Lancia Beta Forum

hi all ,having just laid up beta in my garage for hybernation and repairs, with plenty of work to do.i,ve decided to give myself more work by respraying , when i got the car 6 years ago the red colour paint was not original , last year i sanded back and respayed it black(first ever attempt), truth be told i was,nt totally impressed with my quality ,lol,so although i like gloss black my wife thinks i should go back to original rosso corsa , taking into account most betas are not fully original anymore . please feel free to comment what any of you would prefer , original red or black or any other colour, hopefully it would help me make my mind up ????.(ps-does anyone have the colour code for 83 plate i.e )

I would avoid black as it will show even the tiniest defect to the highest degree, even minor swirl marks from polishing. There were two reds for these later cars, I think the slightly darker and less orangey shade normally found on VX is preferable but your ie is more likely to have been built 81 or 82 so probably came in the earlier colour which is from memory rosso Corsa 854 whereas later cars were rosso rally 112
Your choice of course but I'd do it in 112, other than the solid colours metallics look great but take more skill in finishing you will see every preparation imperfection in the base coat under the lacquer, a solid colour will be more forgiving

thx alan ,the original orangy red  did,nt quite do it for me ( personal opinion ), i,ll have to look up the differing shades of red . i know this is sacrilage to some but the later porche red or ferrari marranello is darker and seems to stand out well  :o :o

I think you should paint it to satisfy yourself! Whilst I'm a pedantic sad case about Beta original specifications I will not be keeping my VX original (if I ever get it finished) most of the original shades are just drab on these late cars only the red stand out. I'm probably going for a non original metallic

This is rosso rally
https://photos.app.goo.gl/MHPTuS50HjxGxoa53

Comparative paint chips

https://photos.app.goo.gl/D0rOvGWtjXoqm4Ll1

Please excuse fuzzy photo!

Having sprayed a few cars over the years, i'd opt for black as its the easiest colour to match if you have to repaint or repair a panel for some reason. Even a badly matched paint (or even an incorrect) code looks more than ok with black.
Metallic or mica based black using clear over base is a favourite for me. Red is near impossible to match.
Just my pennies worth.

agreed red is difficult to match at a later date but black will badly show up all painting/finishing imperfections which may be an issue for the original poster

Hi Darren

No particular comment on actual colour, but given that most cars now are only offered in black/grey/silver apart from the small trendy/sporty cars, then I would go for something different to them and go for a real colour. I wonder what a coupe in yellow would look like....?

Peter

Nice idea Peter. I was never that brave but there's food for thought there.

Re: paintwork preparation, I've not found black any harder to prepare than any other colours.
Bright metallics and bright mica's like silver will show every minor detail good or bad.
If you want to hide preparation hiccups or damage then white is king. You can make bubblewrap look half decent with white  ;D

thx guys , dont think i,ll go as far as yellow, already got 4 vehicles on drive that are white. i starting to waiver away from black, i confident enough to get prep work right and may well get  a freind who,s a sprayer in for top coat ( dependant on how many beers it gunna cost me ) . i believe having an older beta is about your enjoyment of the drive rather than colour , to me  newer car colours seem to look better , but dare i choose one ?,  wherever we go in our beta,s it attracts attention and many comments from peeps remembering and reminising seeing them  many a year back , i dont want it  to look  out of place or silly

There is a yellow coupe on here somewhere and there is a yellow one in one of the older brochures that happens to be framed and in my office wall!

I can dig out a pic if you want.

Looks great.

Mark

agreed, the Yellow is great. Theres some lovely double page profile shots in brochure I have but they were too big to scan. Hope you can see the attached ok.

Early car and looks great!

But look at the front ride height!

That's like mine too, up in the air!

He is just accelerating on Beta suspension!