Should Fulvia Series 4 die here?

[Guus Keder]

Fiat/Lancia have decided not to produce the new Fulvia.

This seems like an unlogical decision but then we do not know the constraints that management was faced with. We must accept their decision, for now.

The concept of the Fulvia Series 4 is revolutionary and ahead of it's time: light body, low petrol consumption, back to simplicity, stunning design, fun motoring.

The question is, should we continue to post messages in this Forum ventilating our displeasure with Fiat/Lancia's decision or should we take initiatives to get the new Fulvia manufactured anyway, not by Lancia but perhaps by somebody else, and perhaps with the help of Lancia.

I suggest we should do the latter and I am inviting comments on how this could be done.

We need ideas on:

- who could build this car?
- how do we market this car?
- how can we make it a viable proposition for the eventual builder?
- who will coordinate this?
- how can we get enough help from Lancia in terms of design blueprints and supply of parts including engines?
- which other suppliers could help get this off the ground and use this as a laboratory with a commercial future?
- who has the contacts?
- etc.

This initiative should become the ultimate example of consumer power. The market must decide which cars are getting build!

Fulvia. A Cult Moving.....


Guus

[Paul de R. Leclercq]

A lovely brave idea.

However it is very difficult to imagine FIAT selling any rights to a Lancia - that is a car that would have to be called a Lancia Fulvia.

And it would have to be built in Italy - hopefully Turin. I suppose that Zagato might consider it given that I understand that the company that made the Barchettas is now insolvent.

Best of luck

Paul

[Simon]

Gus,

I like your idea , on seeing the new Fulvia I saw it as the replacement for my Delta HPE HF. But I have to agree with Paul, I cannot see Fiat/Lancia agreeing to a deal, then theres the marketing, how to sell the cars, back-up etc.

I did believe that the new Fulvia would help put Lancia on the map and increase their slaes and allow them to then get a decent model line up.

Simon
England

[mark]

what would be the point building a Fulvia, if its not a Lancia?? Don't see any point at all.

[Emil]

I think the only solution were to collect 2000 people who sign a document stating that they are willing to pay some 25.000 € for a Fulvia and hand out the documents to Lancia. Don't they accept? Well, increase the price to 30.000. Or try to find more people. I think Lancia will accept if the amount of money is so big that making the Fulvia is no longer riskful.

But how to find those 2000 people...

[Kees]

I think many people on these forums are estimating costs of producing such small series much to low. I think you should look at at least 50.000 euro, but it will be lower ofcourse if more cars are build. Maby it's intresting to compare what the price was of a Hyena compared to an Integrale, atlhough the number of Hyena's build was very small, it could give an idea about the rising in costs.

A shame tough that the Fulvia isn't build...

[Paul de R. Leclercq]

A good point, but the Hyena was a slightly different case.

The purchaser of a Hyena had to buy a complete brand-new Integrale/Evo which was then stripped and the Hyena built on the floor-pan!

No wonder it was so costly!

Paul

[Heini]

Hello Guus
I lovely idea, but I must say: FORGET IT.
Or ask the Dutch man who had the initiative to build the Lancia HYENA .........! I believe, It would be the same financiel disaster..........?!
It's not so easy how do you think! I'm sorry!

Heini

[Nicola]

I just came across this discussion on the Fulvia and thought to put my two cents in.

The decision not to build the Fulvia is obviously a bad one, but Fiat Auto says the reason is due to engineering constraints and the use of the Barchetta platform -- which I'm assuming is at the end of it's life cycle and will be replaced soon. As much as we Lancisti would hate this decision, it would be hard to see the Fiat making a business case for the Fulvia now -- but that's part of a much bigger problem over at Fiat Auto.

However, there could still be hope. I recently read that Fiat Auto is asking GM to use their new Kappa platfrom for a possible new Alfa Romeo Spider -- I read this in the American car magazine Motor Trend as well as on a few online forums. For those of you not familiar, the Kappa platform is an all new small, light RWD platform that GM has developed for small roadseters, coupes and possibly a small sedan. Its a flexible platform and will underpin a number of new products for GM over the coming years. The platform has already spawned the excellent Pontiac Solstice (which is approved for production), the European Vauxhall Lightening Concept, the Chevrolet Nomad Concept and the Saturn Curve Concept. Insiders say it will also be the basis for a new Saab Sonnett production car soon -- GM seems hell bent on making Saab profitable and a new Sonnett would be a nice halo vehicle. In any event, the point of all this is that if Fiat Auto is willing to approach GM to use the new Kappa platform for a RWD Alfa Spider, why not use the same platform for the Fulvia Coupe? Obviously there would be some kind of reworking of the look and dimensions of the Fulvia concept for an RWD vs. FWD application, but this would still be a viable platform for a sporting coupe. And if it was teamed to a good engine and powertrain, then it could be a great alternative to many of the small RWD coupes running around out there now.

This may sound like a bit of a long shot, but think about it. If you're going to contact Fiat to protest the decision not to build the Fulvia concept (and perhaps the mistreatment of Lancia in general), then perhaps along with that protest should come the suggestion to use the Kappa platform. Afterall, Fiat has already inked a deal to use the new GM Epsilon Platform (the one used for the Opel/Vauxhall Vectra, Saab 9-3, and Pontiac G6) for a new Fiat "Large" car and there is evidence that the next Punto and Corsa will share a platform too -- so there is already proof that Fiat is at least willing to use outside platforms where necessary. So why not use this platform too and give the enthusiast public what they want?

Just my thoughts on this.

Nicola

[Paul de R. Leclercq]

A good argument Nicola.

Actually I think that GM has a bare-faced cheek using the name "Kappa" and should give the platform to Lancia free of charge; FIAT could hardly refuse then!

Paul