The 'Via Flaminia' is a road into the city of Rome and gave its name to the replacement for the Lancia Aurelia. Antonio Fessia was asked to design a replacement for the Vittorio Jano V6 engine, and came up with an expandable 2458cc unit. Pininfarina had 'previewed' the new Flaminia with some Aurelia-based show cars from 1955-7 and was given the job of turning his 'Florida' concepts into firstly a 4-door 6-light saloon in 1957, and then in 1959 the lovely Flaminia Coupe based on the Florida II concept. Lancia had been bought out by a cement tycoon after losing money on racing, and he replaced the innovative Vittorio Jano with Antonio Fessia. The Aurelia needed to be replaced and in a short time Fessia had come up with the Flaminia, giving it a brand new 2.5-litre V6 engine to drive the front wheels and coil spring suspension. The bodywork was left to Pininfarina, Touring and Zagato.