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Lancia Appia Vignale Convertibile - Dolce Vita and the sun on your neck

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Created on November 28, 2019

Text:

Bruno von Rotz

Photos:

Daniel Reinhard

36

Lancia / FCA Group

2

Archiv

46

Daniel Reinhard

36

Lancia / FCA Group

2

Archiv

46

Lancia Appia Convertibile (1959) - very handy and agile

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Lancia Appia Convertibile (1959) - a car for the beautiful days in life

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Lancia Appia Convertibile (1959) - the modern radiator grille also set the style for other Lancia models

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Lancia Appia Convertibile (1959) - the rear could have been a little more upbeat

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Lancia Appia Convertibile (1959) - elegance without attracting attention

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Lancia Appia Convertibile (1959) - good driving characteristics

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Lancia Appia Convertibile (1959) - the engine looks low in the car, the ground clearance unfortunately a little below that

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Lancia Appia Convertibile (1959) - beautiful exhaust sound, which unfortunately cannot be seen in the picture

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Lancia Appia Convertibile (1959) - easily keeps up with modern traffic

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Lancia Appia Convertibile (1959) - the cars were smaller back then, but so were the people

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Lancia Appia Convertibile (1959) - steel wheels and hubcaps were still common back then

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Lancia Appia Convertibile (1959) - 1.1 liters displacement and 54 hp are also enough for "driving pleasure"

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Lancia Appia Convertibile (1959) - the convertible ran at over 140 km/h back then

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Lancia Appia Convertibile (1959) - complete all-round visibility, not even the window frames get in the way

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Lancia Appia Convertibile (1959) - the rear bench seat was only added later, the first examples were still purely two-seaters

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Lancia Appia Convertibile (1959) - four seats, but more for two people

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Lancia Appia Convertibile (1959) - you can feel at home here

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Lancia Appia Convertibile (1959) - sporty driver's workplace, the convertible had a stick shift

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Lancia Appia Convertibile (1959) - tidy dashboard

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Lancia Appia Convertibile (1959) - Two-spoke steering wheel

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Lancia Appia Convertibile (1959) - huge digits for the instruments, but the readability could be better

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Lancia Appia Convertibile (1959) - Speedometer up to 160 km/h

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Lancia Appia Convertibile (1959) - beautifully shaped door handle

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Lancia Appia Convertibile (1959) - Labeling? Missing

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Lancia Appia Convertibile (1959) - a very special four-cylinder engine

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Lancia Appia Convertibile (1959) - the V4 engine is short and compact

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Lancia Appia Convertibile (1959) - clearly labeled engine

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Lancia Appia Convertibile (1959) - the powerful versions had Weber carburetors and up to 60 hp

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Lancia Appia Convertibile (1959) - Type plate - 812.01 indicates the special body version

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Lancia Appia Convertibile (1959) - Lancia sign in the radiator grille

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Lancia Appia Convertibile (1959) - in the early sixties, most Lancia models had a radiator grille of this design

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Lancia Appia Convertibile (1959) - beautifully finished side blinker

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Lancia Appia Convertibile (1959) - "appia" lettering at the rear

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Lancia Appia Convertibile (1959) - Italian designation on the flank

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Lancia Appia Convertibile (1959) - indicated tail fins, after all, the car dates from the fifties

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Lancia Ardea (1950) - 4th series vehicle

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Lancia Ardea (1950) - 4th series sedan

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Lancia Appia (1953) - sedan of the first series, looks like a small Aurelia

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Lancia Appia (1953) - sedan of the first series, a small Aurelia

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Lancia Appia (1953) - with self-supporting bodywork

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Lancia Appia (1954) - the V4 engine

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Lancia Appia (1954) - V4 engine shown at the Geneva Motor Show

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Lancia Appia (1954) - Chassis and technology

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Lancia Appia (1956) - the elegant saloon with counter-rotating doors

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Lancia Appia (1956) - with doors opening in opposite directions and without posts - Geneva Motor Show 1956

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Lancia Appia (1957) - upright spare wheel in the trunk of the 2nd series Appia

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Lancia Appia (1957) - revised 2nd series - Interior

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Lancia Appia (1957) - Miss Italia has her photo taken with the limousine of the second series

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Lancia Appia (1957) - Series 2 Sedan

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Lancia Appia Sport Coupé 2nd series Vignale (1956) - shown at the 1956 Turin Motor Show

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Lancia Appia Sport Coupé 2nd series Vignale (1956) - modernist-looking coupé

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Lancia Appia Sport Coupé 2nd series Vignale (1956) - in elegant two-tone paintwork

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Lancia Appia Allemano Coupé (1956) - one-off presented in Turin

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Lancia Appia Cabriolet Vignale (1957) - elegant fair-weather car with sharply defined edges and sparing use of decorative lines - Geneva Motor Show 1957

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Lancia Appia Cabriolet (1957) - at the Geneva Motor Show in 1957

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Lancia Appia Pininfarina (1957) - graceful coupé by Pininfarina - Geneva Motor Show 1957

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Lancia Appia Zagato (1957) - the lightweight Zagato coupé at the Geneva Motor Show

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Lancia Appia Cabriolet (1957) - immediately recognizable as a Lancia

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Lancia Appia Cabriolet (1957) - for the lady of the world

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Lancia Appia Cabriolet (1957) - compact convertible for every day

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Lancia Appia Cabriolet (1957) - not very curvy

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Lancia Appia Cabriolet (1957) - especially nice to look at from the front

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Lancia Appia GT Cabriolet Vignale (1957) - the lady is explaining how to operate the fabric roof

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Lancia Appia GT Cabriolet Vignale (1958) - pretty convertible for beautiful days

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Lancia Appia Allemano Coupé (1957) - elegant, but less stylish than the previous year's version

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Lancia Appia Cabriolet (1957) - with hardtop

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Lancia Appia Cabriolet (1957) - with attached hardtop

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Lancia Appia Cabriolet (1958) - designed by Michelotti, built by Vignale

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Lancia Appia Cabriolet (1958) - Interior with four seats

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Lancia Appia Cabriolet (1959) - compact open-top driving pleasure

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Lancia Appia Cabriolet (1960) - in its fourth year of production

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Lancia Appia Cabriolet (1960) - with attached hardtop

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Lancia Appia Cabriolet (1961) - Dimensions

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Lancia Appia Cabriolet (1961) - classic design

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Lancia Appia Cabriolet (1961) - with attached fabric roof

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Lancia Appia Coupé Pininfarina (1961) - Coupé with special rear window

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Lancia Appia Coupé Pininfarina (1961) - the coupé

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Lancia Appia Pininfarina Coupé (1959) - the design is reminiscent of the Floride

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Lancia Appia Lusso Vignale (1959) - basically a coupé version of the convertible

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Lancia Appia GT Lusso Vignale (1958) - pretty coupé

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Lancia Appia (1960) - Series 3 Sedan

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Lancia Appia (1961) - Series 3, the front door opened forwards as before, the rear door opened backwards

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Lancia Fulvia (1963) - the new front-wheel drive model replaces the Appia and is technically based on the Flavia

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Summary

The Lancia Appia Vignale Cabriolet may be less eye-catching than other 1950s special bodies, but the small open-top sports car is still a gem to drive. It benefits from the advanced Appia design and continuous model maintenance. It is actually a wonderful example of the time when Lancia was still Lancia. This driving report tells the story of the Lancia Appia model and the Vignale Cabriolet, showing the cars in many historical and current photos and also in the sales brochure from back then.

This article contains the following chapters

Tradition and modernity
Modernization to Series 2
A version for the coachbuilders
Designed by Michelotti, built by Vignale
Alternatives
Continuing with Series 3
Popular, but not cheap
The sun on your neck
Further information

Estimated reading time: 8min

Preview (beginning of the article)

The small Lancia Ardea had proved to be an important pillar of business for the Turin-based car manufacturer. The pre-war model continued to be built after the war, but from the early 1950s onwards it looked a little old-fashioned next to the modern Aurelia. A successor was needed. Vittorio Jano was commissioned to develop a new small saloon. The result, presented at the Turin Motor Show in April 1953, was called the Lancia Appia and looked like a shrunken Aurelia saloon. Technically, the newcomer appeared to be closely based on its predecessor, the Ardea, although almost everything was actually completely new.

Welcome to Zwischengas!

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