Having established itself in the front rank of the world's finest cars with the Dilambda, Lancia further enhanced its exalted position with a succession of fabulous coachbuilt models on the Astura chassis in the 1930s.

The introduction of the Astura and Artena in 1931 marked a switch from a system of model designation that used letters of the Greek alphabet in favour of one using Italian place names, a move in keeping with the nationalistic spirit of the age.

One of Lancia's most important models, the Astura was powered by a new version of the familiar narrow-angle V8.

The latter was enlarged from 2.6 to 3.0 litres on the Astura Series III in 1934, when the model also gained hydraulic brakes and became available in both short (3,100mm) and long (3,330mm) chassis forms.

The Series IV featured a platform chassis of longer wheelbase, attracting some of the finest coachwork of the period, and was used extensively as official transportation by Italian government departments.

This Astur...