The fourth-generation Ypsilon is the only new Lancia you can buy. That in itself is a reason for us to consider flying the Petrolblog flag at half-mast. We miss the old Lancia like we miss Saab.
Still, the Ypsilon remains an incredibly popular car in its domestic market, where patriotic buyers keep it close to the top of the sales chart.
In 2023, Lancia shifted a record 44,743 units of its ageing supermini (up 9 percent on 2022), making it the third best-selling car in Italy. Lancia’s sole survivor was one of the prettiest small cars on the market, especially since the 2015 facelift, when it lost its Chrysler-esque grille. A badge-engineered Chrysler Ypsilon was available in the UK and is a more practical alternative to a used Fiat 500. It’s a five-door, you see, whereas the 500 makes do with three.
The current Ypsilon, which arrived in 2024, can trace its roots back to the Lancia Y of 1995. It was styled by Enrico Fumia, who, while working at Pininfarina, had penned the 164, GTV and Spyder for Alfa Romeo. The Y – a replacement for the avant-garde Autobianchi/Lancia Y10 – was his first significant project as director of Lancia’s Centro Stile, and he dipped into the company’s heritage to create one of the most distinctive small cars of the ’90s.
‘Looking at the Lancia models of the past, we identified a series of styling cues; guidelines, you might say, to interpret and not just replicate,’ he told Auto & Design in 1995. ‘Some lines, like the arc that divides the flank, were present on cars like the Appia or Ardea, although in a different way; the same line, reminiscent of a javelin in flight, it also detectable on the Y10 in the slight fold that demarcates the flank.’
Four years earlier, Fumia was approached by Prince Jefri, the brother of the Sultan of Brunei, to design a supercar based on the Ferrari Testarossa. The result was the Ferrari F90, a car developed in secret without Maranello’s knowledge. Park the F90 alongside a Y, and you’ll notice the same trick in which the same shape is repeated on the front, back and sides of the car. Recalling the F90 in a 2021 interview with SpeedHolics, Fumia said: ‘The idea of repeating the same graphic motif on four sides of the bodywork that I defined “quadrifrontal’, has always been used in architecture, especially in symbolic monuments: from the Egyptian pyramids to eastern pagodas, from the Eiffel Tower to the Mole Antonelliana. But not on four sides of a car. If anything on two: similar front and rear, like the Panhard PL15-17, Renault Dauphine, Simca 1000, Chevrolet Corvair, and even the first Audi TT. Four equal sides have the considerable advantage of ensuring instant recognisability of an object from any angle, which I think is very useful. This is where the idea of repeating the pointed ellipse of the grille also on the rear and the two sides came from. Not in the same proportions, but adapted to each function.”
The production car was based on a shortened Fiat Punto platform, with the rear suspension tuned for comfort. Inside, the Y featured a dashboard with the instruments and dials positioned in the middle, a feature you’ll find in the current Ypsilon. Fumia told Auto & Design: ‘We immediately set out with the idea of having a scooped-out facia, a kind of elegant and sophisticated ovoid container, with the trimmed insert to match the upholstery in a lavish and original touch. The instruments were positioned in the middle so as to display the information to all the passengers and for two functional reasons: being slightly further away, the eye has less refocusing to do and visibility of the dials is never compromised by the movements of the steering wheel.’ The central position of the instruments would have eased the conversion for right-hand drive markets, but unfortunately the Y was left-hand drive only. Power was sourced from 1.1, 1.2 and 1.4-litre petrol engines, with the 1.2 available with a CVT.
The three launch trims, LE, LS and LX, were soon joined by a raft of special editions, including Cosmopolitan and the delightfully named Elefantino Blue and Rosso models, along with the opportunity to select from 112 different colours via the Lancia Kaleidos catalogue. It was more expensive than many rival superminis, but not many small cars offered the likes of leather, Alcantara, wood trim and air conditioning. And the price didn’t prevent strong sales in Italy, peaking at 117,688 in 1998 and securing three podium finishes before it made way for the Ypsilon in 2003. A facelift saw annual sales in its domestic market increase from 89,426 in 1999 to 96,600, with total production finishing at around 800,000 for all European markets.
Like the original Renault Twingo, we’re left the feeling of what might have been had the Y reached these shores. The Twingo, Y and Ford Ka remind us that we never had it so good when it comes to small car design, packaging and desirability – we just didn’t know it at the time.
Rather than wait for our European summer hols, we’ve been browsing the pages of AutoScout24 to get our Y fix. We’re running out of excuses to jump on a cross-channel ferry and return home from the Netherlands with the Lancia Y Elefantino Rosso (see boxout). Come on, who wouldn’t want to drive something called the Elefantino Rosso? That’s a rhetorical question.
Not convinced? Check out these words from an AutoWeek road test (we’ve used Google to translate it from Dutch, because it makes it sound particularly brilliant. ‘Gosh, that engine [1.2-litre 16v, 80bhp] sounds very good. He snarls happily and does not forget to set nice and fast times, such as 0-100[km/h] in 11.0sec. In addition, he is remarkably quiet, especially for such a horny sounding engine. This Lancia is razor-sharp and very hard to chase through the bend, without giving you the idea that you are playing with fire. The suspension is hard enough to get through the bend, but also again not so hard that it becomes uncomfortable. What certainly plays a role in its festive cornering behaviour is its steering. It may be powered, but it is certainly not insensitive.’ A horny elephant with razor-sharp elephant – where do we sign?
Is the little Lancia a classic? It is, and you don’t need to ask Y.
This article first appeared in issue 22 of Classic.Retro.Modern. magazine.
