Lancia comes to the UK...
Discussion
marcosgt said:
paulrussell said:
vit4 said:
Anybody have any idea why they've chosen to sell it under Chrysler (which, AIUI doesn't have a great image in the UK anyway?) as opposed to just bringing Lancia back? Feels like the right time, but then I was very young when they stopped selling them here the last time...
It's because Lancia don't have any infrastructure here, and it'll cost alot of money to build it up. Also I think it's the image Lancia has in the UK. Lancia are well known for the Intergrale Delta and Stratos, and it's changed the kind of car it builds now, so it would get slated here for not being anything like it was known as previously.That's the main reason Lancias aren't sold in the UK anymore and the reason it's better to brand the car as a Chrysler of all things!
M.
It must be really hard to rid themselves of the rust reputation, despite great cars like the Integrale.
When I was a kid, we went to Dover or Folkestone (can't remember) and there were rows and rows of Betas sitting there, all with surface rust on them before they even reached the dealers.
Hard image to forget.
When I was a kid, we went to Dover or Folkestone (can't remember) and there were rows and rows of Betas sitting there, all with surface rust on them before they even reached the dealers.
Hard image to forget.
vixen1700 said:
It must be really hard to rid themselves of the rust reputation, despite great cars like the Integrale.
When I was a kid, we went to Dover or Folkestone (can't remember) and there were rows and rows of Betas sitting there, all with surface rust on them before they even reached the dealers.
Hard image to forget.
I disagree. I'm 56 and was into cars at the time of the great rsust scandal but I have very strong memories of crumbling to dust fiats and Alfa-Romeos of the time too and they recovered. I suspect Lancia got pulled becuase they weren't very different to the Fiats that they shared platforms with.When I was a kid, we went to Dover or Folkestone (can't remember) and there were rows and rows of Betas sitting there, all with surface rust on them before they even reached the dealers.
Hard image to forget.
Even now, my enduring memories of Lancia is of Fulvias and the beauty of the Beta saloon/Spyder and HPE regardless of the rust, along with the Monte Carlo. Compare those to all the meorable Fiats of the era which probably stop at the 130 Coupe and X1/9 and of course the Integrale which shook off it's Ritmo roots to become an icon. Both Fiat and Alfa soldiered on with some pretty average cars but lancia just trod on both their toes in the UK market which had yet to embrace the luxury compact market that BMW stole away.
All these Italian cars were made from the same crapola Russian steel and cars of that era rusted anyway and it wasn't just Russian steel - how many Triumphs did we see with "lace bodywork", how many Jag Mk IIs crumbled on impact. My Austin A40 was more filler than metal, Cortinas fell apart, it was a rampant issue. It just so happened that the Lancia engines fell out and the Daily Wail mentality kicked in.
Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see the return of 'proper' Lancias, after all their pre-mid Seventies cars were lovely. Real quality about them, but I fear these days the badge-engineering that goes into name just wouldn't do them justice at all.
Guilty pleasure would be an immaculate HPE, if such a thing still exists. And of course a Fulvia.
Guilty pleasure would be an immaculate HPE, if such a thing still exists. And of course a Fulvia.
My wife had a Dedra 2.0 back in the 90s as a company car for a short while. Never liked the looks much but nice interior (for the period) and sounded nice. I think they were aimed at the 3 series market but I guess it was too late for Lancia by then due to the rust problems. No rust on this one but used endless ammounts of oil plus had corroding alloys. Don't see many about these days.
paulrussell said:
vit4 said:
Anybody have any idea why they've chosen to sell it under Chrysler (which, AIUI doesn't have a great image in the UK anyway?) as opposed to just bringing Lancia back? Feels like the right time, but then I was very young when they stopped selling them here the last time...
It's because Lancia don't have any infrastructure here, and it'll cost alot of money to build it up. Also I think it's the image Lancia has in the UK. Lancia are well known for the Intergrale Delta and Stratos, and it's changed the kind of car it builds now, so it would get slated here for not being anything like it was known as previously.vit4 said:
Except it turns out to be the "Chrysler Delta" in the UK. Bugger
http://www.worldcarfans.com/111082536045/chrysler-...
Having been a fan of Lancias and owning three of them in my time (HPE 2000ie, HPE Volumex and a Delta Turbo) this genuinely causes me sorrow. http://www.worldcarfans.com/111082536045/chrysler-...
vixen1700 said:
Sadly we won't see the likes of these again.
It was reviewed in a recent C&SC and their resident barge-merchant seemed to rate it, but we all have different expectations.
Of course, they had a nasty habit of lunching their engines, which was another nail in Lancia's coffin in the UK...
The Beta coupe and HPE were no worse rust wise than many other cars at the time, but the issue with Beta saloons was truly catastrophic.
The did soldier one for some time after that debacle, but at the end were really only selling the odd Integrale (a great car) which made sustaining a dealer infrastructure pretty hard.
M.
marcosgt said:
I almost bought one of these once - It was stupidly cheap for what was an expensive car only a few years earlier, but it was rather bland in nearly all respects when I drove it and even the guy selling it struggled to say much positive about it, except for the looks (and oddly that it was the biggest 4-cylinder engine on sale at the time).
It was reviewed in a recent C&SC and their resident barge-merchant seemed to rate it, but we all have different expectations.
Of course, they had a nasty habit of lunching their engines, which was another nail in Lancia's coffin in the UK...
The Beta coupe and HPE were no worse rust wise than many other cars at the time, but the issue with Beta saloons was truly catastrophic.
The did soldier one for some time after that debacle, but at the end were really only selling the odd Integrale (a great car) which made sustaining a dealer infrastructure pretty hard.
M.
The Gamma probably did more damage than the Beta for Lancia's fortunes as I recall George Bishop in "Motor" was always lamenting the reliability of his in his column. IIRC he had two trying to get one to work properly.It was reviewed in a recent C&SC and their resident barge-merchant seemed to rate it, but we all have different expectations.
Of course, they had a nasty habit of lunching their engines, which was another nail in Lancia's coffin in the UK...
The Beta coupe and HPE were no worse rust wise than many other cars at the time, but the issue with Beta saloons was truly catastrophic.
The did soldier one for some time after that debacle, but at the end were really only selling the odd Integrale (a great car) which made sustaining a dealer infrastructure pretty hard.
M.
The joint enterprise Lancia Thema/Saab 900/Fiat Croma/Alfa 164 improved things but the Alfa and Saab always had a better reputation/image than the other two ,even when they stuck a Ferrari V8 in it.
Its just a shame that this got canned
Incidentally when I started in the trade in the late 90s the garage i worked for where (just) still a Lancia dealer.
The last Themas, Y10s, Deltas and Dedras were rust proofed correctly but a certain BBC program had done its damage by then. Whe I was working for ALFA we still had idiots saying that they would never buy one because they rusted.
Incidentally when I started in the trade in the late 90s the garage i worked for where (just) still a Lancia dealer.
The last Themas, Y10s, Deltas and Dedras were rust proofed correctly but a certain BBC program had done its damage by then. Whe I was working for ALFA we still had idiots saying that they would never buy one because they rusted.
Quite a few Deltas on the continent. Don't look too bad in the flesh, thought the rear lights are a bit 
At least they look distinctive, which can't be said about most cars these days...
I hope they do well, whatever they call them, at the expense of some of the French brands hopefully...
At least they look distinctive, which can't be said about most cars these days...
I hope they do well, whatever they call them, at the expense of some of the French brands hopefully...
Fetchez la vache said:
Quite a few Deltas on the continent. Don't look too bad in the flesh, thought the rear lights are a bit
At least they look distinctive, which can't be said about most cars these days...
I hope they do well, whatever they call them, at the expense of some of the French brands hopefully...
Maybe I'm wrong, but I suspect people who shop Chryslers are more likely to be moving on from Korean and Indonesian brands than French... Or be fans of Line Dancing...At least they look distinctive, which can't be said about most cars these days...
I hope they do well, whatever they call them, at the expense of some of the French brands hopefully...
M.
Edited by marcosgt on Wednesday 7th September 15:16
I owned two Deltas in the 90s, rubbish cars but i loved em.
First one was white with the Martini stripes, took off over a humpback bridge once, on landing noticed to large mounds on either side of bonnet.
Drove home, parked up and on releasing the bonnet catch the whole front of car collapsed, seems the hard landing had put both front springs/strutts up into the bonnet. Ended up cutting up the car with an angle grinder.
Second one was red, and the reverse gear went after a week or two, drove around for almost 2 yrs like that, no problems.
Well, apart from the time I had a row with my boss, told him to stick his job, walked out, got into car, and had to say to him "stop trying to talk me into coming back and push my car out of this space please", kind of took the edge of my exit.
But overall fond memories of the Delta.
First one was white with the Martini stripes, took off over a humpback bridge once, on landing noticed to large mounds on either side of bonnet.
Drove home, parked up and on releasing the bonnet catch the whole front of car collapsed, seems the hard landing had put both front springs/strutts up into the bonnet. Ended up cutting up the car with an angle grinder.
Second one was red, and the reverse gear went after a week or two, drove around for almost 2 yrs like that, no problems.
Well, apart from the time I had a row with my boss, told him to stick his job, walked out, got into car, and had to say to him "stop trying to talk me into coming back and push my car out of this space please", kind of took the edge of my exit.
But overall fond memories of the Delta.
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