Most liked posts in thread: RIP Lancia

Lancia Gamma Coupé - you could probably still sell it today on looks alone. Though to be fair, looks was the one bit they got right.

I loved how they added a rubbing strip to the side - but fitted it in a body indentation so that it was barely proud of the body.

 

[Sherlock mode on]

I think the book only says "white Lancia Spyder" but elsewhere I've seen that the age of the book means it must have been a Flaminia Zagato Spyder - which would be a convertible version of the coupé above. But I don't know if the Zagato bit is right and it could have just been a regular Flaminia Spyder that looks like this:



For sure, it can't be the red Fulvia Zagato Spyder shown above as that wasn't built until about five years after the book was published.

[Sherlock mode off]

 

^ + 1

I still think it is a sad day for all auto enthusiasts.

 

Well, they have had different bodyshells from Fiats, but the mechanicals were the same.

And you could argue that even when Lancias were different it was still true that "I don't think Lancia has actually built a car in years" - the brand was killed off here in Britain when Lancia made cars that the engine would, quite literally, fall out of. And Lancia owners would dream of having electrics as reliable as Lucas'......

If you want to see some recent Lancias, visit http://www.chrysler.co.uk/ - in the last year, Lancias have been sold here rebadged as Chryslers, which seemed a bit of a desperate move. You might like to also look at the Voyager and 300C ranges, where Chrysler have given up trying to sell the gas versions and now only offer diesels.

 

I remember the Beta & Monte Carlo, man did they go away fast. Not quite as fast as the one Clarkson showed us, but pretty damned quickly.

You just have to love a Marina with a piano on it. :lol:

 

ALWAYS lusted after a Stratos.

 

For me the Stratos & Fulvia rally cars were it.:drool Too bad most American's only saw the Beta & Monte Carlo for the short time they were around. In my mind they were Fiats.

 

:cornut: I remember Tracey's Lancia, James Bond's girlfriend in 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service'(the BOOK written maybe 1959-1961). In the end, of course, they are driving off into the sunset(married) when Bond and Tracey are in a mysterious motor vehicle accident and Tracey is killed. We can't have the hero married now can we?

Jason

 

Couldn't find a Spyder photo, so here's the Zagato coupé.

 

^ Nice!

 

:cornut: That looks like what Fleming/Bond desribed only,if memory serves, hers was white. I don't have the book any more.

Jason

 

The Lancia Beta coup is the one I remember.

 

One of the few cars that I actually lusted after aside from the '66-'67 Mini Cooper S and the Lancia Beta coupe. The one that came in right behind the Mini was the Venerable Lotus Europa! I had 2 opportunities to get one but one had some serious engine/transaxle problems and the other that was in beautiful shape was a yellow one but it had a serious electrical problem so I let that one go as well. I loved them when they were all correct and in good order as the roof line was even with the door handle on a '80's Camaro and would run out at at around 140! They were so low they could go under toll booth cross arms and handled almost like the early Mini's as they were a mid engine car and the weight was near perfect balance between the front and rear. Great cars when they were right but now a good one from the '70's would cost a arm and a leg!