The Lancia stand at the Bologna Motor Show will celebrate the brand’s centenary with an attractive display in the shape of a veritable ‘Maison Lancia’, with the Musa, new Ypsilon, Thesis and Lancia Delta HPE Concept car on the catwalk. Ambassadors of what Italy is capable of, these cars all share an extraordinary stylistic beauty, becoming precious jewels or haute couture fashion, to be chosen and worn in the ‘Lancia boutique’, with its elegant polished black floor, rich steel details and the balanced contrast of the graphics colours on the walls.

And like a fashion house proper, the stand will have a catwalk where beautiful models show off the first Lancia Collection of thirty articles designed by Italian stylists to the public. The sound track for the fashion show has been composed by two famous Italian DJs, who are well-known all over the world: Stefano Fontana and Claudio Coccoluto. Together with design and cinema, the fashion world is one of the three areas in which the brand is involved this year with important initiatives to celebrate its Centenary: from ‘Moda Milano’ to the 63rd Venice Film Festival, Casa del Cinema in Rome and the recent ‘Torino Film Festival’, right down to the ‘Lancia Tour Italian Design’.

The focus in the exhibition area will be on the Lancia Delta HPE Concept car - inspired by the elegant, sporty, practical car concept embodied by the Lancia Beta HPE in the late Seventies - which proposes an up-to-the-minute interpretation of the sporty, practical saloon (a shooting brake). It is a medium sized car (4.5 metres long, 1.8 metres wide and 1.5 metres tall) which guarantees plenty of room (particularly in the rear) and comfort, excellent access and a versatile, adaptable, capacious luggage compartment, all contained in a slender, sporty shape. The latest result of a century of experience, this concept car continues the tradition of the ‘great’ Lancia medium sized saloons - from the Aprilia to the Appia, the Fulvia, the Lancia Beta HPE, the Prisma, the Dedra and the Lybra – offering innovative solutions that make it the best synthesis of Lancia’s values.

The second focal point of the stand in Bologna will be the new Ypsilon. All the distinction and prestige of an elite, up-market car with the handling of a compact: this is the spirit of the model which combines superb styling with cutting-edge technology. Just like the best Italian luxury goods, the ‘big names’ that are renowned all over the world. The new Ypsilon was designed and built for a clientele that likes to stand out with exclusive products, and expects a car to be first and foremost enjoyable to use. Nor can we forget that, like the best Italian luxury goods, the new Ypsilon combines excellent styling with cutting-edge technology. A winning combination to which the model adds great aesthetic refinement, a modern interpretation of Lancia styling, perfect colour combinations and many possibilities for customisation: suffice it to say that there are over 700 ways of customising this ‘pocket flagship’, thanks to the combination of 15 body colours, 4 specifications (Argento, Oro Bianco, Oro Giallo and Platino), 9 new ‘b-colore’ liveries, 8 different interior outfits and 6 types of alloy wheel (including those in the Lineaccessori). Whatever the level of customisation, the new Ypsilon is always attractive and original, the epitome of the Italian taste that is famous the world over.

Five cars will be on display in Bologna, all with striking b-colore bodywork – which has always been a distinctive feature of Lancia and is now produced with a long. complex painting procedure – and proposed in the various specification levels (Argento, Oro Giallo, Oro Bianco and Platino), as well as the new ‘Blue&Me®’ special series. The cars on show will also stand out for their lavish standard equipment, refined interiors and Blue&Me®, the sophisticated system based on Windows Mobile technology, that was developed jointly by Fiat Auto and Microsoft, which changes the communications, information and entertainment paradigms in the car, improving the comfort and quality of the time spent on board.
 

The device is extremely simple to use, and incorporates a hands-free system with voice recognition that allows you to make/receive telephone calls and to listen to music simply and safely as you drive. And thanks to Bluetooth® technology, you can also communicate with the outside world from the car using your own personal mobile phone or HDA. The Blue&Me® system also allows the motorist to listen to his favourite music when it is recorded on a mobile phone, one of the new smart phones, on an MP3 player or on a USB pen drive. This is made possible by a USB port positioned on the tunnel, to which any digital device with a similar connection can be connected, while musical audio files (MP3, WMA and WAV) can be reproduced directly through the stereo system.

And finally, all the engines available in the New Ypsilon range will also be on show in Bologna next week, except for the well-known 60 bhp 1.2 8v: the two new Multijet engines (1.3 16v delivering 75 bhp and 90 bhp) and the two brilliant petrol engines (1.4 16v delivering 95 bhp and 1.4 8v delivering 77 bhp), combined with manual gearboxes or the sequential, robotised DFN transmission (the acronym of ‘Dolce Far Niente’).

There will be two versions of the Musa under the spotlight at the Bologna Motor Show. One will be equipped with the 90 bhp 1.3 engine, the Platino specification and b-colore bodywork. A touch of originality and class that sets off the model’s clean harmonious lines to perfection. The interesting feature of the Musa on display is the Sony DVD/MP3 player built into the facia, with two 6.5” 16/9 LCD monitors fitted on both the front head-restraints. This sophisticated device reiterates the fact that the Lancia Musa was born out of the concept of ‘Italian hospitality’, which treats occupants as guests and not passengers. The other car set to be on display embodies the same warm welcome: a Musa Platino Plus with a 95 bhp 1.4 16v engine, with its bodywork a delicate shade of Vasari pearl, and a rich array of equipment including a satellite navigator and the Granluce sunroof. Both Lancia Musas offer TPMS (Tyre Pressure Monitoring System), which helps to limit consumption (of fuel and tyres) while enhancing safety (greater control and stability of the car).

The parade will conclude with a Lancia Thesis Sport, the latest evolution of the flagship, which blends sportiness and elegance in unique, exclusive styling. The version on show has very refined two-tone bodywork (light grey and dark grey) which highlights the styling of the model. The car also sports exclusive 18” spoked alloys which underline the assertive sportiness of this particular version.