1978 Lancia Beta 1600 Coupe
Discussion
Breadvan72 said:
Any car will aquaplane if there is enough water on the road.
Fully agree. Mr CATStrangler's post, however, was not the first time I heard they can be er, delicate (skittish rear end, perhaps?) if the road is slippery.I have never tried one, sadly, hence my doubts. Almost bought an 2.0 HPE for a song but it was riddled with certain tax issues, so very regrettablly had to give it a pass.
Yours is a truly lovely car, congratulations.
Breadvan72 said:
I have never found any Beta to be skittish. They tend to grip and handle well. They will do a good chunk of lift off understeer if you, er, lift off.
Hmm...At the time I put it down to short wheelbase, wide track, low weight and more power than I was used to. But it was distinctly skittish in the wet. Perhaps I made a poor choice of tyres. ISTR they were Pirellis of some sort - the grip on dry roads was insane.
Breadvan72 said:
Update!
Two years in a barn, but now battery on charge. New clutch and gear linkage next week. 3 D printer has fixed the window winder gear.
Biggest problem: seat fabric. It is thin, and has holes in driver's side bolster and rear seat tops. leather re trim would cost spenner.
The window regulator gear could be interesting to many. I fitted a front quarterlight with the hole to allow a passenger mirror to be mounted, and the vast majority of the time involved was getting the electric window back up afterwards!Two years in a barn, but now battery on charge. New clutch and gear linkage next week. 3 D printer has fixed the window winder gear.
Biggest problem: seat fabric. It is thin, and has holes in driver's side bolster and rear seat tops. leather re trim would cost spenner.
Breadvan72 said:
Lancia spaffed the big dollahz on the little bit of wood in the centre panel.
I don't remember mine having that. Some gorgeous photos above. The yellow one for me please. Mmm...
I'd almost forgotten what a pretty little car they were.
My green one incidentally still holds my cross country record Aberdeenshire to Kintyre, the night Mrs Strangler was whisked away for emergency surgery.
288 miles in 3 hours 40 cross country in the dark. I don't drive like that anymore. Got old dangit.
The wood is only in the first series of Coupes before Lancia changed the interior.
Imagine the conversation in the design office.
"Hey boss, this car is supposed to be upmarket, yeah? Aspirational. The car needs some wood in it."
Boss consults budget sheet, and points at pencil box on desk. "You see that ? That's how much wood you can have in the car. Get on with it".
"Wooden gear knob?"
"Alright, If you really must, but that's it, now f
k off."
Meanwhile at Pininfarina, old man Pininfarina himself spends an actual twenty minutes looking at the drawing for the Ferrari ashtray cover that some kid has spent five days on, makes one small mark on the drawing, and then has lunch.
Imagine the conversation in the design office.
"Hey boss, this car is supposed to be upmarket, yeah? Aspirational. The car needs some wood in it."
Boss consults budget sheet, and points at pencil box on desk. "You see that ? That's how much wood you can have in the car. Get on with it".
"Wooden gear knob?"
"Alright, If you really must, but that's it, now f
k off."Meanwhile at Pininfarina, old man Pininfarina himself spends an actual twenty minutes looking at the drawing for the Ferrari ashtray cover that some kid has spent five days on, makes one small mark on the drawing, and then has lunch.
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