By 1915 this important car manufacturer patented the narrower-than-usual V-cylinder arrangement for 8 cylinders (patent no. 149301) which was normally 90°, becoming 60°.

-We offer the schematic drawing that was presented for obtaining the said patent. There we can see that each crankshaft main bearing for connecting the cranks is duplicated and out of phase.

-Another schematic drawing has been located in which the arrangement of the crankshaft rod bearings is shown in order to be able to bring the blocks from 60° to 50° in this case.

"Lancia crankshaft patent detail"

“Lancia patent”

“Lancia engine with V at 60°”

-In 1918, the result of this patent was seen in the Lancia V-12 engine, which we also show below. Although it is not strictly an aviation engine we publish it for didactic purposes only.

-In the following illustration the angle between cylinders is further reduced by placing them interspersed.

“Lancia engine with 30° V”

-And below we see the real solution, how this engine was: extremely narrow for a V-12, with a 30° V between the cylinders.

-It is still a car engine. See pedalboard.

“Lancia automotive V-12”

-The Lancia Trikappa V8 car from 1922, the “dream car”, also had the “narrow-V” technology taken to the extremes.

-As we know, in the V-12, the geometric angle has been matched with the explosion angle, for a better regular run.

-And with the connecting rods connected to the same crankshaft main bearing.

-This is: the degrees of the two turns that are necessary for the complete 4-stroke cycle = 720° divided by the 12 cylinders = 60°.

-Well, the new patent required some twin rod bearings separated by another angle of 30 °.

-The Lancia Type 4 aviation engine adopted a 50° angle between cylinders.

-The crankshaft had 6 double out of phase rod bearings at an angle of 10 °.

-The engine turned out to be narrower and only 45 mm longer than a conventional V-12.

“Tipo 4”

-De 1912 es el Lancia V-12 clásico de 60°, con 380 CV de potencia.

The classic Lancia V-12 at 60° is from 1912 and gave 380 CV.

-However, this engine has its own characteristics such as the chamber shape and the arrangement and control of the valves. Opposite to these, there were the spark plugs.

“Lancia V-12 at 60°”

-New photographs of the Lancia aviation engine built in Turin by this Italian car factory.

-It had 12 cylinders in a special 50° V.

“Lancia V12 engine”

“Lancia V12, crank side”

“Lancia ad”

-An ad for a Lancia V-12 aviation engine in the US is included in the above illustration.

-Posted by a possible representative who picked up the engine after having been tested at the US Government Facilities at McCook Field.