Start with what the Lancia Dialogos is: a 4-door sedan, built from 1998, when airbags, anti-lock brakes and Japanese build quality became the world standard. What it meant takes a little longer. The shape is credited to Centro Stile Lancia: / Pietro Camardella / Marco Tencone / Mike Robinson (designer) / Mike Robinson / Flavio Manzoni (interior).
The story
The Lancia Diàlogos is an Italian luxury concept car that was presented in saloon form at the 1998 Turin Motor Show. By European standards, the Diàlogos is a significantly large car with a 1.95 m (76.8 in) width, 1.49 m (58.7 in) height and standard wheelbase of 3.05 m (120.1 in), as a result of its interior designed to combine the concepts of a perfect atmosphere, a living room, and stress-free driving.
Under development since August 1996, the Diàlogos was designed by the company's in-house Centro Stile Lancia under chief designer, Mike Robinson, who described the concept as "a futuristic design, a next-generation car, with a flavor of the past". Distinctive body features include front styling dominated by a large grille, and the absence of side central pillars with the rear doors opening backwards, to evoke the design of the Lancia Aurelia saloon of the 1950s.
The interior is sumptuously appointed with body-moulding seats trimmed in "nabuk", said to be similar to chamois leather. In addition, the front seats of the Diàlogos swivel through 90° to help access into the cabin, and by 180° to form a sofa facing the rear seats. Other interior features include: a steering wheel and instrument panel located at the centre for ease of access but that can slide on either side depending on the prevailing driving direction; 2 screens fitted in the back of the front seats; a tactile thin film of softwood bonded to a layer of resin and foam for the dashboard and some other areas; a personal electronic key, known as the "Ego Card", which allows the car to adapt to an individual's need
Under the skin
The record carries the shape — a 4-door sedan. The engine, output and weight have not yet reached the open record, and MotorJury does not guess at them.
Its place in the line
The cars a buyer would have weighed it against include the Cadillac Escalade, the Chevrolet Silverado, the Lexus IS. Nearby in the Lancia catalogue sit the Lancia 037 and the Lancia 2000.