Lancia: Do they deserve a bad reputation?

[Mike-tf3n0]

First Lancia I ever drove, when I was still very young, was an Appia, owned by our charming neighbour Mr Batt who lived in a very swish house called The Belfrey, he had a sense of humour! Nice little car, very crisp though considering when it was designed. Then a mate had a B20 Aurelia GT, lovely car with a fantastic exhaust note but he always seemed to be mending something. Next came many miles in assorted Flavias, Fulvias and occasional Flaminias. The Flavias were very gentile but not over fast, I remember popping a core plug on the Western Avenue, we towed the car back, looked under the bonnet and discovered no water, stuck the hosepipe in and after five minute realised it was still not full and there was no water on the floor either, discovered it was coming out of the exhaust pipe and straight down the drain in the floor. Fulvias were amazing, fabulous handling, I remember a long cross country dice with an ancient couple in a MkVl Bentley, he faster on the straights but me lots faster on the twistys, much waving when we went separate ways! In 1969 I was going to run a Fulvia in the European Saloon Car Championship, the deal was arranged with Dusty Miller who was Lancia GBs Sales Manager and the car was built but in the March the sponsor, Financings, suddenly pulled the plug saying they had no money! Later, ran as company car a Prisma, not much headroom and undistinguished, a Thema Turbo, surprisingly good and quite quick and a Delta HF Turbo with those lovely wheels, that was a good car, enjoyed it. Also occasionally a Y10 about which the less said the better, my outstanding memory of that was dampers that would fade after two brisk corners. I think everybody else has said it, pre Fiat great, idiosyncratic, characterful, quality sporting cars, post Fiat - 'nuff said. I still lust after a Fulvia S1 HF 1.6, there is a rather untidy one not far from me, but they make good money these days - and now I am part of an ancient couple........!!

[truck71]

Mike-tf3n0 said:

First Lancia I ever drove, when I was still very young, was an Appia, owned by our charming neighbour Mr Batt who lived in a very swish house called The Belfrey, he had a sense of humour! Nice little car, very crisp though considering when it was designed. Then a mate had a B20 Aurelia GT, lovely car with a fantastic exhaust note but he always seemed to be mending something. Next came many miles in assorted Flavias, Fulvias and occasional Flaminias. The Flavias were very gentile but not over fast, I remember popping a core plug on the Western Avenue, we towed the car back, looked under the bonnet and discovered no water, stuck the hosepipe in and after five minute realised it was still not full and there was no water on the floor either, discovered it was coming out of the exhaust pipe and straight down the drain in the floor. Fulvias were amazing, fabulous handling, I remember a long cross country dice with an ancient couple in a MkVl Bentley, he faster on the straights but me lots faster on the twistys, much waving when we went separate ways! In 1969 I was going to run a Fulvia in the European Saloon Car Championship, the deal was arranged with Dusty Miller who was Lancia GBs Sales Manager and the car was built but in the March the sponsor, Financings, suddenly pulled the plug saying they had no money! Later, ran as company car a Prisma, not much headroom and undistinguished, a Thema Turbo, surprisingly good and quite quick and a Delta HF Turbo with those lovely wheels, that was a good car, enjoyed it. Also occasionally a Y10 about which the less said the better, my outstanding memory of that was dampers that would fade after two brisk corners. I think everybody else has said it, pre Fiat great, idiosyncratic, characterful, quality sporting cars, post Fiat - 'nuff said. I still lust after a Fulvia S1 HF 1.6, there is a rather untidy one not far from me, but they make good money these days - and now I am part of an ancient couple........!!

Great post.

[iSore]

Lancias of the Beta era were alright, but for my money (and not much of it) there were always nicer/better Alfa Romeos. Whilst I was never really a fan of the 105 cars, the Alfasud really was sublime and drove better than the larger Beta. The Beta always felt heavier, yet it's handling wasn't as good as a Giulietta/Alfetta (that needed A1 dampers) and to be honest, the Fiat TC engine never seemed that remarkable to me unless it were fitted to a Strada 130TC. Lancias real golden era was the late fifties and sixties - the first Flavia Coupes, V6 Flaminias and Fulvia Coupes. Just works of art in engineering.

On the subject of rust, Betas were worse than other cars - Alfa excepted. I'm old enough to recall these in the big scrapyard mentioned in the Wiki article and in 1980/1, there were no 1974/5 Marinas, Cortinas or Avengers as savagely rotten as an early Beta - just completely fked with rust at five or six years old - big rust streaks, front wings falling off etc.

Part of Lancia's problem was that they followed the Beta with dismal tat like the Prisma, Dedra and so on. The Thema wasn't a bad car but again, the Alfa variant 164 was a better machine.

Edited by iSore on Thursday 15th June 17:25

[anonymous-user]

70s and 80s Alfas are indeed fab. I like the GT Juniors, and the later wedgy GTVs. A Kamm tailed 105 Spider with a two litre twin cam and Dellorto 40s plus five speeds and disc brakes is a fun car (but not when loaded down with big bumpers, bodykit, phat wheels, and other heavy blah).

One note re Betas - that twin cam is not really or at least not wholly a Fiat. Aurelio Lampredi designed the Fiat twin cam. Lancia (within Fiat) took that engine and changed the sump and gearbox mounting, put a different head on it, and mounted it transversely for FWD. So the Lancia Lampredi is, I would say, a Lancia or a Lancia/Fiat rather than a Fiat.

[227bhp]

truck71 said:

Mike-tf3n0 said:

First Lancia I ever drove, when I was still very young, was an Appia, owned by our charming neighbour Mr Batt who lived in a very swish house called The Belfrey, he had a sense of humour! Nice little car, very crisp though considering when it was designed. Then a mate had a B20 Aurelia GT, lovely car with a fantastic exhaust note but he always seemed to be mending something. Next came many miles in assorted Flavias, Fulvias and occasional Flaminias. The Flavias were very gentile but not over fast, I remember popping a core plug on the Western Avenue, we towed the car back, looked under the bonnet and discovered no water, stuck the hosepipe in and after five minute realised it was still not full and there was no water on the floor either, discovered it was coming out of the exhaust pipe and straight down the drain in the floor. Fulvias were amazing, fabulous handling, I remember a long cross country dice with an ancient couple in a MkVl Bentley, he faster on the straights but me lots faster on the twistys, much waving when we went separate ways! In 1969 I was going to run a Fulvia in the European Saloon Car Championship, the deal was arranged with Dusty Miller who was Lancia GBs Sales Manager and the car was built but in the March the sponsor, Financings, suddenly pulled the plug saying they had no money! Later, ran as company car a Prisma, not much headroom and undistinguished, a Thema Turbo, surprisingly good and quite quick and a Delta HF Turbo with those lovely wheels, that was a good car, enjoyed it. Also occasionally a Y10 about which the less said the better, my outstanding memory of that was dampers that would fade after two brisk corners. I think everybody else has said it, pre Fiat great, idiosyncratic, characterful, quality sporting cars, post Fiat - 'nuff said. I still lust after a Fulvia S1 HF 1.6, there is a rather untidy one not far from me, but they make good money these days - and now I am part of an ancient couple........!!

Great post.

Not really, a bit confusing if anything. If an engine blows a core plug water won't come out of the exhaust.
Fiat took over Lancia in '69 so the Fulvia, Beta, Delta, Thema, Prisma were all Fiat/Lancias.

[Mike-tf3n0]

The car went back to Lancia GB at Alperton who carried out the repairs at minimal charge as this was a well known problem with the 1800 Flavia, later rectified. It was they who said it was a core plug, I can think of no reason for them to have told us porkies. As to it not being possible for water to come out of the exhaust pipe I can only say to you that three of us stood there and watched in no little amazement. I'm sure if you check with the Lancia OC you will find that we were not the first nor the last.

I think I am right in saying that the Fulvia contained nothing Fiat.

Edited by Mike-tf3n0 on Thursday 15th June 23:31

[arguti]

The early fulvias were way before Fiat takeover and the cost cutting was evident in the later fulvia models.

[FlaminiaGT]

First series Fulvias were all Lancia, Second series still all Lancia but with Fiat cost cutting pressure, Third series still mostly Lancia but with more cost cutting from Fiat.

[AW111]

RBH58 said:

I've owned one Lancia (mistakes repeated are choices). It was lovely to drive but in terms of build quality and corrosion it was a laughable debacle. But I've known a number of Lancia past owners over the years, including some enthusiastic ones, and one that still owns the prettiest cleanest Fulvia I've ever seen, and I know the battles they've had to keep them on the road. Maybe they just sent all the stty ones to Australia?

Edited by RBH58 on Saturday 3rd June 21:59

Australia - where it's dry and sunny much of the time, and we don't put salt on the roads.
The perfect place for a Lancia to retire to.

[anonymous-user]

Oooooh ya


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1982-Y-Lancia-Beta-Trevi...

[BlimeyCharlie]

Breadvan72 said:

Oooooh ya


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1982-Y-Lancia-Beta-Trevi...

That Trevi has been for sale for a good 18 months, if not 2 years.

Interior in these cars is ace (in my opinion) but I think cars this age are a step too far far for me. They need using regularly (again my opinion) but from my experience I was fearful of something not working/breaking so didn't use it regularly!

[anonymous-user]

80s cars are fine so long as you use them regularly and do preventative maintenance. My current daily is a 1982/3 Rover SD1. Obviously, if a car has been sat on its arse for ages it will tend to need lots of fiddly bits eg hoses, pumps etc.


The Trevi is too boxy for my taste, although the bonkers panel is fun.

[mickyveloce]

BlimeyCharlie said:

That Trevi has been for sale for a good 18 months, if not 2 years.

Interior in these cars is ace (in my opinion) but I think cars this age are a step too far far for me. They need using regularly (again my opinion) but from my experience I was fearful of something not working/breaking so didn't use it regularly!

The Trevi (with £500 worth of spares apparently) has been for sale for ages and is now out of mot.

It's just up the road from me, so Im happy to look if it helps.
It was pretty unloved when new, but great dash!