The Lancia Beta is an Enigma

The infamous Lancia Beta was the first car built under Fiat ownership in 1972 - but it remains an enigma over fifty years on. While it saved Lancia in the short term and enabled them to build a raft of truly iconic cars, it also sowed the seeds for their eventual fall.

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[peterward]

What a rare survivor, in the 70s Lancia were known for poor metal quality. Bit of a rust bucket, my mate had the coupe version and he looked after it, but he couldn't stop the rust. Enjoy your videos thank you.

[martinclapton]

Hi Ed and all viewers, grab yourself a coffee pull up a chair for this one! The stigma against the Lancia Beta was a political one as well as industrial. Pre Fiat take -over in 1969, Lancias we’re very expensive, 1 ; because of the high engineering integrity of their designs but also 2; because the UK had a huge tax levy on imported goods, put on by Clement Attlee after the Second World War, to protect the UK economy. This in itself made the likes of Lancias, Alfa Romeos and the Volvo coupes on the same price rung as E Type Jaguars.( as Clarkson has often said on Top Gear. This made the purchaser of such such cars to be, without trying to be snobbish, but let it be said, a very discerning buyer, and probably a very enthusiastic one too, caring for his car to the last detail. Pre Fiat purchase, Lancia emphasised a lot of investment in engineering design, with things like sliding pillar suspensions, flat 4 engines in the Flavia model, narrow angle V4 in the Fulvia, all very unique, but not a lot into production engineering which left a lot to be desired if first time fit and finish is your objective ( such as the Japanese introduced), therefore the cars very often had to be hand finished after with extra lead loading for accuracy in panel fit etc; this proved overly expensive. Subsequently Lancia lost money. Fiat bought the company for small change, but honoured all the debts that Lancia built up, which was considerable. Enter a more productive design in the way of the Beta. Although it used the excellent Lampredi Fiat twin cam, Lancia introduced a longer block design by 70mm to help with future higher engine capacity, this was through Lancia themselves. The suspension, with all round strut arrangement Fiat had shown great experience with, which not only saved space and gave good driving qualities but in the Betas design was multi linked to the rear axle, in such a way, that both Ford and Toyota used the Beta as an example for their 1990s Mondeo and Carina models respectively, such was the way the Beta gave a combination of excellent road holding and quality of ride comfort. Cars that were 20 years after, enough said! Back to the 1974 and UK joining the Common Market. The trade levies on imported goods lifted, the cars produced from abroad comparatively cheaper, including Betas and Alfasud. On introduction a lot sat in the docks for ages due to the heavy fuel crisis at the time. When some learned road testers, tested the Beta, such as John Bolster from Autosport and Roger Bell from The Motor magazine, they declared it the best Lancia yet! The cars were still expensive, not in Jaguars territory but more above Cortina’s and the like. The buyer, although pleased he had something different to impress the neighbours on his drive, rather than a four lettered word, he may not have been so exacting on his enthusiastic care as buyers before. ( again not wishing to be snobbish) . The Lancias rust problem wasn’t through Russian steel but how cars sat outside unprepared and unprotected during lengthy strikes ( much like the SD1 Rover) . However, it was the Daily Mirror which started the ball rolling to condemn the Lancia to the rusty bin. They had long been against the lifting of the import duty, wanting to keep the protection to UK produce, and subsequent heavy importation of foreign cars which were in fairness offering better value. Lancia had sold more cars in 1977 than BMW. The Mirror picked on them BIG TIME, as the findings were there was surface rust appearing on the back engine’s subframe mount, this appears on the Mk1 Beta saloon only, not coupes or other models which differed in its design, the Mk2 Berlina already had switched to the better design, but this didn’t stop the momentum of media to gather pace to make even national news against the Lancia. They said the engines would fall out, they never did and never would have. As you mentioned despite Lancias incredible rally record, introduction of a 6 year anti corrosion warranty ( linking with Saab), their name was tarnished for good in the UK . PITY. Have you driven a Beta, I have. I can tell you now, it’s a masterclass. I drove a HPE some years back. It’s ride comfort was amazing for a “ modern “ let alone a car of 30 years old at the time, the steering heavy at parking, but very communicative once on the move, very little roll and quite astonishing road holding . Brakes quite heavily servoed, but very powerful, fade free. An Australian magazine, The Motor Manual tested a Berlina 2 litres brakes . It stopped the car from 70 mph inside 44 metres . No fade. Again 44 metres no fade. 10 times on the trot, no fade . 44 meters, no fade, show me a modern that will do that! The packaging of these models, particularly the Berlina and HPE is tardis like inside, being FWD and the clever suspension not encroaching on interior volume. Fan of the Beta, very much. The current following of these cars, although small in numbers, give the car the credit, it always deserved. ❤.

[GForceVRX]

I love these cars, I’m glad you reviewed one!
My mum had a 2.0 version here in Australia in the 90’s, fantastic car.
It had zero rust back then .
The climate here obviously helped that

[peterthwaites]

The Lancia Beta is a car i have always admired, but never owned, having had many Alfasud`s you get used to the "They all fell to pieces" jokes in the pub.. Thanks for yet again another brilliantly researched and produced video, you are in a class of your own..

[The-Sea-Dragon-]

A very stylish Lady who lived near us had a gorgeous Beta in white with a dark red interior.

Truly stylish & sounded lovely.

[davidclinch]

Back in the day my wife and I had 2 Beta Berlinas and an HPE over a period. We never understood why the press were highlighting these as being dreadful for rust as we had no rust problems and found all 3 of them wonderful cars, and extremely comfortable for long distance touring. We miss our Lancias !

[peterdickson]

I had a 79 Lancia Beta which I pulled from a scrapyard after passing my test in 1986, it still had 6 months MOT on it. I welded cover sills on, fitted a new tail pipe and off i went. What a car, what an engine. Shortly before the MOT was due the clutch pressure plate and release bearing went into meltdown. The cost of just buying the parts to fit myself was more than the value of the car so I sold it back to the scrappy. I had bought it for £90 and sold it back for £50. Two weeks later i bought the tail pipe from the scrppy for a tenner to fit on my newly acquired VX 4/90
I'm now 63 and continue to spend my weekends under old bangers. The best hobby.😂

[philiptownsend]

I once removed and dismantled a Lampredi twin cam cylinder head from a Beta in a scrapyard.

I was very impressed and concluded it was ideal for British Rallycross Class C - up to 1600 two valve normally aspirated. Ideal bore/stroke ratio, enormous valves in the smaller capacity engines, hemi combustion chamber, flat top pistons.

Upon removing the valves I found I could look down the inlet ports and out through the exhaust ports - ideal for volumetric efficiency.

All it needed was race cams and a pair of 45DCOE carbs with a decent exhaust manifold to produce a competitive engine. Very little head work was necessary, just a clean up.

Eventually we amateurs got more than 200bhp from that two valve normally aspirated 1600 which confirmed the original great design by Mr Lampredi.

I just love Italian engines.

[neilpickup]

I remember once driving a top-of-the-range 1800 Berlina.

Apart from the driving position, which favoured those best described as 'short in the leg' rather than 'lanky' me, it was the first car which really impressed me.

If only the UK dealers had sent them to be 'Zeibarted' before delivery, I wonder how many Lancias we would see on UK roads today?

Perhaps the Alfasuds would have benefitted too!

Although we have to put everything into context.

I grew up in the 60's and 70's, and there were quite a few ancient bangers around built on chassis which lasted - although the engines were so lacking in power that you had to 'make a run at the hills' and were not 100% confident that you wouldn't have to change down to the dreaded often syncromesh free first gear.

However, the newer cars would often be showing some degree of rust staining along the seams by their first birthday, with many having holes by their first MOT.

A car which was by todays standards a modest 7 years old could be only fit for scrap, and a car in decent condition over ten, considered remarkable (or a Volvo!).

Now, it is the cost of repairs which can be the end of a car.

I knew of an otherwise excellent Fiat 500 where the exhaust was reaching the end of its life. The cost of the Fiat replacement was more than the car was worth!

[williamegler]

My aunt had one in the United States.
It had the 1.8L and 5spd manual.
She was a stewardess for United Airlines at the time and lived in California.
She remembered the A/C was pathetic and would make the engine overheat in moderately warm weather or traffic.
Constant electrical gremlins and underpowered for US high-speed highway driving.
The 55 mph speed limit was widely ignored and 75 to 90 mph was more common on interstates which meant 4, 000 rpm or more making for buzzy cruising and hardly in keeping with their "LUXURY" image.
She eventually moved to Chicago and the Mediterranean-style heater, obviously designed for mild winters, couldn't cope with winter weather in the northern Midwest.
The salt used on the road eventually worked its magic and the poor thing went from rust-free Californian to terminal vehicular cancer patient within a couple of years.
By that time Lancia had pulled out of the US market and with parts, never really easy to come by, and getting more difficult to find and mechanics willing to work on it a few and far between it eventually went to the scrap yard and was replaced by a BMW 320i

[JP-]

Well done on another great video Ed.
Your research and presentation skills make these very watchable. You'd swear you had a big TV production behind you it's that well done.

[thatcheapguy]

whilst still at school I remember the various Betas and thinking how beautiful they were compared to the rather bland offerings the British car industry was selling us in the '70s. upon leaving school I worked in a garage MOTing and repairing all and sundry including just about every type of Beta on the road. so vicious was the rust that we were failing cars structurally on their first MOT, just 3 years old. it was a crying shame. the Betas were sophisticated, fast, pretty and handled brilliantly but very quickly they were cluttering breakers yards becoming donor cars for their engines and front seats in particular.
our local Vicar had a dark blue Beta Berlina from new. after only 18 months it had large holes in the front wings. some might say the car was truly holey

[jerrycallender]

I had a 1977 Beta which was totaled by a drunk running a red light when it was 6 months old.
Sitting at a light and got knocked 400' across 6 lanes and median.
I really liked the Beta. The interior in mine was much 'richer' looking than the one shown with
the dash smoothly flowing into the console...

[willardr]

Beautifully presented, thank you. My grandpa, a retired surgeon, had one in the 70s in a bronze like paint, bad it was very special. He swapped it for a like for like shaped Toyota Corolla in the 80s. So similar, yet so utterly different. Soul vs reliability!

[The_R-n-I_Guy]

As an American, I grew up with mostly big American cars. But I've always loved the small cars the smaller European cars that I saw on TV. I would really love to be able to experience some of the small cars that we never got here. Especially the quirky ones such as this Lancia

[stephenkushner]

My father bought a 1976 Lancia Beta Sedan. It taught me how to drive a stick. 86 hp meant I had to do a lot of shifting. It had a super low first gear which could maybe take you to 10mph. It was a super handler, 110mph was its top and it handled beautifully. We had an air conditioner with an upper hose that could be confused with a truck break line. Apparently, the hose was near a spinning component and the engineers didn’t want to put a protective shield on. I also remember the front wheel bearings would go out often and cost a lot of money to fix. I liked the manual steering, it really gave you a feel for the road, even if it complicated parallel parking. Also, the steering wheel was way out in front of you, so if you had long legs, you really needed really long arms to reach the top of the wheel. Another thing was the drain plug was a super huge allen key assuring you having oil changes at the dealer. I remember needing a valve job at some point. I sold it back to the dealer before the rust did it in.

[knockholt]

I had one just like this but with an 1800cc engine in a mid blue colour. It was new in 1984 and by 1988 I was having rust repaired on the front wings and then before I could enjoy it I would get rust appearing somewhere else on the car. I rang their customer services to complain and they asked me to take the car along to my nearest main dealer for an inspection and report. They reported that it was a 'write off' with rust and that they would buy it back from me, so I sold it back to them for an agreed price. Within a couple of weeks a big story appeared in the Daily Mirror newspaper highlighting the rust problems with these cars and citing that engines were literally falling down from the car onto the road. Lancia then changed tact and offered to buy affected cars back from their owners but only if they bought a new car from them in return. I really liked my car with the fabulous twin cam engine and the very comfortable seats but my ownership was short lived. Nice to see this survivor in great condition.

[davidkmatthews]

Great vid - well done! Several years ago the BBC's Top Gear magazine suggested that the real - or major - cause of the underside corrosion problem was actually due to an insufficient number and distribution of drain holes. So it was really a design flaw rather than poor materials quality.

[notroll]

I always liked the looks of the HPE most of all those variants.

[Pat_RickX]

I' m very happy you featured the Beta Berlina. I really like the Beta & Gamma.
Thank you very much for NOT BASHING the cars of the 70s from Italy.
Fine video again, Ed.