A natural consequence, an inevitable development, almost an efflorescence of the Thesis flagship’s imposing lines into a perfectly balanced miniature version with its own distinctive character. The new Ypsilon is still the Baby Lancia and still the market’s only luxury citycar. This third generation of the model slots even more harmoniously into the overall context of the Lancia range and prepares the terrain for future interpretations.
Inevitably then, the first sketches for the new Ypsilon revealed a Lancia family feeling that was retained to the end: in its vertical radiator grille, of course, but also in the upside-down trapezium shape of the boot that evokes memories of such beloved Lancia models as the Aprilia and the Ardea.
Flavio Manzoni, Director of the Lancia Style Centre, watched the new model develop from afar, since, at the time (1999-2001), he was working at the Seat Style Centre in Barcelona. “I wasn’t actively involved in the project all the way through, but it was clear from the preliminary sketch phase, that the intention was to emphasise the natural bond, both aesthetic and conceptual, between the new Ypsilon and the Lancia flagship”.
Adriano Piovano, Chief Designer; Marco Tencone, Chief Exterior Designer; Massimo Gay, Chief Interior Designer; Roberto Corongiu, Colour and Trim Manager, join forces to guide Auto & Design through the process, from drawing board to the finished car that is now available on the market, to the universal plaudits of public and critics alike.
The initial idea of creating a 5-door version with a small fold-down tailgate preceded the Lancia Management’s decision to use the Fiat BMPV as the basis for an MPV version of the Ypsilon. This will not be launched until 2005, but Auto & Design can show its readers some recent drawings.
The article continues in Auto & Design no. 142
