Lancia Delta from Chrysler
Early in the first morning of the Detroit Auto Show, we were surprised to see an Italian Lancia Delta wearing what seemed to be a Chrysler grille. “What’s that Lancia Delta with a Chrysler grille called?” we asked a Chrysler spokesman. He paused, coughed, then ventured: “The Lancia Delta With A Chrysler Grille.”
Actually, by mid-morning, it was being officially called the Chrysler Design Study, but the confusion only adds to our point: it was a rush job, a surprise to many even inside the company. Chrysler’s strategy for such a car isn’t yet fully developed.
But it makes for a strange kind of logic. Fiat Auto and Chrysler Group CEO Sergio Marchionne has already said that Lancia is the Fiat Group brand that most closely aligns with Chrysler’s semi-upmarket positioning. (We’d say they’re far better aligned than Alfa Romeo and Dodge, and he has linked those two.)
Furthermore, the new boss of the Chrysler brand is Olivier Francois, who in mid-2008 launched the Delta when he was running Lancia.
The Delta is a kind of compact car that could, with a little sensitive modification, play well in the U.S. That’s because in many ways it isn’t compact. It’s built on a standard Euro-sized platform — think VW Golf dimensions — but with a 4-inch wheelbase stretch.
The longer wheelbase gives the car greater heft, could improve the ride, and offers more space. The back seat is a sliding/reclining affair that affords club-class room for two rear passengers when it’s slid back. Sliding the bench forwards adds 3 cubic feet to the trunk volume, taking it to 16.4 cu ft.
The Delta was designed by Frank Stephenson, a man with a record. He set out the original concepts for the Mini while he was at BMW, then moved to Fiat Auto and did the Delta and influenced the Fiat 500, then went to Maserati/Ferrari. He’s now design director at McLaren Automotive.
The shield grille is an old Lancia feature, and sure enough, it’s not a shape that adapts immediately to a Chrysler. But many other features are intriguing. The roof (black whatever the body color and optionally in panoramic class) is visually suspended a fraction above the top of the C-post, and the tail end wears a darkened windshield like a pair of shades, framed by slim LED lamp clusters. Inside, plush materials are deployed. The seats are clothed in throne-like padding and soft leather. The instrument pack uses strongly three-dimensional dials.
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