Lancia

 

In 1911, Lancia Veicoli Industriali opened a new production site in Turin’s Borgo San Paolo district, for the production of military trucks. The company continued to produce medium and heavy military and civilian trucks until 1969.

 

1921 Lancia Triota – Simon Osborne

 

In 1912, Lancia 1.Z trucks were produced specifically for the Royal Italian Army, which deployed them in Libya. 

Following the outbreak of the First World War, Lancia continued production of the 1.Z and  introduced the 1.Z.M, powered by a 4942cc, four-cylinder engine. This model remained in production throughout the Spanish Civil War and the Second World War. 

By 1921, Lancia had produced 3437 military trucks and began  civilian truck production, with the Trijota truck and Tetrajota bus models. Both trucks were powered by a four-cylinder engine that produced 70bhp at 2200rpm and total production was 585 vehicles.

 

 

In 1924, Lancia Veicoli Industriali introduced the Lancia Pentajota heavy truck that retained the 70bhp engine. Production of two series continued until 1928, by which time 1721 units had rolled off the Turin lines.

The Esajota followed, but only thirteen examples were built before the Eptajota was released in 1928. This truck was popular and around 2000 were sold before production ended in 1934.

 

1936 Lancia Omicron

 

Performance expectations dictated the launch of the Lancia Omicron that was powered by an in-line, six-cylinder, DOHC, 7069cc petrol engine, which produced 92bhp at 1600rpm. This truck and bus range soon earned a reputation for reliability and some vehicles are said to have exceeded a mileage of two million kilometres. However. fuel consumption was very heavy and later models were powered by Lancia’s opposed-piston or in-line, five-cylinder diesels.

At this point in Lancia’s history it needs to be noted that Benito Mussolini had planned an invasion of Ethiopia since the early 1930s and needed to beef up the Royal Italian Army to do so. He also knew that such an invasion would likely alienate the UK and France, but would align fascist Italy with Hitler’s fascist Germany. 

There’s no way of knowing how influential this situation was on Italy’s military vehicle selection, but it doesn’t look like a coincidence that Lancia’s engine choice for its next military vehicle lineup was a licence-built German diesel.

 

1930s civilian Lancia Ro

 

When Lancia acquired the manufacturing licence for the Junkers two-stroke diesel, opposed-piston engine, the Lancia Ro truck series was introduced. This was by far the most interesting Lancia truck range ever produced.

The Lancia Ro, Lancia Ro-Ro and Lancia 3Ro models were 4×2 heavy trucks that were produced from 1933 through the 1940s for military and civilian use. Ro and 3Ro saw military service during the 1935 Second Italo-Ethiopian War and World War II.

 

Lancia 3Ro army truck with 90mm cannon- Australian War Museum

 

The 64bhp four-piston, two-cylinder, 3.2-litre diesel Ro was produced from 1933 to 1939 and the 95bhp six-piston, three-cylinder, 4.8-litre diesel Ro-Ro from 1935 to 1939. An optional engine was a 65bhp four-cylinder, side valve, 5120cc petrol engine.

In 1938, Lancia phased out the opposed-piston diesel in favour of a 93bhp in-line, five-cylinder, 6.9-litre diesel to power the 3Ro from 1938 to 1947.

The standard transmission was a four-speed and military trucks had a two-speed auxiliary box.

Around 12,700 Ro military and civilian variants were produced, between 1933 and 1950.

The Lancia Ro was used by Royal Italian Army and, after the Italian armistice of September 8, 1943, the Wehrmacht commandeered Ro and 3Ro trucks from their former ally. 

 

Lancia Esatau – Lancia DR

 

In April 1944, with the Lancia factory in German-controlled Italy, German armed forces placed an order for 772 3Ro built between January 1944 and February 1945. Civilian production finally ended in 1949, when the 3Ro was superseded by the Lancia Esatau. However, the 3Ro remained in service in the Italian Army, until the last 3Ro truck was retired in 1964.

After the War, economic austerity in Italy meant that a versatile, forward control light Lancia truck was needed. Vittorio Jano and Francesco De Virgilio collaborated on a design for civilian and military applications. The civilian version was the Beta Autocarro and the military versions were CL/TL51.

 

1950s Lancia Beta Type Z – Lancia DR

 

The Beta’s four-cylinder, OHV engine used a U-configuration, with the cylinders vertical but staggered, for the sake of compactness. A U-configuration allowed better cooling jacketing than a V. With overhead valves, the 1.9-litre four produced 48bhp and was rated at four tonnes GVM.

From 1953 the 42bhp Beta Z50/Z51 was powered by another novel engine: a vertical, two-cylinder, supercharged two-stroke of 1963cc, built under licence from Detroit Diesel.

The Beta was discontinued in 1961, in favour of Superjolly light commercials, sharing the Flavia platform.

 

Lancia Esagamma E – Corvettec6r

 

In 1955, Lancia Veicoli Industriali was bought by Italcementi and continued truck production of the Lancia Esatau and the Esagamma, which had begun production in 1962. The Esatau had begun as a bonneted truck and became a COE in 1952.

In 1969, the Turin-based company was taken over by Fiat Veicoli Industriali, which considered Lancia trucks too expensive for long-term production and gradually phased them out. The last Lancia truck was registered in 1978.

 

Lancia Esagamma special build twin steer 10×4 – Lancia DR

 

Footnote: our sharp-eyed website visitors have noticed that many Italian heavy trucks had right hand drive, until the late 20th century. That was because many mountain roads were narrow, with precipitous drops and drivers wanted to see where their kerbside wheels were, rather than sitting on the left side, for better wide-road orientation.