Lancia Speedboat Launches at Venice Film Festival

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed)
Sep 8th 2009 at 2:01PM

Cars and Venice don't mix. More than any other, it's the one city on this planet in which a car will get you absolutely nowhere. Lancia thinks it has the solution, though. The Italian automaker shares its name with the motorized runabouts that serve Venetians with their transportation needs, and has launched a launch of its own this weekend at the film festival there which it sponsors. Called the Lancia di Lancia, we brought you initial news of the vessel's development a few weeks ago, but now the full details along with some truly breathtaking photos have been released to correspond with the festival and the boat's release.

While most inflatable boats are small, the Lancia is anything but. It's over 40 feet long, weighs eight and a half tons and packs two 560-horsepower 6.7-liter common-rail turbo diesel engines. It's capable of transporting 11 passengers in unsurpassed elegance and speed, with teak decks, a retractable roof, plenty of sun decks and even accommodations for two below decks. Have a look in the gallery below.

Gallery: Lancia di Lancia launched at Venice Film Festival