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Lancia Augusta (1936) - Lancia's big hit with a small car

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Created on March 10, 2026

Text:

Martin Sigrist, translated by DeepL

Photos:

Daniel Reinhard

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Archiv

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Daniel Reinhard

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Archiv

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Lancia Augusta (1936) - The 35 hp can be converted quite quickly

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Lancia Augusta (1936) - The small car was already part of Italy's middle class in 1936

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Lancia Augusta (1936) - The last Lancia without aerodynamic styling

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Lancia Augusta (1936) - The trunk that could be opened from the outside was not yet a matter of course

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Lancia Augusta (1936) - The aesthetics reveal themselves very subtly

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Lancia Augusta (1936) - An encounter with the Augusta is completely safe, unless you fall for its pre-war charm

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Lancia Augusta (1936) - Modernity came in a rather conservative form with the Augusta

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Lancia Augusta (1936) - The mullion-less cabinet doors became a Lancia hallmark

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Lancia Augusta (1936) - The sheet steel body of the Augusta is already self-supporting - an old tradition at the pioneer Lancia

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Lancia Augusta (1936) - The front independent suspension with Lancia's typical long stub axles is amazingly true to track and precise

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Lancia Augusta (1936) - A car without airs and graces

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Lancia Augusta (1936) - An automobile with high utility value

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Lancia Augusta (1936) - An amazingly agile car for Italian city centers

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Lancia Augusta (1936) - In the 1930s, the inboard handlebar had long since established itself

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Lancia Augusta (1936) - Small limousine with sophisticated technology

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Lancia Augusta (1936) - Despite its modest displacement of 1.2 liters, the Augusta was not a car for the people

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Lancia Augusta (1936) - Pre-war cars can also be driven, but it's a shame they are rarely found at meetings

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Lancia Augusta (1936) - Too fast for the photographer?

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Lancia Augusta (1936) - Lancia still mastered the art of building small cars with high standards many decades later

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Lancia Augusta (1936) - Good roadholding was Vincenzo Lancia's very personal concern

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Lancia Augusta (1936) - Well-to-do restraint

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Lancia Augusta (1936) - Even in the 1930s, Italians knew how to drive agilely

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Lancia Augusta (1936) - We're waving a wreath for pre-war cars

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Lancia Augusta (1936) - In 1936 the shape of the Augusta was rather conservative

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Lancia Augusta (1936) - All Lancia models up to the end of the 1950s were right-hand drive

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Lancia Augusta (1936) - Passenger door pocket

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Lancia Augusta (1936) - The Scudetto from Lancia in the typical colors

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Lancia Augusta (1936) - The narrow-angled V4 delivers 35 hp

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Lancia Augusta (1936) - The Lancia is an old acquaintance in the Swiss classic car scene

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Lancia Augusta (1936) - The engine revs up to...wait, this is the fuel gauge!

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Lancia Augusta (1936) - The operation is conventional except for the foot starter

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Lancia Augusta (1936) - The Lancia Lambda already featured straight-travel suspension

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Lancia Augusta (1936) - The round instruments do without any ornamentation

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Lancia Augusta (1936) - hood latches of traditional design

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Lancia Augusta (1936) - Monumental radiator

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Lancia Augusta (1936) - practicality in the interior too

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Lancia Augusta (1936) - Plain fabric and folding window crank

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Lancia Augusta (1936) - plenty of tank, plenty of legroom and hardly any engine under the long hood

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Lancia Augusta (1936) - If you want to know exactly how many liters are left in the tank

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Lancia Augusta (1936) - You have to calculate 5kmh away from the display...

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Tazio Nuvolari with an Augusta of the 1st series in the courtyard of the Alfieri Maserati factory on December 16, 1936

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Lancia Augusta (1933) - The smallest car of the line

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Lancia Augusta (1936) – Der letzte Lancia ohne aerodynamische Formgebung

Lancia Augusta (1936) – Der von aussen zu öffnende Kofferraum war noch keine Selbstverständlichkeit

Lancia Augusta (1936) – Die Ästhetik eröffnet sich einem sehr subtil

Lancia Augusta (1936) – Die Begegnung mit dem Augusta ist völlig gefahrlos, ausser man verfällt seinem Vorkriegscharme

Lancia Augusta (1936) – Die Moderne kam mit dem Augusta in recht konservativer Form daher

Lancia Augusta (1936) – Die pfostenlosen Schranktüren wurden zu einem Lancia-Merkmahl

Summary

Lancia was in crisis in 1930. 75 percent of production had been exported at the end of the 1920s, but these markets had collapsed. The company now sought its fortune on the domestic market and with a small car: the Lancia Augusta.

This article contains the following chapters

The positive deception
Replacement for export markets
Just like the big ones
Industrial progress
Conceptual pioneer
Pure driving pleasure

Estimated reading time: 5min

Preview (beginning of the article)

Pre-war cars are fragile, slow and completely out of date? Then it's time to make them presentable again! The Lancia Augusta makes a good start. The little car from Turin amazes and surprises. Because if you only study the pure data at first, you will see a rather small car with a 1.2-liter engine that is not particularly generously powered. Even the shape seems rather old-fashioned for the year of construction. The Augusta is more reminiscent of a car from the late 1920s than a car from the middle of the next decade, when the streamline really became fashionable. But the Augusta is deceptive - and it does so in all respects! The body may not look very modern, but a closer look reveals the sophistication of its design. Firstly, the four-door offers an astonishing amount of space, and secondly, this all-steel body is a masterpiece in the combination of lightweight construction and stability, as it is self-supporting.

Welcome to Zwischengas!

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Images of this article

Lancia Augusta (1936) – Der letzte Lancia ohne aerodynamische Formgebung

Lancia Augusta (1936) – Der von aussen zu öffnende Kofferraum war noch keine Selbstverständlichkeit

Lancia Augusta (1936) – Die Ästhetik eröffnet sich einem sehr subtil

Lancia Augusta (1936) – Die Begegnung mit dem Augusta ist völlig gefahrlos, ausser man verfällt seinem Vorkriegscharme

Lancia Augusta (1936) – Die Moderne kam mit dem Augusta in recht konservativer Form daher

Lancia Augusta (1936) – Die pfostenlosen Schranktüren wurden zu einem Lancia-Merkmahl

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