After the economic recession, cars were rare and reserved for the wealthy, but Lancia identified a small niche segment and introduced the Ardea in 1939.
Those were the times when Fiat introduced the Topolino and the Ballila, but both cars were cramped. On the other hand, Lancia offered the Ardea. It was fuel-efficient, large enough for four adults, and even though it didn’t have too much power, it provided superior handling than its main competitors. The Ardea took the sliding-pillar front suspension from the Aprilia, and for cost reasons, the carmaker installed a rigid rear axle with semi-elliptic springs in the back.

Lancia built the Ardea sedans (berlinas) dubbed as Tipo 250, while the extended version used for the Rome Taxi was Tipo 350 and the Tipo 450 rolling chassis. At the front, the tilted grille was just behind the front bumper. The narrow and long engine compartment left the illusion that there was a big engine underneath, even though it wasn’t. With its round headlights and cone-shaped cases, the Ardea looked upmarket. At the back, the carmaker installed the spare wheel and, as an option, a luggage rack mounted over the rear bumper, over the spare wheel.

For easier ingress and egress, Lancia installed four doors without a B-pillar. That solution was unusual but practical, especially for the rear-seat passengers. The dashboard featured a speedometer in the middle and three dials in front of the driver. Lancia made the luggage area behind the rear seats, and it was accessible only from inside the cabin.

Under the long hood, the carmaker installed a 0.9-liter engine V-4 engine, which used a central chain-driven overhead camshaft operating Lancia’s patented valve system, allowing hemispherical combustion chambers paired with a four-speed manual gearbox. After WWII, when Lancia resumed production for civilian cars, the carmaker installed a five-speed manual. It was the first mass-produced five-speed car in the world.