RE: Lancia Thema 8.32: Spotted

[Esceptico]

if the statistics are correct there have never been more than 24 8.32s registered for road use in the UK at any one time. About as many Nissan Micras that get registered every few hours I expect!

[Benni]

PHer "Justayellowbadge" , your thread has arrived......

[Dale487]

Benni said:

PHer "Justayellowbadge" , your thread has arrived......

There was one on the Subaru thread too.

[BFleming]

Turbobanana said:

And "ugly" is in the eye of the beholder: I personally think the Thema is one of the more handsome cars from the era. Interestingly, of the 4 marques available on the same platform, I still see several Saab 9000s (I even owned one) and 164s, a few Themas but never a Croma.

Agreed on all counts. I think they look as good now as back then.
Anyhow, of the taxed cars in the UK at the moment, there are:
41 Thema's
20 Croma's (the first gen ones of course, not the 2005-2007 thing)
105 Alfa 164's
1264 Saab 9000's.

I don't know the last time I saw a Croma - but I would probably pick one out of these 4. Not even a special one - a CHT or i.e. would do nicely. I'm not sure of the last time I saw any of them actually, except of course the 9000 - they remain a common glorious sight.

For statistics' sake, there are 325 Carlton's taxed at this time in the UK, zero of which I have ever batted an eyelid at.

Edited by BFleming on Thursday 15th November 14:56

[otolith]

We had a 2.0ie Croma when I was a kid. Nice family car, though I wished we had the turbo.

[ducnick]

Cant help thinking a Maserati 4.24 would be a far better (cheaper) buy if you wanted something 4 door, early 90's, leathery, rare, and fast. Plus you get RWD and oversteer thrown in.

[aston addict]

Most interesting thing in this article for me is not the price of the Thema, but the 80k M5!

Has the world gone truly mad? I remember when a very good M5 was 20-30k, with leather and a sensible mileage.

If this isn't a canary shouting the top of the market, I don't know what is....

[Turbobanana]

ducnick said:

Cant help thinking a Maserati 4.24 would be a far better (cheaper) buy if you wanted something 4 door, early 90's, leathery, rare, and fast. Plus you get RWD and oversteer thrown in.

Probably. But...

a) find one
b) it's Italian and even more exotic than the Thema, so be prepared for the PH "rust / Italian electrics / unreliability" tirade
c) probably doesn't handle as well, if others of the BiTurbo generation are anything to go by

[Turbobanana]

BFleming said:

Agreed on all counts. I think they look as good now as back then.
Anyhow, of the taxed cars in the UK at the moment, there are:
41 Thema's
20 Croma's (the first gen ones of course, not the 2005-2007 thing)
105 Alfa 164's
1264 Saab 9000's.

I don't know the last time I saw a Croma - but I would probably pick one out of these 4. Not even a special one - a CHT or i.e. would do nicely. I'm not sure of the last time I saw any of them actually, except of course the 9000 - they remain a common glorious sight.

For statistics' sake, there are 325 Carlton's taxed at this time in the UK, zero of which I have ever batted an eyelid at.

Edited by BFleming on Thursday 15th November 14:56

Thanks BF - good homework there.

In my mind I would have ranked their survival rates in that order, but not necessarily to that magnitude: 60 times as many 9000s as Cromas? Wow...

[Dale487]

Turbobanana said:

ducnick said:

Cant help thinking a Maserati 4.24 would be a far better (cheaper) buy if you wanted something 4 door, early 90's, leathery, rare, and fast. Plus you get RWD and oversteer thrown in.

Probably. But...

a) find one
b) it's Italian and even more exotic than the Thema, so be prepared for the PH "rust / Italian electrics / unreliability" tirade
c) probably doesn't handle as well, if others of the BiTurbo generation are anything to go by

It's in Italy but half the price .......

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/list/30/4.24/

.... & should make a nice trip and leave change for the contingency. But some of the Swiss 8.32s were as cheap.

[simonrockman]

The Lancia I've always wanted is a Gamma Coupe. But they are silly money now.

[scottos]

One of these sold on ebay a couple of year ago near to where i live and it only went for 7k, 28k really is strong money compared to what they commanded not long ago at all but what a way to spend 28k!

I know where one is that wont be included in that UK count too, he had a turbo one and the 8.32, the turbo one was split for parts and V5 filled out by his wife as scrapped except she sent away the V5 for the 8.32... It's been sat for as long as i've known the fella though and cant see it being revived any time soon.

Scott

[aaron_2000]

A turbo was once SOTW, wasn't a highly rated one either...

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[kellydk]

That car is on eBay for £25K or offers. It is also being sold by a trader in Leamington Spa. I saw the car about a year ago in a sorry state. The guy said he bought it on a whim and was going to sell it on once the work was complete. Obviously, it looks very good but £25-£27K is the high end for one of these and service history, caring owners etc are critical to the value. I would be very cautious about it knowing how it looked. I consider one about 15 years back but a dodgy gearbox issue put me off. At the time it was being sold for £3.5K!

[Hub]

Turbobanana said:

Thanks BF - good homework there.

In my mind I would have ranked their survival rates in that order, but not necessarily to that magnitude: 60 times as many 9000s as Cromas? Wow...

The 9000 was sold until the late 90s, whereas the Croma probably petered out in the early 90s, and FIAT's big cars are never that popular anyway.

[Turbobanana]

Hub said:

Turbobanana said:

Thanks BF - good homework there.

In my mind I would have ranked their survival rates in that order, but not necessarily to that magnitude: 60 times as many 9000s as Cromas? Wow...

The 9000 was sold until the late 90s, whereas the Croma probably petered out in the early 90s, and FIAT's big cars are never that popular anyway.

True, on all counts. Funny how "non-German" manufacturers always struggled with big cars for the UK market. Consider:

Fiat Croma
Peugeot 604 / 605
Talbot Tagora
Renault Safrane
Citroën CX / C6
Alfa 166

Worthy cars all, but sold in handfuls here.

[RowntreesCabana]

Hub said:

An interesting car, but you'd have to really want one. I imagine the running costs are a little high for the performance on offer. IIRC the Thema Turbo was very similar performance wise.

That's irrelevant isnt it? Why would anyone buy an old classic when something new and quicker is available for the same price or less? You buy them for different reasons, most definitely not to have a fast car.

[DoctorX]

Very cool car. The Harry’s Garage vid was great. I wish they’d have put the mechanicals in a 164 though.

[haggishunter]

Spitfire2 said:

One of the other 7 is about 400 yards from me. Looks equally good condition but lives outside so not sure how long that will last. It does appear to move occasionally but not often.

Has reg number 832F too if I'm remembering right.

It’s not too far from me either. I passed it and a delta in Inverness last summer, I presume they’d been round the nc500 so it’s used on occasion.

[Sidney Smut]

Now this is rare but I almost bought a metallic blue Thema Integrale, it was for sale in Sunderland in the early 90s... Wonder which is rarer?