Lancia Trikappa

Lancia Trikappa
Lancia Trikappa coupé de ville
Overview
Manufacturer	Lancia
Production	1922–1925
Body and chassis
Class	Luxury car
Body style	Torpedo Coupé de ville
Layout	Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive
Powertrain
Engine	4,594 ccV8
Transmission	4-speedmanual
Dimensions
Wheelbase	3,384 mm (133.2 in)
Curb weight	1,360 kg (2,998 lb) (chassis)
Chronology
Successor	Lancia Dilambda

TheLancia Trikappais anautomobileproduced byLanciabetween 1922 and 1925. It was aluxury car,offered as the flagship of Lancia's production. The Trikappa 4.5-litreV8is notable as the first of Lancia's narrow V engines, a distinguishing feature the manufacturer only abandoned in the 1970s. The car was offered as a barerolling chassis,astorpedoor 6-seatercoupé de ville.In total 847 were manufactured.

Lancia had been experimenting withV enginessince theFirst World War,even showcasing a chassis with a narrow V 12-cylinder engine at the 1919Paris Motor Show.In the end V12 engined cars were estimated to be too expensive to produce and a V8 was used instead.

Specifications

The Trikappa was powered by a 4,594 ccTipo 68V8, with a bore and stroke of 75 mm (3.0 in) and 130 mm (5.1 in). The engine featured a narrow 14° angle between thecylinder banks,and a singleoverhead camshaftand two parallel valves per cylinder.Fed by aZenithtwin-chokecarburettor,it produced 98 hp at 2,500 rpm, allowing the Trikappa to reach a top speed of 130 km/h (81 mph).Thegearboxhad four forward speeds and a triple-plate dryclutch.

In addition to the narrow V engine, another first for Lancia werebrakeson all four wheels. The first examples produced left the factory with rear wheel brakes only and were upgraded later.The brake pedal acted on the front brakes andtransmission brake,while the rears were actuated via a hand lever. The rest of the mechanicals were as on other coeval Lancia models:ladder frame,solid axlesfront and rear with semi-ellipticleaf springsandHartford dampers.

Bibliography

• Frostick, Michael (1976).Lancia.D. Watson.ISBN0-901564-22-2.
• Amatori, Franco; et al. (1992).Storia della Lancia — Impresa Tecnologie Mercati 1906–1969.Milan:Fabbri Editori.pp. 352–353.