As the Ardea resembled a scaled-down Aprilia, the Appia mimicked the Aurelia's appearance, substituting its exotic parts with more cost-effective ones, such as a solid axle and a four-speed gearbox in block with the engine.

For its mechanical features—sliding pillar front suspension, V4 engine, rear-wheel drive, absence of a centre pillar—the Appia can be considered the last in a line of Lancias which stretched back to the 1922 Lambda.

The interior featured bucket front seats, a column-mounted shifter, ivory plastic steering wheel and switches, and panno Lancia wool cloth upholstery in grey or beige.

[5][6] In 1956, Italian car magazine Quattroruote attributed this to the price, competition from the Fiat 1100/103 and Alfa Romeo Giulietta, and a host of minor flaws,[5][6] e.g., the aluminium bumpers (which however were shared with early Aurelias) — indicating a hasty, low-priority development when Lancia was diverting many of its limited resources to its sports car racing efforts.

[5][6] In April 1955 engineer Antonio Fessia joined Lancia as technical director, and started off fixing the Appia's shortcomings.

Fessia's changes to the engine included lowering the compression ratio, redesigning the cylinder head incorporating hemispherical combustion chambers and a new arrangement of the valves, new pistons, a new carburettor and different camshaft profiles.

[4] In the cabin a front bench seat took place of the two single ones, the binnacle held two round instruments, and steering wheel and switchgear went from ivory to black.

Starting with 1954 Lancia also built light commercial bodies on the Appia chassis, replacing the analogous versions of the earlier Ardea.

In respect to the saloon, all had shorter final drives, lower horsepower engines, widened axle tracks, upsized 16-inch wheels and larger tyres—and consequently bodywork altered to accept these modifications.

[12] With the introduction of the second series Appia in 1954 all three models received upgrades similar to the saloon's, while keeping the body style almost untouched.

Commercial variants were not upgraded to third series specifications, as during 1959 they were phased out in favour of a forward control full-fledged van using Appia drivetrains, the Lancia Jolly.

Towards the end of 1955 a first batch of 14 chassis based on the brand new second series Appia were built and handed over to some of the most prominent coachbuilders of the time: Allemano, Boano, Ghia Aigle, Motto, Pinin Farina, Vignale and Zagato.

[15] Initially all fourteen chassis were coded tipo 812.00, based on standard saloon mechanicals; five of were upgraded to a more powerful 53 PS engine and floor-mounted shifter, and given the new type designation 812.01.

Of the coachbuilders who had worked on the first fourteen chassis, two were selected by Lancia to produce special Appia body styles: Pinin Farina for the coupé, and Vignale for the convertible.

In the later years other variants were added to the official portfolio: Vignale's Lusso, Zagato's GTE and Sport, and Viotti's Giardinetta.

In early 1960 a revised, more powerful engine was adopted, putting out 60 HP thanks to a new Weber carburettor and an inlet manifold with a duct per each cylinder.

[16] Therefore, Pinin Farina set off to work on a second prototype, a 2+2 on one of the five more powerful 812.01 chassis, shown with Lancia's blessing at the March 1957 Geneva Motor Show.

[15] This was a two-door saloon with frameless doors and ample windows, again with styling by Michelotti derived from the 1956 Lancia Gran Lusso.

[19] The harbinger of all Zagato Appias was the prototype built on a type 812.01 chassis, serial number 1005, and first displayed at the 1956 Turin Motor Show.

Originally painted in two-tone blue and white, and fully finished with bumpers and over-riders, this prototype was victorious at that year's Cortina concours d'elegance.

[20] Later it was outfitted for racing—applying an amaranto (dark red) livery, removing the bumpers and fitting more conventional looking bonnet and boot lid—and entered at the 1957 Mille Miglia.

[22] At the November 1958 Turin Motor Show, the new Lancia Appia GTE (standing for Gran Turismo Esportazione) was introduced, with deliveries starting in January 1959.

The car had a continuous waistline, without the previous humps over the rear wheels; the nose was longer, and the under elongated Plexiglas covers the headlights were set deeply into the wings.

When the Appia Sport was introduced it did not supersede the GTE, but rather some of its features were carried over, such as new headlights and protruding in place of flush pushbutton door handles.

[22] The Sport's premiere took place at the March 1961 Geneva Motor Show, and production began concurrently; it did not replace the standard wheelbase GTE, which remained on sale alongside it up to 1962.

[22] From the front the Sport was similar to an open headlight GTE, but had a much rounder rear end, tail lights fully sunken into the bodywork, and a fastback roofline.

[22] It is also the most standardised of all Zagato Appias, though differences in exterior and interior trim from one car to another were still present, depending on part availability at the time and on the client's desires.

[12] Named Appia Giardinetta—Viotti's trademark designation for estate cars—the production version was unveiled at the November 1959 Turin Motor Show.

Chassis was extensively modified, receiving a new 808.21[12][24] type code: a three-door layout was chosen, adding a centre pillar (the Appia saloon had none) to strengthen the body, and the rear part of the platform was altered to lower the boot opening.

[12] Inside leatherette and rubber mats took place of Lancia's traditional wool cloth and carpets; the rear seats folded down forming a completely flat 1.5 m long (4 ft 11 in) loading area.