Lancia Y (1995)

The Lancia Y, internal project 840, is a small car built by Lancia from 1995 to 2003 as the successor of the Autobianchi and Lancia Y10. Like the Y10 it sold very well, especially in Italy, where it recorded 42,000 sales within two months of its debut, although it was never offered with a diesel engine. Its designer Enrico Fumia gave it a so called four-fronted style of arched, taut lines meeting at an edge, with a grille echoing the Lancia shield and a bonnet vein recalling the Ardea and Appia. The Kaleidos programme let buyers choose from 100 extra colours. The interior was well assembled, with soft touch plastics for a small car of the time, five seats and a central instrument panel that became a hallmark of later models, and the LS and LX trims were the better equipped versions. All engines were petrol units of the FIRE family, including 1108 and 1242 cc eight valve engines and a 1.4 litre twelve valve engine of 80 horsepower. A light restyling followed in October 2000.