Gianni Lancia formed the Scuderia Lancia in 1951 with the ambition of establishing the Turin manufacturer as a serious international competitor. Initial focus fell on sports car racing, where Lancia distinguished itself at events including the Carrera Panamericana, the Targa Florio, and the Mille Miglia. The Lancia Aurelia B20 GT and later the D20 and D24 sports racing cars provided the hardware for these campaigns, driven by top Italian talent of the era.
Lancia entered Formula One in 1954 with the D50, a technically advanced grand prix car designed by Vittorio Jano, who had joined Lancia in 1937 after Vincenzo's death and previously created successful Alfa Romeo racers. The D50 featured a novel pannier fuel-tank layout — fuel was stored in pods between the front and rear wheels to centralise the weight distribution. Despite the car's promise, the Formula One programme proved difficult and results were limited. Financial pressures forced Gianni Lancia to hand the entire D50 programme — cars, spares, and technical data — to Ferrari at the end of 1955. Ferrari rebadged and developed the D50 as the Ferrari-Lancia D50, which went on to win the 1956 World Championship with Juan Manuel Fangio.
Lancia did not disappear from motorsport after the Formula One withdrawal. The company returned with three World Endurance Championship manufacturers' titles between 1979 and 1981, using the Lancia Beta Montecarlo Turbo and the LC1 and LC2 sports prototypes in the prestigious sports car series.
Lancia's most defining achievement came in rallying. Before the World Rally Championship was formalised, Lancia took the International Championship for Manufacturers in 1972 with the Fulvia. Once the WRC began, Lancia accumulated an unmatched title haul: the Stratos won the manufacturers' championship in 1974, 1975, and 1976; the 037 won in 1983; and the Delta won six consecutive constructors' titles from 1987 through 1992.
The Delta, in both Group B S4 form and Group A Integrale form, became the most successful individual model designation in the history of rallying. Juha Kankkunen and Miki Biasion each won two WRC drivers' titles with Lancia. Other multiple winners with the team included Markku Alén, Didier Auriol, Sandro Munari, Bernard Darniche, Walter Röhrl, Björn Waldegård, and Henri Toivonen.
The partnership with Martini Racing began in 1982 with the Group B 037, and the Martini Lancia livery became one of the most recognisable in rally history. The relationship lasted until the end of the 1992 season.
The Group B era also brought tragedy. Attilio Bettega died at the 1985 Tour de Corse in a Lancia 037, and Henri Toivonen, a championship favourite, was killed the following year at the same rally in a Lancia Delta S4. These deaths contributed to the FIA's decision to ban the Group B category at the end of 1986.
Lancia withdrew from all official motorsport involvement at the end of 1992, ending one of the most decorated factory programmes in competition history. After more than thirty years away, the company returned to rallying in 2025 with the Lancia Ypsilon Rally4 HF in the Italian and European Rally Championships, before graduating to World Rally Championship 2 competition in 2026 under the Lancia Corse HF banner.
The Scuderia Lancia's cumulative record — eleven WRC constructors' titles, three World Endurance Championship manufacturers' titles, and a Formula One programme that produced one of the most technically advanced cars of its era — places it among the most successful and influential factory teams in motorsport history. Lancia still holds more WRC manufacturers' championships than any other brand.