The Pu+Ra HPE is the conceptual manifesto that new Lancia owner Stellantis hopes can resurrect the historically innovative brand after decades of under-investment and lack of product development. After limping along as a one-model brand since 2015 and with that Ypsilon nameplate only sold in its native Italy since 2017 (although still a strong seller there), Lancia is finally getting a product re-boot and wider sales footprint.  

Three new confirmed products are planned. Starting in 2024 there will be a new Ypsilon – a 4.4m-long, low-slung, five-door crossover with hybrid and EV powertrains and followed in 2025 by the (sportier) Ypsilon HF, then in 2026 an EV-only 4.7m-long Gamma and in 2028 the 4.4m-long Delta, by which time Lancia plans to be an EV-only range. Early markets beyond Italy will be Spain, Portugal, Belgium and France, followed by Holland and Germany across 70 dealers and European cities, and described by Lancia PR as the first step in “the brand’s internationalisation process”, i.e. it will want to get into right-hand drive markets like the UK and Japan (where it has a cult following) too. 

So the 2023 Pu+Ra HPE concept is a very big deal. So big, that Jean Pierre Ploué, one of Stellantis’ joint chief design officers, personally took on the Lancia design boss role as well. But while famous Lancia exteriors can easily be visualised by those of a certain age – from the smooth and simple lines of the 1950s Aurelia and 60s Flaminia to the wedgy 70s Stratos and 80s Delta – the look and feel of Lancia’s historic interiors are perhaps less easy to recall.  

Interior Motives asked the question directly to self-confessed ‘Lancista’, Gianni Colonello who pitched for the job of head of Lancia interior design in 2021 after nine years at Maserati where he helped create the Grecale, Levante and award-winning Alfieri concept. “Actually, Lancia was very…