Image credit: Lionel Vadam for L’Est Républicain
It’s not unusual for images of new cars to be “leaked” online ahead of their official unveiling; however, the unintentional “reveal” of Italian automaker Lancia’s first new style in thirteen years is the strangest we’ve noticed so far.
Our first look at the new Lancia Ypsilon – a hybrid and electric city hatch based on the Peugeot 208 – has been come after a prototype of the new-generation model was reportedly stolen and crashed into a French canal.
As French newspaper L’Est Républicain reported, firefighters from the city of Montbéliard were called after the white roof of a car seen over water in a canal.
After checking that there were no passengers in the vehicle, the car was lifted out of the water by a crane, but the publication’s photographer, Lionel Vadam, inadvertently took the first public photographs of the uncamouflaged electric Lancia Ypsilon.
According to the newspaper, the Ypsilon prototype was stolen from a nearby plant operated through automotive conglomerate Stellantis, which owns Peugeot, Citroen, Fiat, Lancia, Alfa Romeo, Jeep, Ram and several other brands, before being crushed by the automaker’s criminals.
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Image credit: Lionel Vadam for L’Est Républicain
Image credit: Lionel Vadam for L’Est Républicain
French police are currently investigating how the prototype car was stolen from the factory.
The current-generation Lancia Ypsilon has been sold exclusively in Italy since 2011 and is part of the previous-generation Fiat 500 towncar.
Although only one model was sold in a single market, the approximately 40,000 Ypsilons produced by Lancia in 2022 accounted for more than the total number of Alfa Romeo cars delivered internationally in the same period.
The new Lancia Ypsilon is expected to roll out of Italy and be sold across Europe, although executives at the Italian automaker have warned in the past that the company could return to Australia for the first time since 1985 once it becomes an established logo overseas.
Journalist
Jordan Mulach was born in Canberra/Ngunnawal and has recently lived in Brisbane/Turrbal. He joined the Drive team in 2022 and in the past worked for Auto Action, MotorsportM8, The Supercars Collective and TouringCarTimes, WhichCar, Wheels, Motor and Street Machine. . Jordan describes himself as an iRacing junkie and can be spotted on weekends driving his Octavia RS or cursing in front of his ZH Fairlane.