Gianni Lancia is an Italian former automobile engineer, industrialist and racing enthusiast, known for running the Lancia

Lancia

Lancia Automobiles S.p.A. is an Italian automobile manufacturer founded in 1906 by Vincenzo Lancia and which became part of the Fiat Group in 1969. The company has a long history of producing distinctive cars and also has a strong rally heritage. Some modern Lancias are seen as presenting a more...

 carmaker in Torino (1946–55). He was the son of Vincenzo Lancia

Vincenzo Lancia

Vincenzo Lancia was an Italian pilot, engineer and founder of Lancia.Vincenzo Lancia was born in the small village of Fobello on 24 August 1881, close to Turin...

 and Adele Miglietti, and brother of Anna Maria and Eleonora.

After his fathers death (1937), the young Gianni Lancia took over, since 1945 assisted by technical director Vittorio Jano

Vittorio Jano

Vittorio Jano was an Italian automobile designer of Hungarian descent from the 1920s through 1960s.Jano was born Viktor János in San Giorgio Canavese, in Piedmont, to Hungarian immigrants, who arrived there several years before the birth of Jano. He began his career at the car and truck company...

. Lancia's racing enthusiasm brought forward several expensive racing prototypes, which led the company to near-bankruptcy

Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....

. This, and the death of Lancia driver Alberto Ascari

Alberto Ascari

Alberto Ascari was an Italian racing driver and twice Formula One World Champion. He is one of only two Italian Formula One World Champions in the history of the sport, and the only one winning his two championships in a Ferrari....

 (May, 1955), caused him and his mother to sell off their shares in the Lancia company to Carlo Pesenti of Italcementi

Italcementi

Italcementi is an Italian multinational company, quoted on the Borsa Italiana, which produces cement, ready-mix concrete and construction aggregates...

 (June 1955). Since then, Gianni Lancia moved to South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

 a while, returned to France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 and Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, and has since barred all interest in motorsports.