Quiz Archive

About # quiz 191 Lancia Alpha, Delta, Theta ! ( UPDATE: red Gamma ???)

This was a nice competition, a tough fight !!! No less than 10 competitors came up with the right make : 100 years old Lancia of course. The car which was best in view was ID-ed best. Eight competitors came up with the correct Theta typing. Interesting to see was that nobody(!) guessed right with the red spider in the middle. It is a 1908 Delta 'Corsa'. Even more amazing was the fact that many of you were right about the red chunk on the left being a 1908 type Alpha. This probably had to do with that we said it was the oldest surviving car of the make: a 1907 type Alpha. Finally we decided that Sébastien Simon was best because of his detaling:"The open tourer on the left is a 1908 Alfa 12 HP, with Tipo 51 engine. The towncar at right is an early Theta (35 HP), with Tipo 61 engine
UPDATE by Ivan Saxton:"If you check p18 of Frostick's book ISBN 0 901564 222 you can see another picture of the red car, which is recogniseable as an Alpha. 1910 is Gamma, not Delta: Engines are similar except for capacity, Gamma approx 3.5 litres, and Delta 4.08. Where there is frequent confusion is between Delta and Epsilon, which have many similarities including displacement, but the arrangements are all changed. I suspect that demise of a lot of very early Lancias may be due to the water pump totally enclosed and driven from the timing gears. Without modern seals we have now, it is likely many engines may have been ruined by owners who neglected to drain the water out of the sump, and lubricated with emulsion." (anybody with more supporting (visual) evidence regarding the red car?)
LANCIA "Delta type course" (1910) Behind
LANCIA "Alpha" (1907) Left
LANCIA "Thêta" coupe da villa (1913)
special thanks to Agostino Pecchai who made the photo and provided us with additonal info.

Friday, 10 November 2006