Start with what the Lancia Jota is: a car with 4,940 , built from 1915 to 1935, as the assembly line was turning motoring into an industry. What it meant takes a little longer.
The story
The Lancia Jota (from the Greek letter iota) is a series of truck and bus chassis produced by Lancia between 1915 and 1935. The original 1915 Jota was the first true Lancia truck; throughout the following two decades it was made in a number of different series and variants, each identified by a progressive Greek numeral prefix added to the name, from Djota to the last Eptajota.
While axle tracks, wheelbase and equipment gradually grew, the original layout and 4,940 cc four-cylinder petrol engine were retained. Though most were used as basis for military trucks, goods transport vehicles, or buses, Jota-series chassis had diverse applications, including special purpose trucks and artillery tractors.
What is underneath
The engine is 4,940 . Drive goes through a 4-speed manual. The layout matters: a front engine drives the rear wheels, the classic proportion — long bonnet, cabin set back — that most people picture when they picture a sports saloon or a grand tourer. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Its place in the line
In the Lancia line-up the Lancia Jota has a clear place: it handed the line to the Lancia Ro. The cars a buyer would have weighed it against include the Fiat 70, the British Motor Corporation Morris Cowley, the Tatra 10. Nearby in the Lancia catalogue sit the Lancia 037 and the Lancia 2000.
Owning one today
MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the Lancia Jota has none: too old, too rare, or never sold there. Its value today is a collector's question, decided by provenance and condition rather than by a class average.