Lets see your Lancia's!

[Penelope Stopit]

Breadvan72 said:

Also: pubbing

Nice car

Has the engine ever fallen out of it?

Why I ask is, several plus years ago was in the company of ex Lancia technicians and they all had a good tale to tell about Lancia Beta's

falling to bits due to corrosion and many of them being driven to the dealership with all sorts of man made structures to prevent the

engine from falling out of the car

I joke not when I comment that I have never laughed more throughout my life

[Unbusy]

Did you not laugh at the Fords and Datsuns too? You missed a trick there Penelope.
The rust story has been told many times but people want to forget that Lancia goodwill bought the faulty cars back. Or that Lancia was the first manufacturer ever to offer a body rust guarantee yada yada.
I’ve got a couple of Betas that have never seen a welding torch. Great cars and at long last the values are on the up.

[anonymous-user]

Penelope Stopit said:

Nice car

Has the engine ever fallen out of it?

Why I ask is, several plus years ago was in the company of ex Lancia technicians and they all had a good tale to tell about Lancia Beta's

falling to bits due to corrosion and many of them being driven to the dealership with all sorts of man made structures to prevent the

engine from falling out of the car

I joke not when I comment that I have never laughed more throughout my life

You might be surprised by this very solid and mostly original car. Reality and pub banter do not always converge.

[Penelope Stopit]

Breadvan72 said:

Penelope Stopit said:

Nice car

Has the engine ever fallen out of it?

Why I ask is, several plus years ago was in the company of ex Lancia technicians and they all had a good tale to tell about Lancia Beta's

falling to bits due to corrosion and many of them being driven to the dealership with all sorts of man made structures to prevent the

engine from falling out of the car

I joke not when I comment that I have never laughed more throughout my life

You might be surprised by this very solid and mostly original car. Reality and pub banter do not always converge.

No pub banter whatsoever, the tales were told during the technicians lunch break, one Beta was driven to the dealership with its engine supported by a wooden joist, I can't remember where the joist was supported

Nice car whatever

How did it stay in such good condition?

[anonymous-user]

Early Beta saloons had problems with severe corrosion to the subframes. Those problems were dealt with by Lancia. Later on, the Beta was the subject of what we would nowadays call a fake news campaign by the Daily Mirror and That's Life, which Lancia's PR and legal advisers mishandled badly. Thus the pub myths about the Beta grew. My Beta is like any other 1970s steel car that was Ziebarted when new and then, probably, washed and garaged when in use. Other Betas may be like any other 1970s steel car- such cars of all makes rusted, some quickly, some more slowly. I once had a Beta 1300 that was very rusty indeed because it had not been rust protected and had presumably lived outdoors. My current one is almost entirely original in its metal and paint. It has been welded in a few places. All depends on how a car is looked after.

[arguti]

From what i understood, the initial subframe design was flawed in that water was able to get into them but not out - the way it was explained to me, the drain holes were on top instead of the underneath, hence the rapid corrosion. I have a later Beta that is in better condition that most other Italian cars i have seen or owned.

[anonymous-user]

Late Betas were offered with anti-rust warranties and are amongst the best sporty cars of their era, but pub myths do not allow this to be known.

[anonymous-user]

It is remarkable that a company with such a record of engineering innovation and excellence as Lancia could make basic blunders such as the initial sub frame design of the Beta, and the operation of the power steering of the Gamma from a camshaft. You see the same in BL, where often high level engineering was also let down by bonkers blunders.

[Penelope Stopit]

Understood, thank you for all above info

[anonymous-user]

Cheers! Most people who relay the pub myths about Betas dig in when the myth is debunked. I do not know what it is that motivates people to sneer about some cars, or classes of cars. For example, the other day some pub blowhard in GG asserted that all Italian cars are badly built. That person has probably never seen a pre-Fiat Lancia, but Clarkson tells him what to think.

[moffspeed]

My Fulvia Coupe on the Romney Marsh a couple of months ago, now its quietly slumbering in dry storage, weathering a Covid winter...

[CallThatMusic]

[anonymous-user]

Lovely, CTM. Any update on the wheels?

[CallThatMusic]

Breadvan72 said:

Lovely, CTM. Any update on the wheels?

Apologies for the late reply...
I’ve knackered my back and I’m unable to get out and about much....
Original wheels refurbed ready to go sit in the garage while I undergo physio therapy and stabbing by needles....
One day it will happen and the wheels will be changed over.
One day.

[Rivarama]

Hello All.
First time posting in this section.
I have been a long time fan of italian motoring, having taken the plunge into the journey with a Maserati granturismo about 10 years ago, and working my way up to Ferrari. I currently own an F430 and a 550 maranello.
It’s been a long dream of mine to eventually own a 330 GTE 2+2... unfortunately at 300-400k+, it isn’t in my budget as a 3rd toy (or any toy at this stage of my life)

Luckily, during one my many car&classic late night browsing, I did tumble upon a little gem: the Flavia 1800 coupe. And I fell in love with it instantly from just looking at it and watching all YouTube videos I could find.

It looks like most cars currently advertised for sale across Europe require some sort of (or extensive) restoration.
Although I would quite like to embark on a little project, I am not looking to get into a Ferrari-like restoration which can swallow 10s of thousands of pound very quickly and very easily.

As a result, I would love to find out more about this particular model, what to look for, how they are to live with, and the sort of costs involved in restoration (how long is a piece of string?).
Is there a well known specialist that’s a bit of an authority? Are they easy to work on for any good mechanics?

Any source of information / specialist / guru you could point me to would be really appreciated.

I hope I can join the fold eventually

Thank you

[anonymous-user]

Flavia Coupes are well engineered and well built front wheel drive cars with boxer engines and disc brakes, advanced for their time. Their age means that rust may be an issue as with any steel bodied car of that era. Omicron is one specialist that can look after them.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7D48pTaWayo

[AC43]

Breadvan72 said:

Early Beta saloons had problems with severe corrosion to the subframes. Those problems were dealt with by Lancia. Later on, the Beta was the subject of what we would nowadays call a fake news campaign by the Daily Mirror and That's Life, which Lancia's PR and legal advisers mishandled badly. Thus the pub myths about the Beta grew. My Beta is like any other 1970s steel car that was Ziebarted when new and then, probably, washed and garaged when in use. Other Betas may be like any other 1970s steel car- such cars of all makes rusted, some quickly, some more slowly. I once had a Beta 1300 that was very rusty indeed because it had not been rust protected and had presumably lived outdoors. My current one is almost entirely original in its metal and paint. It has been welded in a few places. All depends on how a car is looked after.

In the 80's I grew up with Italian cars - most of my mates had Alfas, Lancias or Fiats. I had 4 x Alfa's and a Fiat whilst others went Lancia - off-hand, I can recall a Beta Saloon an HPE & 2 x Volumex Coupes.

Most of them were fine for rust. The sills went on the Beta Saloon and, a mate of mine found his GTV dissolving in front of him but, given we collectively got through 20+ cars, rust generally wasn't the killer issue.

But, having said that, I did once see an early Beta in a scrappy with the subframe issue - it was stacked on another car and the engine & gearbox were dangling down at the back not actually attached to the shell.

As others have said, Lancia sorted the rust issue but blew the PR and the rest is history.

[arguti]

AC43 said:

As others have said, Lancia sorted the rust issue but blew the PR and the rest is history.

As with the current situation, FCA seem to be trying their level best to destroy the Lancia brand - histroically FCA have been beset with poor management or good management making bad decisions but destroying a brand like Lancia with its heritage is suicidal. I cannot fathom their logic.

an updated integrale or fulvia would be ace.

[anonymous-user]

Jersey

[anonymous-user]

Sliding pillar suspension, no B pillars, V4, and Rolls Royce build quality - very Lancia, as Lancia once was.