Friday 4th December 2009

SOTW: Lancia Beta Coupe 2000ie

Shed decides that a good Lancia is 'hard to Beta' (groan)

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Shed is seriously ill, laid low by a severe case of Latin fever. The symptoms are a fondness for Italian cars, preferably of the two-door variety and an utter blindness to the possibilities of rust, rot and electrical failures.

And earlier this week, PHer Beirut Taxi, fine fellow that he is, made Shed's sickness a whole lot worse with the most seemingly innocuous email. "Having just seen this Lancia Beta advertised for just £1000," he writes, "I thought I would suggest it to you as a possible contender for the weekly shed."

That, along with a simple URL, had it decided. For the third week in a row, Shed would fall for a sharply dressed, and potentially very high maintenance, Italian. And here it is, a 1982 Lancia Beta coupe. The only thing we can hope is that Shed will return next week with the only known cure for Latin fever - a shot of good-old German barge.

Until then, let's revel in the Beta's Italian charms. The beta was first introduced - in fastback-look saloon form - in 1972 and was Lancia's first all-new model following Fiat's takeover of the company in 1969. Coupe, convertible and even three-door 'HPE' estate versions followed, and more than 400,000 Betas had been built by the time the model went out of production in 1984.

By far the most desirable of these was the Pininfarina-designed, mid-engined, rear-wheel drive Beta Montecarlo, but these were particularly prone to the dreaded ferrous oxide, weren't built in great numbers, and had an alarming tendency to catch fire. Today, hens with teeth are more common than Montecarlos.

The consolation prize in Beta land is definitely the coupe, however. Rust has gotten the better of quite a lot of these, too, but Lancia chucked more than 100,000 of them out of its factory doors, so there are still a few around.

You'll also have to put up with driven front wheels in the coupe, but at least this car is the 2000IE and therefore blessed with a fuel-injected 1995cc four-cylinder slung transversely over the front wheels.

That engine should be good for 122bhp and 129lb ft of torque, enough to haul the 1000kg car to 60mph in 9.2secs and eventually to wind it up to 112mph.

The seller of this particular Beta doesn't claim it's in concours condition, but does say it's in pretty good nick, and that he has 'over £1500 in it' (which we presume means he's spent that amount on it and not that he keeps a large wad of cash in it).

The full advert is reproduced below

Lancia Beta 2000IE Coupe For Sale (1982)
£1000

Decided to sell my beta Coupe, i have had it for a good no of yrs, having bought it to restore. as it was a good solid car with only minor bits and pieces needed. all sills and rear turrets were V good, and still are.

The car has been stripped prepared and painted, all trims were cleaned and painted whilst off,and it has now been re assembled. it runs well, and has had a new cambelt fitted ready to run.

As the pics show it is now a very tidy beta, I have run out of time at the moment, and just cant get the enthusiasm to finish it. only reqires a couple of weekends to get it sorted. I have over £1500 in it, but looking to just get back a fair price for it, and let someone else finish the bits left. All the hard and costly work has been done.

Please dont think this is a concours nut and bolt rebild,it is v nice, but not to that scale.

Interior good, all orig books etc, it has a VX bonnet & grille, but is not one.

Best to Ring me if poss, have a chat ,07043 240502 and see if its something you would like to see. it will make a good one and is an easy quick project for someone with a fresh dose of enthusiasm. I am not desperate to get rid, and will quite happily keep it if i dont recieve the right offer, so no daft questions or silly offers.
Thanks

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