Lancia Beta Forum

Hi All

Thought you might like this take on the old chestnut. Mainly about Alfa’s, but does give some Fiat/Beta perspective.

https://youtu.be/-pEyxiOUpZI

Peter

Great video.

Very intresting.

That busts the myth of the Russian steel but then he goes and perpetuates the myth that the Beta rust scandal forced Lancia out of the UK market. Lacklustre products and an indifferent dealer network in the 90s is what killed Lancia in the UK in my view.

I would disagree to a point, I think that Lancia had become a laughing stock due to the Daily Mirror and That's Life so you had to be thick skinned to own one. Yes many of the dealers weren't all that good but they wouldn't have been able to attract many good ones given the reputation. The product range was a mixed bag but not that bad,. The Thema was always excellent, Dedra.  nice but not a front runner, Y10 decent if very overpriced but against this the rust reputation made them an easy target for less than glowing reviews in the press.

Lancia up to the Beta had always been a niche market because they were superbly engineered but very expensive in this country. It is sometimes quoted that a Fulvia was a similar price to an E-type but maybe that's another myth. Geoff Owen's book "Turning Back the Clock" is an interesting read on the rust scandal, following which he made a very good business of selling used Betas to people who appreciated what good cars they were. I still think Deltas were more main stream than Betas ever were in the UK car market.