The Lancia Ardea is a small family car produced by Italian car manufacturer Lancia between 1939 and 1953. Its unusually short bonnet reportedly contained the smallest V4 engine ever commercialized in a small family car.
Nearly 23,000 of the Ardeas produced were standard bodied saloons but between 1940 and 1942 approximately 500 Ardeas were manufactured with lengthened bodies and a squared off rear cabin for use in Rome as taxis. After the war more than 8,500 commercial adaptations of the Ardea known as 'furgoncini' (light van versions) and the 'camioncini' (car based light trucks) were also produced.
The third series Ardea, produced from 1948, was the first mass-produced car with a 5-speed manual transmission.[2] Ardea was named either after Ardea town (Lazio), or Via Ardeatina, Roman road leading from Rome to that town.
The cabin
Instrumentation included a centrally mounted speedometer, the fuel level and the oil pressure. A third dial directly below the driver's sight line was a clock, unusually on this size of car. The three floor pedals followed the pattern still 'conventional' for a manual transmission car (clutch, brake, gas) but to the left of the clutch pedal was a small foot-operated dipper switch for the headlights.