Weird Car I want

[Intrepidation]

How's this for a crazy car desire? It's a Lancia Beta Coupe. Dunno why but I love the way they look. They're neat cars. I wonder if it's even possible to import one from Europe?

[Robert Hall]

They were sold in the US in the mid 70s. There is one in the next neighborhood south of mine, I see it out and about once in a while...pretty worn out, with 30+ years of AZ sun, probably...it's a faded red-orange w/ the big ugly black US spec bumpers. Neat '70s Italian styling, probably unfortunate period Italian quality.

[Intrepidation]

So Betas were sold here? I didn't know that.

[Robert Hall]

Yes, they were sold here for a few years. Probably most in the Midwest and East rusted away. I've probably seen 5 in the last 30 years, incl.the 2 that come to the Denver Concours de Elegance show every June.

Old Italian cars are pretty interesting, I used to go to an Italian marque-only car show every year in Denver. One guy I remember remarked one year when it was raining at the show that he was glad his car wasn't British, that it *might* start in the rain.

One car I've always liked from the pics and have seen only 1 in person is the Alfa Romeo Montreal--pretty unique style.

Edited December 8, 2009 by Cubical-aka-Moltar

[vonVeezelsnider]

They all rusted away...

Edited December 8, 2009 by vonVeezelsnider

[Intrepidation]

Alpha has made some are gorgeous cars over the years.

[Blake Noble]

[Intrepidation]

The key is to find one that's not a rusting pile of $h! and then wonder why someone goes wrong 2 days after you buy it. But then that's a general rule of thumb with any car.

[Blake Noble]

The key is to find one that's not a rusting pile of shit and then wonder why someone goes wrong 2 days after you buy it. But then that's a general rule of thumb with any car.

WHY DIDN'T SOMEONE GIVE ME THIS MEMO?!

Seriously, though, there's a better chance of finding a good, rust-free, mechanically sound, cheap just about anything old and European than finding a good, rust-free, mechanically sound, cheap Lancia Beta Coupe.

May I suggest one of these?

Wait ... damn it.

Edited December 8, 2009 by whiteknight

[cletus8269]

the horse power sucks but i always liked the styling of these

[A Horse With No Name]

I've always wanted an Alfa GTV...a car that rusts just like everything else from the Era.

We have an Italian only car show here in Columbus every year...neat stuff...but high maintenance. Like a Lotus Elan or a vintage Benz, probably a good car for a 5th car if you have 4 other reliable cars you can enjoy.

Chris

[Intrepidation]

The Beta was very well received by the motoring press and public when launched[6]. The various models were praised for their lively performance as well as their good handling and roadholding. They were widely regarded as a "driver's car" with plenty of character. The Beta was competitively priced in export markets due to a weak Italian currency at that time, and managed to become the highest ever selling Lancia model up to that point.

Unfortunately a combination of poor quality steel (allegedly Russian steel supplied to Fiat in return for building the Lada factory[7], a claim that has never been proven, but is still widely circulated; it is far more likely that the problems with the metal itself had more to do with the prolonged strikes that plagued Italy at that time than with the metal's origin), poor rust prevention techniques (typical of almost all automobile manufacturers in the 1970s), and inadequate water drainage channels led to the Beta gaining a reputation for being rust-prone, particularly the 1st Series vehicles (built from 1972–75). The corrosion problems could be structural; for instance where the subframe carrying the engine and gearbox was bolted to the underside of the car. The box section to which the rear of the subframe was mounted could corrode badly causing the subframe to become loose. Although tales of subframes dropping out of vehicles were simply not true, a vehicle with a loose subframe would fail a technical inspection. In actuality, the problem affected almost exclusively 1st Series saloon models and not the Coupé, HPE, Spider or Montecarlo versions.

In the UK (Lancia's largest export market at the time) the company listened to the complaints from its dealers and customers and commenced a campaign to buy back vehicles affected by the subframe problem. Some of these vehicles were 6 years old or older and belonged to 2nd or 3rd owners. Customers were invited to present their cars to a Lancia dealer for an inspection. If their vehicle was affected by the subframe problem, the customer was offered a part exchange deal to buy another Lancia or Fiat car. The cars that failed the inspection were scrapped.

Sadly for Lancia, on 9 April 1980 the Daily Mirror and certain TV programmes such as That's Life! got wind of what Lancia was already doing to help its customers and embarked on a campaign to exaggerate the issue and humiliate the manufacturer. There were false claims that the problem persisted in later cars by showing photographs of scrapped 1st Series saloons, referring to them as being newer than five and six years old. Other contemporary manufacturers (British, French, Japanese and German) whose cars also suffered from corrosion were not treated as harshly. This was possibly because Lancia was seen as a luxury car brand at that time and consequently expectations were high[8].

Ironically, Lancia had already introduced one year previously a 6-year anti-corrosion warranty - an automotive first in the UK. Whilst later Betas (2nd Series cars) had reinforced subframe mounting points and post-1979 cars were better protected from the elements, these issues damaged the whole marque's sales success on most export markets. However, thanks to its strong driver appeal, the Beta still enjoys a dedicated following today. Surviving examples make an interesting classic car choice for the enthusiast.

[daves87rs]

the horse power sucks but i always liked the styling of these

Not too bad..