Wagon. This is the version for people who wish to complement the style of the model with a touch of originality and class, plus retro details reminiscent of great cars of the past. A single glance will tell you that the Lybra Emblema contains hints of the 1963 Flaminia Coupé: that unmistakable two-tone body, those seats in soft tobacco leather. To sum up: a legend reborn forty years on. 

So much for the part of the Lancia stand that re-evokes the Dolce vita courtesy of the new Ypsilon; another area that takes us back in time to the Seventies is just as appealing. The stars of this area, with its elegant travertine marble floor, are the Lancia Fulvia Coupé show car and two special production cars, the Phedra Promenade and Thesis Promenade. These three models sum up the atmosphere during the years when the international jet set migrated between the Dolce vita of Portofino or Versilia and the glamour and excesses of Montecarlo and the Côte d'Azur. 

Guest of honour at the show is the Fulvia Coupé show car. This stands in the centre of a small artificial lake, virtually suspended over a pool of water fed continuously by a water chute behind the prototype. Water, the life-giving liquid, is the theme of this part of the stand and a Water Bar offers a choice of fifty different labels to thirsty visitors. This quirky bar goes very well with our gallery of products from the Seventies. Visitors can browse among glass cases to admire lamps, sunglasses, televisions and a host of other items that were typical of those years and contributed to the development of Italian industrial design. Against this backdrop of creative ferment, Italian car design was making its name in the world for its elegance and innovation. Many of the four-wheeled works of art from that period bear the name of Lancia: from the Flavia to the Fulvia, the Stratos to the Beta HPE. 

Now the same will to try something new has returned with redoubled vigour to the Lancia Style Centre designers, who have taken up the gauntlet with new enthusiasm. Our original concept cars, the Granturismo and Stilnovo (introduced at the Geneva and Barcelona Motor Shows respectively) are now followed at the Frankfurt show by the debut of the Fulvia Coupé show car and another two unique versions: the Thesis and the Phedra Promenade.