Lancia Augusta Ghia

Vehicle Overview

The Lancia Augusta Ghia: In 1934 at the Milan motor show, Lancia introduced a new platform called “type 234” intended for the Augusta-based custom-built cars. From the hood forward, the custom-built platform was essentially identical to the four-door pillarless sedan except for the transferred fuel tank. The platform used an auto chassis with a boxed load-bearing platform, onto which coachbuilders could drape elegant handcrafted bodies. Platforms destined for Augusta custom-built cars (about 3,100 examples) were dressed by Italian coachbuilders, such as Ghia, Touring, as well as English and French coachbuilders. This example was first registered in Como on January 5, 1935. Later moved to Imperia, and in 1937 was owned by Count Carlo Bruzzo, a Genoese industrialist and political leader. During the war Genoa was repeatedly bombed and Count Bruzzo’s mansion was damaged by these attacks, resulting in damage to Augusta chassis 34-2032 as well. After the war, Count Bruzzo commissioned new bodywork from Ghia of Turin, as evidenced by the Certificate of Origin, and the car was subsequently sold to Savona, where it was registered for the last time in 1956. In 1987 the Augusta was sold to a Fiat dealership in Cremona, which repainted it from black to the current two-tone gray. The Augusta was finally purchased by its last owner in 2013. The current body is believed to have been built sometime between 1947 and 1957. This period of reconstruction, would explain the various details incorporated into the car, such as: The steering wheel from a Fiat 500C Topolino introduced in 1949, the gauges appear to be from a Fiat 1400 produced between 1950 and 1958. The headlights are from a 1954 Lancia Aurelia B12. The taillights are from a Lancia Aurelia B20, and the front taillights look like a 1956 Lancia Appia 2nd Series. The structure of the car is composed mainly of steel and aluminum parts.

Photo courtesy of Ruote da Sogno