Vincenzo Lancia
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Vincenzo "Censin" Lancia (born August 24, 1881 in Fobello , Piedmont , † February 15, 1937 in Turin ) was an Italian racing driver , designer and founder of the automobile manufacturer Lancia .
Vincenzo Lancia was born as the son of the canning company Cavaliere Giuseppe Lancia in the small mountain village of Fobello far back in the Piedmontese Sesia Valley. He had three other siblings named Giovanni , Arturo and Maria .
His father wanted him to become a lawyer , but after his poor academic performance, Lancia became an accountant and started as such at Fiat . But since he was also interested in vehicles, he soon left his office to work as a mechanic and later a racing driver. The Italian contested numerous races for Fiat in the early days of motorsport, the first being the Paris-Madrid race in 1903 . One of Lancia's best performances was second place in the 1906 Vanderbilt Cup .
In 1906 he founded the automobile company Lancia together with Claudio Fogolin . In 1908, Vincenzo Lancia was fired from Fiat as a racing driver, but remained on the payroll until 1910. After tentative attempts to compete in races with his own vehicles, from 1911 he concentrated completely on the construction and development of his vehicles, which were considered fast and elegant sports cars and were technically complex but also very reliable. In the period that followed, Lancia made a name for itself with many innovations in automobile construction, received numerous patents and was considered the "brand of engineers". In addition to passenger cars , trucks , buses , trolleybuses and various types of military vehicles were built under the leadership of the Italian .
Vincenzo Lancia died in Turin in February 1937 at the age of 55. His son Gianni Lancia then took over management of the company in March 1937.
Web links
- Vincenzo Lancia story on lancia.com (English, Italian)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Lancia, Vincenzo |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Lancia, Censin |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Italian automobile designer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 24, 1881 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Fobello |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 15, 1937 |
| Place of death | Turin |