A Positive Spin - The Lancia Beta Origin Story

A Positive Spin

The idea of this post is to provide a short introduction , the origin if you like of the Lancia Beta. Much has been written about the 'rust and fall' of Lancia and I do not intend to go into that here. If you appreciate the Lancia Beta then you should accept it 'warts and all'.

As an owner I see it as a beautiful, practical classic car exhibiting Italian flair and design which is finally now appreciating.

According to "HowManyLeft.co.uk" there are 54 of the Beta Spider 2000's left in the UK.

Lancia Beta History

The Lancia Beta was launched at the 1972 Turin Motor Show.

The Lancia Beta was produced by Lancia from 1972 -1984 and was the first new model produced following Fiat’s takeover of Lancia in 1969. The Lancia Beta continued the founder of Lancia’s choice to designate models using letters from the Greek alphabet. The “Beta” name had been used on previous Lancia models.

The Beta came in a 4 door fastback saloon (Beta Berlina), 4 door three box saloon (Beta Trevi), 2 door coupe (Beta Coupe), 2 door targa (Beta Spider) and a 3 door estate (Beta HPE). A mid engined sports car was also sold under Beta name(Lancia Montecarlo)

Prior to Fiat’s takeover, Lancia had been through hardships and many of the engineering team had left. The remaining Lancia engineers were tasked with getting the Beta into production in a short timeframe and owing to development constraints an existing engine was used, namely the Fiat twin overhead cam which was a straight four engine with a cast iron block and alloy head. This engine came in a few outputs ranging from 1.3 to 2.0 litres.

The Fiat twin cam engine was a DOHC mated to a five speed gearbox and was fitted transversely. The gearbox was a development of a unit from Citroen who were a Fiat partner. The Beta Suspension was fully independent using MacPherson struts at all four corners with rack and pinion steering. The Fiat twin cam powerplant was installed with a 20 degree rearward tilt to help with weight transfer over the front driven wheels and it gained electronic ignition was in 1978.

Beta Spider

The Beta Spider was a 2+2 (launched as a “Zagato” in the US) which used the Beta Coupe’s shorter wheelbase. The Beta Spider was designed by Pininfarina but built by Zagato.

Coupe bodies underwent the Spider conversion with Zagato which involved cutting the roof above the front seats and adding retractable side panels and a plastic folding roof.

Zagato’s craftsmanship was acknowledged in the form of a “Z” being stamped on the bottom of the boot mat.

The UK was Lancia’s biggest market outside of Italy.

Dimensions

• Length - 4041mm

• Width - 1651mm

• Height - 1260mm

• Wheelbase - 2350mm