Lancia Aurelia B52 Vignale Coupé - Michelotti elegance for Gina Lollobrigida
Summary
Vignale was one of the largest and best-known Italian coachbuilders in the fifties and sixties. Alfredo Vignale was a master of his trade and his bodies were among the most attractive and sought-after. The Lancia Aurelia B52 Coupé from 1952, designed by the prolific Giovanni Michelotti, is no exception. On the contrary. This report describes the history of the elegant Lancia and shows it in many pictures.
This article contains the following chapters
- Lancia and the coachbuilders
- The B52 and Alfredo Vignale
- Seven coupés?
- Flat radiator coupé with star appeal
- The Coupé B52-1026
- At the steering wheel of a Concours winner
Estimated reading time: 6min
Preview (beginning of the article)
Vignale was one of the largest and best-known Italian coachbuilders in the fifties and sixties. Alfredo Vignale was a master of his trade and his bodies were among the most attractive and sought-after. Whether Fiat or Ferrari, Triumph or Cunningham, Alfa Romeo or Maserati, Vignale used chassis from both Italian and foreign car manufacturers. Lancia was also one of the chassis suppliers and Vignale delivered some of its most beautiful creations, especially on the Aurelia. With the new Lancia Aurelia presented at the Turin Motor Show in May 1950, the fate of the coachbuilders was almost sealed. The self-supporting factory saloon with the newly developed V6 engine with a displacement of 1.8 liters, 56 hp and transaxle transmission met almost all requirements and modifications to the coupé or convertible were difficult to produce due to the unibody design. However, Lancia naturally also thought of its loyal business partners, the Carrozzerias, and was also able to satisfy the eclectic wishes of its more demanding customers. And so the Lancia engineers around Vittorio Jano also developed an independent B50 chassis on which individual bodies could then be built.
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