The Lancia Belna was the French-built version of the Augusta. Lancia started its French operations on 1 October 1931. At its first factory outside of Italy, at Bonneuil-sur-Marne, Lancia built the Augusta and later Aprilia models, although named them Belna and Ardennes. Approximately 3,000 Augusta/Belna and 1,500 Aprilia/Ardennes were built.
Of the approximately 3,000 Belnas built between 1933 and 1938, 2,500 were saloons or coupés and 500 bare chassis.
The Augusta was a small passenger car produced between 1933 and 1936. It made its première at the 1932 Paris Motor Show. The car was powered by a 1,196 cc narrow-angle V4 engine with an output of 35bhp at 4,000rpm, driving through a 4-speed gearbox with freewheel. As with all Lancias at that time, front suspension was independent, using the company’s sliding pillar system.
During the 1920s, Lancia had been known as a producer of sports cars and mid-sized saloons; the smaller Augusta represented a departure from that tradition, and contributed to a significant growth in Lancia’s sales during the 1930s. Nevertheless, the Augusta was comprehensively outsold by Fiat’s more aggressively priced 508 Ballila.
Lancia had an excellent reputation for building cars of the highest quality – and the Augusta was no exception. It has been said that Augustas were the cars of choice for both Tazio Nuvolari and René Dreyfus, even though at the time they were members of the Alfa Romeo factory racing team had been given their own cars by Alfa.
Motor Sport published a report on the new Augusta in its September 1934 issue. The report was full of praise: when the testing journalist left the Lancia Works the weather conditions were as bad as they could be, but he immediately felt completely at home. A friend was following in a low-built car well known for its roadholding qualities, and it was not until the driver of the Lancia noticed that the following car was nowhere in sight that he fully realised the car’s “astonishing performance.”
The unusual controllability of the Augusta was put down to the rigidity of the car’s monocoque construction and the independent front suspension. The car was credited with a top speed of 70mph, remarkable for one powered by such a small engine. The journalist remarked also on the unusual form of engine mounting, consisting of laminated springs and shock absorbers, that provided an engine that rivalled the smoothness of a six-cylinder at 50mph.
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