European Elegance in New York: Lancia’s 35hp Theta

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It’s easy to associate high-society motoring during America’s Brass Era with marques such as Cadillac and the ‘Three Ps’ – Packard, Peerless and Pierce-Arrow – but the way to stand out as a truly discerning automobilist was to buy European. Marques such as Rolls-Royce, Isotta-Fraschini, Fiat, Renault and de Dion-Bouton tantalised the heirs and patriarchs of great families with their large engines and sporty or luxurious bodies.

Lancia was another such marque, and the 35hp (retrospectively christened the Lancia Theta) was among the world-beating cars of its day. Launched for the 1914 model year, one of its claims to superiority over its Continental peers was that it was the first European car to feature electric starting and lighting as standard – although Cadillac was ahead of the curve, having pioneered the technologies in 1912. Imported into New York by Lancia agent Thomas Evart-Adams, it proved something of a hit, so much so that Hayes & Miller, a coachbuilder of West 57th Street, developed its own line of coachwork for the 35hp. Its ‘Square Edge Hydroplane’ design is what you see here on a 1915 chassis.

Of course, war interfered with production, and the 35hp chassis formed the basis for many military applications, though a handful of civilian cars were completed just after the war. With no more than 25 Thetas known to survive today, Zack Stiling forms an appreciation of one of the most original examples in the September issue of The Automobile, available now.

Words by Zack Stiling
Photographs by Rob Cooper

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