Allrite ! OK !! Thank you !!! Great !!!
I hope the CD is longer than the TV show; after all the work & time spent by various Lancia owners, TV crew & London traffic-police.
Note how the silver Gamma turned blue !
& who cares about them Betas anyway ?
Those who still own them now; thats who ! & those who did, once upon a multi anni fa.
I don't own one anymore; but here is a quick review anyway.
Beta Saloon - well, it really wasn't any worse than similar cars back then; nor uglier than many of them. I never hankered for one, then or now. Of course, it did spawn the Integrale...which another story.
Then we have the
B Spyder Z ; expensive to build, back then; expensive to buy, back then; expensive to own (an nice one), now & expensive to keep nice, always. And simply weirdly fantastic.
I have friends now own Spyder Z's in Germany; they love them; their bank loan-officers too B).
Then the Sciricco Killer - the
Beta Coupe - too great a car to have been built to a micro (Fiat) budget. Sold for small (by sport car means) prices; with discounts of up to 40% when new...1.6, 1.8. 2.0 . ... the S1 Coupe ... stunning interior design vs the S2 Coupe, uglycheapointerior, irritatingly cheapo; but still a hellofan overall packet. I owned one, for years. OK; I never drove my (red) S2 .13L. 80 HP bare-bones Coupe in winter, so after 10 yrs it was still new-looking - outside & (ugly) inside,
I nvr had a
smart-mans Beta - the HPE; but I came close to doing just that when I re-entered the Sports-Lancia World 6yrs ago...but that is another story. A stupid, lying, dishonest seller...selling a nice car ... at a good price. That stupid seller; he couldn't get 1 fact straight about his own car; but he had the lies down-pat.
I guess he still has it.
Then the (imho) the the
crema della crema Beta !!! -
The Mc- which, as you (we) all know... wasn't really a Beta at all. The smart mans Stratos ...slow as a turtle, loud as a 308. My (red) S2 (non-Targa, nicer wheels, smarter rear view) Mc was everything I wanted in a lo-price, lo-powered (125 HP`; what a joke...try 90, max) loud, cramped boy-racer. It was perfect for what it was. My girlfriend always wondered why we sat on the floor; she married me anyway. It was like new when I bought it - in Sardenia - where there is no snow &was like -new when I sold it 5yrs later. It too lived a pampered life.
For winter I had "normal cars".
The Coupe & the MC were both replaced by a wife, kids & a (red)
Integrale - 3 red out of 3 Lancia; it wasn't planned; it just happened that way !!!.
The Integ; 180 HP, no roof spoiler, very loud, very cramped, but 4 doors; kids were small.
1st Integ model in Europa with Cat Converter. Unsellable (it sat in a showroom, unmoved for 3 yrs), Unsellable, except to me, at "a lowish price & Fiat 124 Spider part-trade". The Integ., was the car which my (still) wife learned to drive in. Fast Lady, Fast Car ha ha ; but it was slower than any other Integrale in the country; choked by emissions. I didn't care; nor did the family. We loved it; except for the death-gas mileage.
My Insurance-Agent told us "everyone who owns an Integ. kill themselves in it within 6 months; my bank manager said...
buy a Benz 190 (& ...then... very quietly;
b u y t h e l a n c i a).
It was sold to Greece; since it was getting really too too cramped) & was replaced by a common-sense car, that got 3x the gas mileage & had 5x the interior space. The lovely Kappa 2.0 SW. 155 HP.
Do I miss any of them ? Of course; I (we) miss the Integ. & we wish we still had it !!
Still I (we) now have other Lance to play with (including the
Fat Beta...which is
the Gamma...2 of 2 which are not red. and....not to forget...1 of the best Lance of all time /see Top Gear/ a (red) Fulvy Z, small, loud, slow, cramped........but it does at least get good mileage & lives; with all the other Lancia (yes, there are more) in a winter-free garage; in a relatively mild, snow free zone. (tu)