Lancia Lambda was developed by Vincenzo Lancia, founder of the Lancia company, and debuted at the Paris Salon in 1922. Lambda was the first car in the world to have a monocoque frame made entirely of mesh. The side sills on both sides of the floor and the floor panel itself were also made of one piece, making the chassis structure considerably stronger, lighter and with a lower centre of gravity than conventional frames.

The engine is a SOHC narrow-angle V-4 with a single carburettor and a light-alloy block, which is lighter than the competition in its class, which has a longer bonnet due to the space taken up by the in-line engine, and also allows greater flexibility in the engine mounting position. These mechanical advances enabled the Ram to combine excellent manoeuvrability and comfort with a much lower centre of gravity and a more nimble body styling than previous cars, and influenced the design of cars for generations to come. In the automotive world at the time, Lambda was regarded as a technological breakthrough that “accelerated the technical evolution of the utility vehicle by ten years”.

Lambda was also a commercial success, with 11,200 units produced over a period of ten years, with improvements and increased displacements, eventually bringing the number of models to Series 9.

In Japan, a businessman Jiro Shirasu went on his honeymoon in a Lambda given to him by his father as a wedding present. Shotaro Kobayashi, one of the pioneers of automobile journalism in Japan after the war, wrote in his book: “If you have one Lancia Lambda and enough tyres to last a lifetime・・・” This car is fully restored in Italy several years ago and mantaining very good condition.