International Lancia Forums

Read my original post,

"Playing devil's advocate, one could argue easily that the Stratos, Beta, and Delta were all
FIATs.

In fact the majority of your message was about FIATs. :>

Seriously though, I hope that Beta Coupe rally car is indeed where you left it. :

It would be interesting to know how much Lancia put into the Beta design. I regard the Piero Castagnero-designed body of the coupe and HPE as pure Lancia, even though he was an outside consultant. He was responsible for many of the 1960s Lancia factory bodies, including the timeless Fulvia.

I believe that the Beta transaxle was largely designed by Citroen for a joint Fiat/Citroen project that never came to fruition. It's a nice box that lasts a long time.

Fiat actually had a little more experience with front wheel drive than the 128. Dante Giacosa and his team developed the Autobianchi Primula which was released in 1964. Giacosa was very clear about the intention to use the Primula as a learning exercise for a future front drive Fiat.

I realize that it was no longer possible after 1969, but Lancia had traditionally designed all-new cars using relatively little from previous models. The only exceptions to this are the companion models Artena & Astura and Flavia & Fulvia. Even the Flaminia, seemingly closely based on the Aurelia, was a total redesign. So, for some of us, it's a shame that Lancia had to adapt an existing engine from another car company however excellent Lampredi's engine is.

Make no mistake. I drive a Beta coupe nearly every day. Well-cared for, it holds up very well and it certainly looks better than any other 1981 model on the road (and better than most of the new cars as well).