Footnotes

• One of the most gifted automobile engineers of all time, Vincenzo Lancia founded his own company in 1906 having previously been FIAT's chief test driver. Introduced in 1907, the first Lancia car showed an independence of thought and defiance of convention that would remain associated with the marque well into the modern era. Military vehicles, lorries, vans and aero engines followed, the latter enabling Lancia to accrue valuable expertise in the design and construction of vee-configuration engines. Lancia pioneered unitary chassis/body construction and independent front suspension, and this spirit of technological innovation was applied even to its humblest models, the post-war 3rd Series Ardea saloon being notable as the first mainstream production car to have a five-speed gearbox. Lancia's smallest model, the unitary construction Ardea had been launched in 1939 in four-speed form, and all versions were powered by the smallest (903cc) of the company's trademark narrow-angle V4 engines. As well as the standard saloon, the Ardea was available as a light commercial vehicle and a taxicab, while all versions were built in right-hand drive configuration in common with almost every Lancia of this period. Some 23,000 Ardeas were produced up to 1951.
  
  Believed exhibited at the 1950 London Motor Show at Earls Court, hence the upmarket leather interior, this particular Ardea was restored in the 1990s for the renowned motoring journalist Ronald 'Steady' Barker. Technical editor at Autocar during the 1960s and a regular columnist for Car magazine throughout the 1970s and '80s, Barker was a connoisseur of automotive technology, so the Ardea's appeal to such a man is understandable. Benefiting from a recent engine rebuild, including white-metalling of the bearings, the car is described by the private vendor as in generally very good condition, retaining its original brown leather interior. Accompanying documentation consists of an old-style logbook and a V5C Registration Certificate.