Lancia never joined the SUV arms race, yet its design language and rally mythology keep inspiring people who wish it had. The latest proof is a Japanese tuner that has taken a humble Suzuki off-roader and reshaped it into the kind of compact, boxy Lancia 4×4 the factory never built. That one-off fantasy slots neatly into a broader story of how fans, tuners and even Stellantis itself are trying to decide what a modern Lancia should be.
The Jimny That Thinks It Is A Lancia
The starting point for this unofficial Lancia SUV is the five door Suzuki Jimny, a tiny ladder frame 4×4 that enthusiasts love for its simplicity and mechanical grip. Japanese specialists at Damd have reimagined that five door into a project called Armata, a conversion that wraps the Jimny in Lancia inspired styling while keeping its compact footprint and off road hardware intact, effectively creating the missing link between Turin’s rally heritage and today’s SUV obsession, as detailed in a report on a Lancia style offroader. The choice of base car is deliberate, because the Jimny’s upright stance and short overhangs already echo classic European box fenders and rally bred hatchbacks.
Underneath the Italian cosplay, the build still rides on OZ Racing alloy wheels in a military style finish, paired with proper off road tires that work with the Jimny’s part time 4WD system to handle traction on loose surfaces, a setup described in detail in coverage of the Armata’s full technical package. That balance between playful design and serious hardware is what makes the project more than a cosplay exercise, turning a city sized SUV into something that looks ready to chase gravel stages without sacrificing the Jimny’s reputation as an unbelievable 4×4, a reputation underlined in a separate review that praises how the tiny SUV can tackle serious tracks.
Design Cues Borrowed From Two Worlds
Visually, Damd leans on its existing Little D kit, transplanting round quad headlights and a new grille that already give the three door Jimny a retro European flavor. On the Armata, those round quad headlights and grille come straight from that Little D package, then get reworked with extra trim, badging and a reshaped bumper to push the look closer to a modern interpretation of Lancia’s angular front ends, a transformation described in detail where the round quad headlights and grille are broken down. The result is a face that feels more Italian than Japanese, even if the proportions still betray the Jimny’s kei car roots.
Side on, the conversion adds squared off arches, new cladding and a tail treatment that nods to concept sketches of compact crossovers rather than any specific production Lancia, a creative liberty that mirrors how other restomod projects riff on icons without copying them. Russian language coverage of how tuners at Damd turned the Suzuki Jimny into an Armata in the style of Lancia notes how the new bodywork and recognizable silhouette practically provoke experimentation, which is exactly what this project represents.
Why Lancia Fans Keep Imagining SUVs
The fascination with a hypothetical Lancia SUV is rooted in a brand that has always punched above its weight in design and motorsport rather than in off roaders. Lancia Automobiles S.p.A. is described as an Italian manufacturer founded by Vincenzo Lan with a strong rally heritage, a history that still looms large in the way enthusiasts talk about the marque’s future, as summarized in a profile of Lancia Automobiles. That rally DNA makes the idea of a compact, rugged crossover feel like a natural extension of what the company once did on gravel and snow, even if the factory never went there.
Two decades ago, some loyalists were already debating whether they wanted a rebadged Fiat SUV, with one forum user writing that they would not want a reskinned Fiat SUV such as the proposed Pangea, while conceding that commercial reality might dictate that one of those is exactly what the market demands, a tension captured in an early discussion of the Fiat SUV Pangea. That split between purists and pragmatists still shapes how people react when an independent tuner like Damd steps in to imagine the SUV that Turin never signed off.
Stellantis Has Its Own Vision For Lancia’s Comeback
While fans sketch fantasy 4x4s, Stellantis is busy rebuilding Lancia as a premium, design led brand anchored in small cars and crossovers rather than hardcore off roaders. The official site describes the new design language as Naturally Eye catching, with the purity of geometries inspired by iconic Lancia shapes and a focus on a comfortable, effortless drive, language that frames the brand’s future products as sculptural and urbane rather than rugged, as seen in the section that highlights how the front end reinterprets Lancia’s iconic grille under the banner of Naturally Eye and THE PURITY OF GEOMETRIES INSPIRED BY ICONIC forms. That philosophy is already visible in the new Ypsilon, which trades rally boxiness for a smoother, Stratos inspired profile.
Corporate leadership has been explicit that Lancia will play a leading role in Stellantis’s premium strategy, with the Stellantis COO stressing that the brand is being positioned to reestablish its presence on the premium market and that future models like the new Gamma will be produced in Melfi in hybrid and electric versions, a roadmap laid out in a press briefing on how Specifically, Stellantis COO, Lancia will move. That strategy contrasts sharply with an earlier critique titled Mister Tavares, do not save Lancia, where Felipe thanks for the opinion but argues that Stellantis cannot repeat past mistakes, a reminder in the piece on Apr Felipe Thanks for Stellantis that not everyone agrees on how the revival should look.
From Safarista To Ypsilon HF, The Off Road Spirit Lives On
Even without a factory SUV, Lancia’s rally spirit keeps resurfacing in projects that blur the line between road car and off roader. Italian businessman Eugenio Amos has become a figurehead for this movement, backing Automobili Amos and its Lancia Delta Safarista, a rally spec restomod that takes the Delta Integrale idea and turns it into a lifted, gravel hungry weapon, as seen when Larry Chen rides along in a video that calls This Lancia Delta Safarista absolutely bonkers and credits the Italian entrepreneur with saving the name for enthusiasts. The build itself starts from a regular Delta Integrale 16V, then gains a domed bonnet, wide arches and a large rear spoiler, a process broken down in a feature on how Lancia Delta Safarista Automobili Amos reworks the Delta Integrale. A companion video notes that the Italian outfit Automobili Amos has created another bespoke take on the famous Delta Integrale rally car, reinforcing in its description of Italian Automobili Amos Delta Integrale how deep the affection for that platform runs.
That same restomod culture has produced the Delta Futurista, a 330 unit project that Top Gear described as essentially hot hatch restomod perfection, before the Safarista pushed the concept further into rally spec territory, a progression outlined in a piece that opens with the line The Lancia Delta Safarista is rally spec restomod perfection and urges readers to remember the Delta Futurista and its run of 330. Officially, Lancia is channeling that energy into the new Ypsilon, which has been previewed as a small car with Stratos inspired design and an interior that even features a coffee table, a level of quirkiness highlighted in a walkaround that calls out the Dec Stratos cues. A separate review insists that the new Lancia Ipsilon is nothing like what buyers might expect from a small city car, framing the 2025 model as Italian style finally done right in a video that introduces the Jan Lancia Ipsilon as a clean break from the old Ypsilon.
Ypsilon, HF And Gamma: The Road Ahead Without An SUV
The production Ypsilon itself is a compact hatch that aims to sit in the European premium segment rather than in the mud, with design showcase footage describing the New Lancia Ypsilon as the first car in the brand’s renaissance and positioning it as a stylish alternative in its class, a message repeated in a clip titled Jul Lancia Ypsilon For More The New Lancia Ypsilon. Under the skin, the electric version is a BEV with technical specifications that list a length of 4.08 m, a width of 1.76 m, a height of 1.44 m and a weight of 1,584 kg, figures that underline how firmly it sits in the small car category, as detailed in the Feb Technical Specifications Length Width Height Weight. An updated hybrid version, referred to as the 2025 launcher Epsilon hybrid, has been introduced with more power while the hybrid system itself remains unchanged, a nuance explained in a video that walks through the Apr Epsilon tweaks.
Performance fans are being courted with the Lancia Ypsilon HF, an all electric hot hatch coming in 2025 with 237 hp, a figure that puts it squarely in modern warm hatch territory and is spelled out in an announcement that describes the Lancia Ypsilon HF as a 237 hp electric hot hatch. Motorsport credibility is further bolstered by a rally version of the Ypsilon that some argue is essentially a glorified Peugeot 208, a known quantity in the rally scene, even as others point out that its styling clearly references the Delta HF Integrale, a debate captured in a piece that notes how Oct Some Ypsilon Peugeot 208 see it. Against that backdrop, the absence of a factory SUV looks less like an oversight and more like a deliberate choice to keep Lancia focused on compact, road biased cars, leaving it to tuners like Damd, restomod houses like Automobili Amos and even museum curators celebrating cars such as the 1952 Lancia Aurelia B53 Giardinetta, which is praised for keeping the company at the forefront of both technology and design boundaries in a profile of Lancia, to remind everyone that the brand’s magic has never depended on ride height.
That tension between nostalgia and reinvention even shapes how people talk about the Stratos, with one long running critique arguing that enough with the Lancia Stratos already and warning that a rumored Ferrari V8 powered reinterpretation might have road manners, cabin space and reliability that make the original look like Coro over the course of four years, a pointed comparison in a column that references Aug Ferrari Coro. Even so, the new Ypsilon’s Stratos inspired cues and the way the Jimny based Armata borrows Lancia themes show that the brand’s design vocabulary remains potent. As long as that is true, there will be room for both official projects and wild one offs, from the Jimny that thinks it is a Lancia to the rally spec Safarista, to keep filling the SUV shaped gap that Turin itself has chosen not to occupy.
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