1938 Lancia Astura Pinin Farina Cabriolet

This 1938 Lancia Astura is one of 423 fourth-series examples built and left the factory as a rolling chassis on November 17, 1938, en route to Carrozzeria Pinin Farina. Chassis 41-3195 reportedly began as a special order for Italian diplomat Count Galeazzo Ciano, but completion of the bodywork was precluded by the outbreak of World War II and Ciano’s 1944 execution. In 1947 Pinin Farina outfitted the car with two-door cabriolet coachwork, after which it is said to have been displayed on Lancia’s stand at the Turin Motor Show. After residing in a Paris collection, it was purchased in 1971 by industrial designer Philippe Charbonneaux and his son and displayed in their Saint-Dizier museum until the late 1970s. The car received a refurbishment in Italy in 1993 and was again freshened following acquisition by its current owner in 2018. It was shown at the 2019 Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este and won first in the Pinin Farina Prewar class at the 2021 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Finished in black over red leather, the car is powered by a 3.0-liter narrow-angle V8 with a shared cylinder head housing a single camshaft operating two sets of overhead valves. Additional equipment includes a four-speed manual transmission, sliding-pillar independent front suspension, and hydraulic drum brakes. This Tipo 241 Astura is now offered on dealer consignment in St. Louis, Missouri, with importation paperwork showing US import duties paid, a FIVA identity card, ASI certification, its Pebble Beach class-winner badge, and Italian registration.

The Astura made its debut at the 1931 Paris Motor Show alongside the V4-powered Artena, with which it shared its chassis design. The model was produced in four series, with the final variant offered from 1937 to 1939 featuring a 3,475mm-wheelbase platform chassis instead of the third series’ choice of two shorter-wheelbase box-section frames. Coachwork was supplied in a range of configurations by various European carrozzerie.