The Lancia Fulvia was a compact sports coupe and sedan known for its elegant styling, front-wheel drive layout, and sporty handling. Its advanced narrow-angle V4 engine offered peppy performance, and the Fulvia's success in motorsport cemented its reputation as a true driver's car that punched above its weight class.
By 1956 Lancia was in deep trouble. Financial problems were mounting. Part of this was down to poor cost control which meant that their cars were often uncompetitive pricewise; and Alfa Romeo were gradually eating into their market. They had given up racing and their chief designer had left to go to Ferrari. It was time for the family to move on and do other things, so in 1956 the business was sold to a real estate investor called Carlo Pesenti.
Before that however they had recruited Professor Antonio Fessia, a senior engineer from Fiat, as technical director, to try to bring some order to a company which was in danger of spiraling out of control.
