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Introduced in 1953 by Italian car manufacturer Lancia, the Appia was a replacement for the Ardea, and which remained in production for ten years. The Appia was the last in a long line of Lancia production cars dating back to the Lancia Lambda (introduced in 1922) to use the famous sliding pillar front suspension.
In addition to the saloon, a number of special bodied Appias were produced, including a coupé by Pininfarina, a convertible and 2-door saloon by Vignale and an aluminium-bodied GT by Zagato, as well as light commercial vehicle variants. Zagato built four coupé versions based on the Appia. These include: The GT, GTS, GTE, and the last and ultimate of Zagato's Appias, the Appia Sport, built from 1961 to 1963 on a short wheelbase chassis coded 812.05.
The Sport's premiere took place at the March 1961 Genva Motor Show, and production began concurrently; it did not replace the standard wheelbase GTE, which remained on sale alongside it up to 1962. At 2,350 mm the Sport's wheelbase was 160 mm shorter than the GTE's, resulting in a 200 mm shorter overall length. Adapting the GTE bodywork to the smaller dimensions was the first job of a young Ercole Spada, just hired at Zagato. From the front the Sport was similar to an open headlight GTE, but had a much rounder rear end, tail lights fully sunken into the bodywork, and a fastback roofline.
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