GG2

There was some discussion about the Dilambda sold at Goodings back in 2014. I first saw the car c. 2000 in Detroit, and was struck by its small size and elegant proportions. It was repainted , but was still gorgeous. Never seen such a lovely Dilambda. Just so cute.... and this is normally a very large car...

The journals are offset to have TDC work out nicely. No real issues with wear. Were there issues with excessive vibration? A few of us (two good engineers and one hapless architect) have studied the balancing in detail on all of the V4s. The reality is that most imbalance comes from them being largely an in-line 4, with the secondary forces (common to all 4s) vastly outnumbering the impact of the couples from the slight V. Other benefits were the stiff monoblock and shorter crankshaft (less bending). Same thinking was behind the narrow V6 by VW, the last derivative of this thinking. The main issue with the narrow V were its unequal inlet tracts, not ideal. VW solved it with injection; Lancia was largely about torque, not max HP. Although the Fulvia in the late 1960s did well enough in competitions, winning quite a few rallies.

OK I'm totally biased here - been around Lancias for all my life, written extensively on them. They were far from crude, in fact, seen at the time as one of the better finished cars from Europe. The Dilambda is a rather unusual beast, big for Lancia (followed by the more well known Astura), one of three V8s they made - all narrow angle, starting with the Trikappa of 1922, the Dilambda in 1929, and then the Astura in 1932. Each had different angles, totally unique motors. The interesting thing of the Dilambda was that it had a special head/cam arrangement - the cam is under the head, which has an open slot down the middle, with short pushrods to rockers above, allowing one to pull the head, yet leave the cam in place. It was a 24º V, to allow a mono block - note this is the bore angle - the crankshaft in all the Lancia Vs was pushed up in the "V" to make for shorter engines. I've only seen a few Dilambdas - there is a good running one in NY on Long Island, and then another great sedan in Wales. They are large cars, formidable, and very sturdy. Lancias were all extremely well made, well engineered cars through to the 1970s. The poor American reputation is from the Beta, which came after Lancia had been bought by Fiat, force-fed a Fiat motor to use, and then had to make it in a jillion configurations for Europe: we got an anemic version for pollution reasons. It wasn't straightened out until about 1980, but by then, we had lost patience with the cars. having said all that, this isn't one that pushes my buttons: huge restoration sink-hole, limited usability, and not quite the most attractive. Glad it found a home. They are substantive cars.

Ivan and others - Thanks for all this good info. I've read the referenced material, and its pretty clear that SGV was interested in working off the Lancia design for their cars up to about 1913-1914. There are some complications in the story.... The SGV pictures you sent (from a 1913 model) has the engine is totally flipped (mirror symmetry) from the Lancia one to accommodate LHD. In looking at photos of a 1913 car (dating is never accurate - might be 1911-12 also), it looks like a different version of Lancia's motor. One wonders if it was really possible to remake the car in the US - there are some extensive and complex alum castings, not so easily replicated. More likely they done by Lancia under some contract, to make a revised engine for SGV - although investigation in the archives in Torino haven't revealed this. A mystery to be solved. Of course, it would be great to see one, and look to see if there are any Lancia ID marks. A few SGVs are readily known: one at the Nicolis Museum in Italy, where they refer to it as a 1909, bodied by SGV, but a Lancia car. Its RHD, and most likely has a Lancia engine. Then there is John Capterton's car in the US, referenced above, as a 1913 SGV model, but LHD, and with the flipped engine. A Gamma racer was sold a few years back in England, with an SGV body. Its not clear what that was, but I have lost track of it. Finally, there are two in the Boyerstown Museum in PA. I think dated 1911 and 1912... need to be inspected! Anyone nearby and interested in taking a look? Any other ideas?

John - Can't agree more. I've worked mostly on Aurelias, and the transition from about 1940 to 1960. Am just getting into the trucks and the earlier cars (pre-Lambda), and the information is thin everywhere, thinner yet in the US. Its even. better good to hear from people who own these cars, and really know them. Found a few images from parts books about the bearings. The first is from a 1910 Gamma parts book, the second is from a 1913 (likely Eta, similar to Ivan's Delta) parts book. The later Kappa and Iota trucks look pretty much the same. As to early cars in the US, there are oddly two SGV vehicles in the Boyertown Museum in Pennsylvania. 1911-12 era cars. Its likely they used Lancia drive trains, and rebodied them, but details are of course hard to find. They need some inspection... Anyone been to the Boyerstown Museum, or live nearby? Finally, there is the very early Thomas Adams, and then Adams-Montant, connection to Lancia, he was a distributor for Lancia in NYC as early as 1910 or so. Anyone know of him? Geoff

Thank you for the interesting input. Didn't know this. Great to know from someone who has these cars! On the Theta parts book, the big end is drawn as solid babbit, as you say. A Kappa engine drawing shows a bearing with a ring around it, but both have same part number so probably the same. The Iota parts book again shows one part - its possible the backing (if ever used) and the babbit were sold together, but the illustrations seem to support the Fullard story. Interesting enough, the bearing is numbered: Theta - 12105 for the big end Kappa - 42105 for the big end, 42104 for the main Iota - 42105 for the big end So it seems the flaw was maintained for a while. On the gearbox, have you been in touch with Roland Grazebrook? He has much more knowledge about these. Can you tell more about the differences between the Theta and the Kappa? Same dimensions, but different engines. Kappa has the removable head, and condos are shown on the drawings with some vertical markings (are these oil passages or ribbing?). Appreciate any help - I'm better on the postwar cars.... Geoff

Hello - newly joined, hope this post is OK? Am doing research into early pre-Lambda Lancias, and wondering about the differences between Kappa engines in the cars and their use in the commercial trucks. Thanks for any help, Geoff