This time last week I was driving up and over the Mont Cenis pass, that spectacular, serpentine, vertigo-inducing 37-mile stretch of tarmac that connects Italy with France between Susa and Val-Cenis.

Ideally, I would have been at the wheel of a stripped-out Caterham Seven or tucked behind the fairing of a Ducati 998. As it was, I was driving my trusty Vauxhall van which, despite its modern, 2.5 litre turbo-diesel engine, six-speed transmission, and power-assisted brakes and steering, still demanded serious concentration in order to be in the right gear at the right time and not to be caught unawares by a tighter-than-expected corner.

Ascending this fabulous road got me thinking about the late racing driver and engineering genius Vincenzo Lancia who, precisely a century ago, took to the then-unmettled Mont Cenis pass to test the prototype of his new 'Lambda' model, the latest product from the eponymous car marque he founded in 1906 at the age of 26.

Lancia's natural affinity with the new-fangled motor car – which had led to him becoming 'chief inspector' and test driver for Fiat when he was just 19 – enabled him to make the Lambda not only one of the most advanced cars of its day, but one which would introduce design features that are still regarded as convention.

Long and elegant, the Lambda was the first car to feature 'monocoque' bodywork that did away with the traditional chassis/bolt-on body arrangement, making it stronger, more rigid, quieter and smoother; it introduced a 'sliding pillar' front suspension in place of archaic leaf springs; the propellor shaft was housed in a tunnel running the length of the car's centre, meaning it could be lower and more aerodynamic; the front and rear bench seats served as stressed members to help rigidity - and the engine's ground-breaking 'V4' arrangement (the first ever manufactured) was so compact that the gearbox could be mounted beneath the bonnet.