1978 Lancia Beta 1600 Coupe
Discussion
P5BNij said:
You could always put a matching one on the other side of the car and call it an Italian design quirk.... 
Breadvan Bangled his Beta.He failed to caress the garage door as someone should clean the headlamp lenses of the Fiat Coupe.
That disfigurement of the Lancia has confirmed my affections. I don't give a stuff for the OP's red Fiat.
Breadvan72 said:
Both are lovely. The Beta is loveliest. The Fiat is fasterer.
Seat covers arrived today. They look well made. I will fit them on Sunday. I may now need door card inserts.
Top tip purloined from several Mini forums - before trying to fit said new seat covers, purloin some old stockings or tights from Mrs.BV's naughty cupboard and pull them over the seat foams first, this will make it easier to slide the new covers on.Seat covers arrived today. They look well made. I will fit them on Sunday. I may now need door card inserts.
Breadvan72 said:
Both are lovely. The Beta is loveliest. The Fiat is fasterer.
Meh, the Fiat is as rusty as a late 70s Triumph Spitfire made with pre rusted, low Carbon content Russian steel. The Fiat is possibly rustier than my Fiat 127 Sport and Uno Turbo. Your 124 is another example of retrograde Fiat facelifts, it's trying to look like an AMC Javelin or something with that prow and headlight treatment? The delectable Beta has a colour coordinated, or rather colour coincidental, Ziebart sticker. I only have eyes for the Lancia.
Breadvan72 said:
As you may know, the Fiat and the Lancia Lampredis have different heads, but both versions are fab. Alfa and Morgan used Lampredis too, IIRC.
Yes, a bit of a bodge as a mid life update on the 164 (2.0L turbo) and on the 155, which was a FIAT typ.3 platform.I admire the Lampredi engine, but Alfa's Bialbero twin cam was better still.
GC8 said:
Breadvan72 said:
As you may know, the Fiat and the Lancia Lampredis have different heads, but both versions are fab. Alfa and Morgan used Lampredis too, IIRC.
Yes, a bit of a bodge as a mid life update on the 164 (2.0L turbo) and on the 155, which was a FIAT typ.3 platform.I admire the Lampredi engine, but Alfa's Bialbero twin cam was better still.
GC8 said:
Yes, a bit of a bodge as a mid life update on the 164 (2.0L turbo) and on the 155, which was a FIAT typ.3 platform.
I admire the Lampredi engine, but Alfa's Bialbero twin cam was better still.
Does Bialbero sound like wheelbarrow?:I admire the Lampredi engine, but Alfa's Bialbero twin cam was better still.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxG4_Szbw0g
Thought I'd share as the OP owns a Morini. Thought of sharing before but think the OP needs to get some saddle time on a KTM Duke 790 before giving up on two wheels.
Bialbero is a place in Northern Italy?
carinaman said:
Does Bialbero sound like wheelbarrow?:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxG4_Szbw0g
Thought I'd share as the OP owns a Morini. Thought of sharing before but think the OP needs to get some saddle time on a KTM Duke 790 before giving up on two wheels.
Bialbero is a place in Northern Italy?
Nord is North in Italian. The engine was made in the North of the country but it is an overly simplistic nickname. Bialbero means 'dual shaft'. The Lampredi was a new head on an existing iron block, whereas the older Alfa Bialbero has a forged crank in an alloy block: it was more advanced and preceded the FIAT engine by over a decade. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxG4_Szbw0g
Thought I'd share as the OP owns a Morini. Thought of sharing before but think the OP needs to get some saddle time on a KTM Duke 790 before giving up on two wheels.
Bialbero is a place in Northern Italy?
Dunk130TC said:
That's my old Fiat Coupe 16v Turbo on the front cover, I lent them the car for the photo shoot in 2001.
I didn't think it unreasonable that they might let me have a copy of the book. The reality was not even a gritted thank you and a flat refusal to a copy of the book even at a discount.
I reluctantly bought one, cancelled my AutoItalia subscription and haven't attended one of their days since.
Can't believe you've undone nearly 20 years of counselling by resurrecting this.
(If you want a pricey book, look for a copy of the Guy Croft Twin Cam bible)
No good deed can go unpunished! I LOVED my sprint blue 1997 20v Coupe Turbo. Selling it in 2002 was a dumbass move. The only five cylinder engine that I have ever owned. it WHOOOSHED like Thunderbird One. 220 lag-free BHP with FWD and still no torque-steer. I have never tried the 16v version. Any good? I didn't think it unreasonable that they might let me have a copy of the book. The reality was not even a gritted thank you and a flat refusal to a copy of the book even at a discount.
I reluctantly bought one, cancelled my AutoItalia subscription and haven't attended one of their days since.
Can't believe you've undone nearly 20 years of counselling by resurrecting this.
(If you want a pricey book, look for a copy of the Guy Croft Twin Cam bible)
Up to and around the Millennium, I enjoyed a 1996 FIAT coupe 16V turbo in banana yellow for our main family car, even whilst restoring a 2.0 Beta coupe.
I liked the FIAT a lot but - coming (via a Thema) from an HF Turbo Delta - I did not think it quite as wooshy by comparison, or else not wooshy enough for my particular needs. Maybe the 20V was moreso?
And that horrible crease on your Beta is pretty accessible to remedy, if you removed the interior side panel. One of those clever mobile Dent-Removal persons should make it pretty much disappear, using golf clubs and rollers (or whatever they do).
I liked the FIAT a lot but - coming (via a Thema) from an HF Turbo Delta - I did not think it quite as wooshy by comparison, or else not wooshy enough for my particular needs. Maybe the 20V was moreso?
And that horrible crease on your Beta is pretty accessible to remedy, if you removed the interior side panel. One of those clever mobile Dent-Removal persons should make it pretty much disappear, using golf clubs and rollers (or whatever they do).
Edited by CostaBrava1972 on Sunday 25th October 16:47
The 20 valve Turbo seemed to me full of WHOOSH. My father, an automotive engineer, thought it the best engineered car that he had ever driven. It lacked only the sixth gear which Fiat added to the model some months after I bought mine. Very sadly, after I sold the car, it surfaced on the internet having been horribly Barried with lowering, terrible wheels, and a truly dire bodykit. Now it would be a classic car, but I doubt that it survived the Barrying. It shows online as untaxed since 2010 and minus MOT since 2012. Maybe it is someone's project, but it probably died the death. Poor old P58 GWL.
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