Wandering down a random aisle in the import section of a Denver-area junkyard, I tripped slightly as the earth stopped rotating. Catching myself, I then heard angelsong. Bright lights, confetti cannons, and dancing girls emerged from behind a discarded Camry. A split-open roll of mint-fresh Krugerrands was at my feet. Well, maybe none of that actually happened, but all of those things are seemingly more likely to happen than to find a Lancia Zagato Spyder in the junkyard, not the least of reasons is that it’s been 40 years since they last were sold in extremely low numbers stateside.
And yet, this is the twin to the one that was driven in mid-1981 by our Realtor who helped my parents purchase a house in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles. Like, fershurr, totally. My understanding is that Maddy sold one house (ours) in her real estate career that was prompted (as far as I know) by her impending divorce. But out of all that I gained a lifelong friend in her son, Evan, who completely unselfishly helped me, a dorky kid from a German village, assimilate into L.A. culture, was a close schoolmate for the next six years and good friend ever since.
They lived in Tarzana (yes, named after Edgar Rice Burroughs’ famous character as it is located on his former ranch property), and I distinctly recall always checking out the hot little Italian number in the driveway with the license plate “MAD TOY” when we’d be invited over there to swim in their pool that first summer and hang out. White on black, just like this one, and the first and only one I had ever seen.
Not that I’ve seen many since (can’t actually recall the last), and I have no idea what happened to Maddy’s car, but I recall it didn’t seem to survive their move to the next town over once the family home was sold…I can’t think of many more impractical cars to launch a real estate career with but 18% interest rates at the time didn’t help either, I’m sure, and then becoming a single mom with three lanky teen boys probably put the final kibosh on the whole little Lancia thing, 2+2 or not.
Of course Lancia itself didn’t last beyond 1982 in the United States, with the final two years of Spyder sales only totaling 791 units over here of a total 2,871 which was actually a good chunk of the combined worldwide total of 9,400 units. None of those numbers is synonymous with long term success.
This Spyder version is though just one of a three-legged “sporty” Beta model range (here not including the fastback Berlina sedan, later three-box Trevi or the less mechanically related but in early years also called a Beta, the Montecarlo/Scorpion) produced from 1973-1984 that totaled about 192,000 vehicles all told with the majority being the Beta Coupe and the Beta HPE (sort of a long-roofed extended wheelbase coupe) taking second place in the Beta model sales sweepstakes. By that measure, the Zagato is surely the red-headed stepchild of a red-headed family (don’t be mad, my hair used to have reddish tones too and I sunburn easily), but to my eyes the most interesting (and subversively most attractive) by far. This is for sure the Beta I’d choose, you bet(a).
Lancia itself is a magical name and brand, brought down of late (well, the latest couple of decades surely) with such indignities as being made to peddle rebadged Chryslers products and currently only producing and selling one little around town errand runner hatchback, but with a glorious history of innovation, competition, sport, design, and spirit that Stellantis apparently plans to revive. Bring it, I’ll at least test-drive it! Of course the conjunction with Zagato, the famed coachbuilder and styling house adds yet more spice to the pot, even if this car was styled by Pininfarina with Zagato only building it due to Pinin having too much on their plate already.
Over here the car was simply the Lancia Zagato with or without either a Spyder or Spider suffix, in other places around the globe it was generally known as the Lancia Beta Zagato Spyder, although it’s not like the rest of the world was awash in Lancias at the time either.
But hey, a little Italian 2+2 with a removable targa top panel and a fold down rear window convertible section, that all very much in the vein of the original Porsche 911 Targa, what’s not to like? Pictured above with the rear section lowered…
…and here it is with the rear section up, sadly missing the plastic rear window. But the one I knew was in Los Angeles, the top was usually off, the back was usually down, and it looked goooooooooood.
Mechanicals under the front-hinged hood were more or less solid, this was a front wheel drive car with MacPherson struts at all corners and a transversely mounted 2-liter inline-4. ’79 and earlier U.S. models made do with a carbed version of the engine, the 1980 model year was skipped here entirely, but when the car came back for its last two years it had gained Bosch L-Jetronic fuel injection and enough additional power (around 108hp total in US form) to make it quite a lively performer for its day.
The engine bay looks modern enough to pass for something seen today, maybe add a large piece of plastic on top to fit in more but nothing too scary going on in there, most kids today could probably figure all that out easier than a V8 in a longitudinal arrangement while laughing at the electronics.
Of the three sporty Beta variants, this one to me looks the least off-beat (off-beta?), I guess I’m seeing a lot of modernized Fulvia Coupe in there, especially from this angle, which has always worked for me. The black bumpers and most of the trim works for me as well as a fan of the 1980s, and even the somewhat tacked on side markers and stuff like that I can shrug off as Italianate character.
Bur even the grille has a lot going on at a closer look. That stepped black portion, then the multiple horizontal bars at the bottom with the Lancia logo containing the very old-looking font. I don’t know that I’d necessarily call it all harmonious and of a piece, but pizza as a concept sounds quite weird too, looks even weirder, but manages to work quite well once you get down to business, so what do I know.
The rear, if sawed off two feet from the end and displayed by itself, doesn’t look particularly exotic, in fact it looks kind of like the Toyota Corolla of the same model year back here. I guess that’s how I see Lancia design, generally pretty understated with a decent amount of practicality in lieu of unnecessary flourishes and, if anything, perhaps further along the path to 80s angular modernity than many others at an earlier date, remember this shape/car debuted for 1974.
That angularity translates to fairly decent trunk space, all well-lined with (now falling off) carpeting all around. But what are we not seeing? Yes, the famed Lancia Beta rust monster reputation! Sure, there is some at the seams and there is in fact some around the bottom of the doors, however I think this car has seen a very long period of storage with much of it out of doors which can explain a lot of it.
The keychain may have acted like an anode rod in this case, who knows, but the head of the ignition key is in the shape of the Lancia badge, and who was cutting key blades like this back in 1981? It’s a key I’d love to be able to use daily.
The BFGs in 185/70-14 aren’t quite correct, I believe the original fitment for the ’81 Spyder was a Pirelli P6 in 185/65-14 and mated to these chunky little alloys, color matched in this case, allowed it to carve some nice lines. There’s a little of that rust behind the wheel well and in the lower portion of the door…but never mind all that, let’s check out the inside!
This is where the US$11,880 base price in 1981 pays off, well, beyond the engine, chassis, rarity, opentoppishness etc… An interior that if you imagine a lot cleaner and not as tattered, looks and smells like lire, lots of lire. $11,880 then is equivalent to less than $40,000 today though, which is really kind of a screaming bargain for whatever the equivalent of this might be today.
As a matter of fact I don’t think anything would be near that price, never mind a European car built at a small designer’s factory. An Alfa Romeo might be closest conceptually nowadays for most but a 2+2 semi-cabriolet similar to this today, even produced on a normal production line in much larger volumes and with decent power compared to what else is on the road would be at least in the $70k or more range, no? For comparison, a 1981 Corolla started at $5,808, a Mercury Capri $6,685 and a Porsche 924 with very similar weight and power a heady $16,770!
I simply adore this instrument panel. There is not even a whiff of “Dashboard Of Sadness” that pervaded lots of cars back then, especially the domestics. Two main dials and SIX supplementals spaces that contain four more instruments with room for two more and then various indicator lights to boot! You’ll need all three passenger to shake a stick at all that, you can’t do it yourself.
The 85mph speedometer is a sad commentary on early ’80s affairs, but what I wonder about most is the mileage, with just 13,370 displayed I sincerely hope this made it all the way around at least once, which not everyone would necessarily believe a Lancia of the period to be capable of.
The wheel itself has the fattest rim this side of a go-kart track and the two spoke design seems like it would feel pretty good. I like the demure little logo at the bottom instead of the huge things we get nowadays. The dainty spindle stalks are quite nice as well with what look like relatively substantial heads on them and not too many functions crammed on each one.
A completely period-appropriate Alpine head unit sits atop the centerstack, those fat rocker switches below it just make you want to push them all day long, and the symmetry of the upper and lower curves is indication enough that someone spent time designing this thing, it’s sort of architectural. Egg-crate vents at the lower end, but everything rendered in black firmly leaves the ’70s behind, far quicker than the rest of the industry seemed to, with perhaps Audi being the next most “modern” as far as interiors go but even then not really until a couple of years later into the ’80s.
Pulling back a little more shows the rest of the lower center stack with a perhaps slightly too tall stick shift but with what looks like a purposeful knob atop it and then the glovebox area and shape continuing the sweep of the dashboard. The pack of Marlboros is a nice touch too, very fitting, there may or may not be a Members Only jacket stashed under one of the seats too, I forgot to check in my giddy excitement.
Another little logo rendered on the edge of the glovebox door, but note it’s the more modern logo this time as opposed to what’s on the grille. I love them both, but this one would still work well on a new car today.
Convertibles do make it so much easier to get a good range of interior photos even without full access, I could drive this car today and not think I’m in a 40 year old car based on this. And while a little underpowered compared to current vehicles, with its light (but considered heavy-ish at the time) weight of 2655 pounds it should be able to keep up well enough although the power to weight ratio is worse than most of today’s economy cars.
The back +2 seats are definitely on the snug side, but most striking is that someone clearly reupholstered the centers at some point, I did a double take when I looked at the fabric. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen the same fabric on either throw pillows at a Ross or Marshalls or on a couch in a La-Z-Boy furniture showroom, perhaps both? Lancia did not provide interior fabrics featuring imagery of Route 66 or Hollywood signage, let alone a Tri-5 Chevy with a flame job.
As I mentioned earlier, the Zagato Spyder model apparently sat out the 1980 model year in the US, but then this VIN tag indicates an extremely early production 1981 version. I can’t parse the actual ID number as to where it falls within the overall Lancia or even Beta production sequence, so that’ll remain a mystery unless someone else knows. The Betas are all “828” cars and this is a series 4 car, the 202011 though doesn’t seem to work based on the numbers I’ve used in my research provided via an excellent chart of the entire Beta production number history at viva-lancia.com.
I’ve not driven a Lancia Zagato and it’s doubtful I ever will, but I’m all in on this car if you couldn’t tell. I love nothing more than seeing cars I never see anymore, and this one dredged up some great old memories. I think I’ll text Evan later today and see how Maddy is doing.
This car in a junkyard is amazing for all kinds of reasons. First, just the rarity. But a midwestern guy like me sees a car that looks like this and sees an Italian car as free of rust as it is possible to be. This isn’t a parts car in my part of the country – this is the car someone needs a parts car for.
And isn’t it funny some of the oddball cars we get exposed to as kids. I wonder what the odds might be of this actually being the car you rode in as a kid – unless Maddie’s car had an automatic. I will admit that this is a bit more exotic than the rare birds I got to experience as a kid.
Agreed. here in the Mid-Atlantic, this is in the kind of shape where you find yourself waving cash in front of the lot owner to have it towed home.
Same in the UK but this one has less rust than what we are used to!. . Signs of being out in the sun to long by the state of the seat covers, but an easy fix., possibly one of those ” When I get around to it “restorations .
Sad to see it on the heap being pulled for parts but probably worth more to the yard owner that way.
I wasn’t going to read this one Jim, but you hooked me with the opening paragraph.
I never knew such a thing existed, my only exposure to this sort of Beta coming courtesy of Top Gear Botswana. But now here’s removable roof panels AND a vestigial convertible top. Very cool indeed.
I think this episode should have ended with the confetti cannons firing over your rented trailer as the dancing girls help you push this mad toy up the ramps. Hopefully the self serve car wash takes Krugerrands, you might need a few to clean it up before taking it home.
Outstanding find Jim! I don’t think I’ve ever seen one in person, though they were well covered in magazines at the time.
In published photos, the overall design reminded me quite a bit of the Subaru Brat in their proportions, and the bodyside beltline crease. That took away some of the exotic nature of these for me. Though, I thought their overall design was very attractive at the time. Looks very clean in white. People can be critical of the abundance of cars in white or silver today. But that’s because of overexposure. Cars of the 1970s and 1980s, often look(ed) their most elegant in white or silver. Partially, due to their rarity then.
Finds like this bring me right back to 1981, because of their rarity.
Also, like the tidy mount for the outside rearview mirror. This would have been a genuine beauty in its day. Thank you!
Loved seeing this first thing this morning. In my early teen dreams this or an X/19 would have been my first car. Neither were, and that’s probably for the best, but despite the obscurity of this model at the time, especially in Northern NJ, it was on my radar and I wanted one badly. I’m going to posit optimistically that the mileage is 113k, rather than 13k, based on the condition of the clutch and brake pedals. The addition of the multi-port lighter socket in the console also indicates that this was on the road at least into the cell phone era, otherwise why would one add that?
There’s nothing about this that I don’t like. I’m firmly in Jim’s camp.
Wow – what a find! I occasionally see a Zagato around here. Well, “around” is speaking somewhat euphemistically, because I’ve always seen it in one place, which is a repair shop specializing in Italian cars, where it seems to take up long-term residency on a regular basis.
Come to think of it, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a white one – all the Zagatos I recall seeing are either silver or red.
And I agree with you that the dashboard is simply a work of art. The Alpine stereo brings back memories since my first car (a 1981 Audi that I bought in ’88) had a similar unit, and Alpines were still popular at that point, so those light-up green buttons made me feel good just looking at them.
Oh, and the Route 66 fabric — what an odd choice for reupholstering the seats in this car! Here’s a full image of that fabric when new:
Thanks for finding that fabric, that’s exactly it! An odd choice but who knows who had what left over…
Where is this car? There is a part I need off of it. I live in Ohio, and cannot find it anywhere. This is the first one I’ve seen in that condition ever. If possible I can give you my number and you can give it to the salvage yard and they can call me. I appreciate any help on this. Thank you!
It’s at the U-Pull-And-Pay in Aurora, CO. Since it’s a self-serve yard you might want to try Row52.com as the yard itself won’t pull anything themselves. Or ask on the Lancia forums for someone who lives in the eastern part of Denver.
It’s gotten more picked over now though. The lights are all gone, as is the front grille, instrument cluster, and some other stuff. I posted it a couple of days after it got there.
Thank you, Thank you!!!! So much. I’ll give them a call and see what can be worked out.
To borrow a word from Dave Chappellle, this was a *splendiferous* find. All those things you described in the first paragraph probably did happen. Loved reading about the association with Maddy and your friend Evan.
Between this and the 2nd generation Toyota Celica Sunchaser semi-convertible, which came first? They seem to be very much of the same blueprint. I love a little Italian exotic, but pardon me for saying that the Celica Sunchaser is more attractive from a purely physical perspective. Well,actually, from a mechanical perspective, as well. I wonder what the price differential was between the two cars.
which came first?
The Beta Spider was first shown in 1974 after the coupe’s debut, and was available to consumers in Europe the following year. Therefore, it was a seven year old design by the time the US received them, and it very much predates the Sunchaser…
My info shows that a total of 4(!) came to the US in the 1976-1978 span, likely as show or dealer promo cars, but then 2,076 series 3 cars came between ’78 and ’80, with the final 791 being series 4 cars such as the posted example, this being a first year series 4 example, mainly due to the engine being different (injected)
The Sunchaser was a whopping $2995 option on top of a regular Celica starting in 1979, so still comfortably under $10k originally. About 2000 were produced, it’s certainly possible that the Lancia was part of the inspiration for them in the first place.
Though the exterior and interior design says cutting edge for Europe from the early and mid 70s, it still looked advanced and attractive here in North America, as the domestic makers were still playing ‘catch up’ trying to emulate European styling touches. Just a gorgeous interior for the era.
The rear styling is too generic unfortunately, given the great work elsewhere. Four round lenses would have been a nice retro touch. The beautiful top design is what makes this car so special.
Would have been great to see your very first few moment reaction to this remarkable find.
When Pop was going through his midlife crisis and shopping for a sports car, we visited Big Dee Volvo-FIAT-Lancia in White Plains, NY to take a look at one of these.
Ultimately, he was too pragmatic and/or practical to buy one, and he wound up with an early 3rd-gen Camaro Z/28.
Even though this has an entirely different powertrain, given FIAT’s ownership of Lancia, I always though of this as a grown-up X1/9.
I always though of this as a grown-up X1/9.
Surely you’re thinking of the Montecarlo/Scorpion, which really was a grownup X1/9.
Which we’ve also found resting uncomfortably in a junkyard!
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/junkyard/curbside-recycling-1976-lancia-scorpion-good-luck-finding-one-of-the-other-1800-in-the-u-s/
That interior makes me want to weep. We had a Beta berlina until we could no longer justify pouring money into it. Still one of my favorite cars. Driving it on a twisty road on a summer evening with the sunroof open was sheer bliss…
Oddly enough, despite the rarity, this is by far the most common Lancia I’ve encountered in person. No mean feat seeing as these sightings have all occurred in the Midwest, mostly Minnesota. Maybe half a dozen, in well kept but not pristine shape. Black does this car no favors, in my opinion…
These Lancia Zagatos (US market) / Beta spiders* (RoW) tend to be the survivors of the Beta range, as they were more likely to be pampered, garage-kept, only taken out in nice weather, etc., and given some extra rustproofing after Zagato made the bodyshell modifications.
The other Beta body types eventually became just another used car well before they’d come to be regarded as classics, and cheap (esp. in the US) because of their obscurity and perceived unreliability — mostly a matter of inept maintenance by shadetree amateur or gas-station mechanics better-versed in more primitively-engineered Detroit iron — and thus got run into the ground by later owners without the skills or money to maintain them, and particularly likely to be driven in snow and salt thanks to their advanced FWD platform offering outstanding winter handling, roadholding and safety.
* “Lancia Beta Zagato spider” is a bit of a misnomer mashing up its US and RoW model names, but often informally referenced as such for clarity in online discussions among international participants. They probably went with Zagato for distinction in the US market, as dealers here would likely already be selling at least one other Spider model from Fiat and/or Alfa Romeo — speaking of, the Italians always used the “spider” spelling, whereas “spyder” was a German variant spelling that never appeared for any Italian model until the Lamborghini Gallargo Spyder (by then under VW-Audi ownership). The term derives from sporting horse carriages built for speed, stripped down to little more than a spindly frame somewhat resembling a literal spider.
Yes I used the mashup name precisely for the reason you mentioned…But “Spyder” with a Y can absolutely be appropriate for italian cars – Maserati uses the Y, here is their webpage with clear reference to it dating back to the Ghibli Spyder of the 60s/70s:
https://www.maserati.com/us/en/brand/maserati-classic-cars/biturbo-and-derivates/biturbo-spyder
And Lancia themselves used the Y spelling of Spyder in their own marketing materials. Here’s a brochure:
And a UK market advertisement:
You struck gold! A bit tarnished, so maybe it’s silver, but it’s a gem anyhow.
You keep referring to the three Beta versions: coupe, HPE and Zagato. But you’re forgetting the Beta sedan, which was undoubtedly the volume seller, although possibly not in later years in the US. The sedan was used as a mule by GM for its development of the X-Body Citation, and the similarities are all-too obvious.
I’m guessing the rear seats were reupholstered because they kept the top down a lot and the sun fried them. Before it fried everything else, that is.
You are correct, the Beta lineup is more than a little confusing. I guess I was generally referring to the “sporty” models, although technically the Montecarlo (Scorpion) was also labeled a Beta at least in its early years albeit a completely different configuration from everything else. There was also the later Trevi three-box sedan (but not in the US), and the one you pictured is the Berlina fastback.
It’s not easy to find good production numbers for everything from this time period, the Berlina may well have been the volume seller with “volume” being a very relative term. Then again, I could see the sportier models being more popular, I don’t really know beyond the numbers I wrote about them. The Scorpion (Montecarlo) is actually rarer than the Zagato, at least in the US, but for some reason more seem to have survived, or at least get more publicity. I was just as surprised to see that one last year, and in the meantime have come across another one as well…
The HPE (long roof coupe) sold about 1,600 in the US and the other regular coupe sold just over 10,000 in the US.
I added a couple of edits to the text to hopefully make things clearer, thanks for pointing it out.
Strictly from imperfect memory, the sedan sold relatively well compared to the sporty models only perhaps for the first year or two; then seemed to drop off dramatically. It just wasn’t what American buyers were interested in. From then on, Lancia became seen as an almost exclusively sporty brand here; I’m not even sure if the sedan was still being sold here in the last year or two. And the sedans seemed to all disappear very quickly; nobody could be bothered to keep them running, unlike the sporty versions which engendered a certain enthusiasm.
I’ve wondered a couple times, if the Montecarlo/Scorpion’s D-pillar design didn’t help inspire Chrysler’s D-pillar restyle for the Plymouth Turismo/Dodge Charger for 1984.
I prefer the Turismo Spyder, which was styled to resemble a Ferrari 308. Anyone know if it survives ?
I like that association!
It certainly would help Chrysler’s design decision, make better sense. (I originally meant to say C-pillar, btw.)
Great find! I’ve learned not to say “It looks like that could be fixed up and run.”, but…. As it was said up above, the lack of rust is surprising, and aside from thoroughly trashed seats, the interior seems pretty good. I suppose that most of the parts are still there because there’s not a lot of call for Lancia parts down at the junkyard?
What do you think caused this one to wind up at the yard? You should ask your friend about what happened to his mom’s car…are you sure this one wasn’t Maddy’s?
I will certainly ask him…it’s always possible but it was half a country away, probably 40% of all of them were sold in CA anyway. Still, the lack of rust…
It was a very recent arrival to the yard, but I think it’ll get picked over, the Scorpion that I posted last year had a number of parts removed over time too, it’ll be the people with an actual need for a part rather than the professional crowd that pull a decent looking engine or wheels knowing there’ll be a need for one soon, someone in a Lancia club will see it and post it (or see it right here) and then have local friends or club members go and get what’s needed. No matter how bad a part looks, it might very well be a lot better than the part currently on someone else’s car, especially sheetmetal, underhood items and various interior plastic bits. I’ll likely check back on it in a couple of months…
This was also possibly one of the cars that was part of a large local Italian repair shop with a good sized parts car lot that shut down. The cars got auctioned off over the last couple of years which flooded a lot of Fiats, Lancias, and some Alfas into all the area yards, there was a Fiat 124 Spider a row over as well that may have come from the same source. This one may instead have been auctioned to someone who figured they could fix it and then…Or just someone’s dream car that they bought new and something happened.
Yep…if it wasn’t from the shut down Italian shop, I’ll bet that plenty of interested people are going to find it right here.
And while I continue to find it hard to believe, this is exactly the state of affairs for pre-1985 Volvos. Anything not yet crushed is worth grabbing for someday.
A rare find like this one, in not too bad shape, is a bit sad to see. As unusual as these cars are, every one lost to the wrecking yard makes a somewhat measurable impact on the small number of ongoing survivors.
Also, it is unlikely anyone local to the yard has one of these, needs parts for it, or even knows it is there. Maybe, maybe not. Hopefully, the CC posting will make some Lancia owner out there aware of the car, and also be able and willing to salvage what they need for their own Lancia.
There is always eBay. I don’t know if there is any call for these parts, or if they have any on-line value. As much as I hate finding the hard-to-find rotary Mazdas stripped for all the parts I need for my own rides, and seeing them go up on eBay for ten or twenty times what they cost from the wrecking yard, at least it is a mechanism that gets the parts in the hands of people that can make use of them. In this case, perhaps an enterprising eBay-er can collect up the parts and make a buck or two on them.
Jim, as per your posting above, one minute before, great minds think alike :). I was wondering if the car was in the “fresh” batch of cars, now I know. May a bunch of Lancia parts find homes over the next few weeks!
This was a U-Pull-A-Part company yard that posts their cars online and you can even sign up to be notified if a particular make and model comes in via their website. It usually takes them a day or two to get it online, but if I had something that I could use parts for and there weren’t many around, I’d surely sign up for that…My regular yard though closer to my house doesn’t do that so you do sometimes see cars with what look like decent parts getting crushed. At least the opportunity was there, rather than when it just sits and corrodes in Mr.I’mGonnaRestoreItSomeDay’s back forty until absolutely nothing is usable anymore…
I recognise those keys – my mother in law got a new Beta coupé in 1981 !
I have to admit that I didn’t realise that the Beta, other than the Monte Carlo, made it to the US.
The Spyder (Euro term for this car) is still a bit of a favourite, as is the HPE. Both come well ahead of the regular Coupe, although the Spyder does fill a a pretty small niche. But only 108bhp – that sounds so underpowered now, even allowing for the emissions stuff.
Here are 2 I saw at a car show last year. Very tempting.
I hate to sound curmudgeonly but these did nothing for me 40 years ago and even less now. And I’ve owned two Alfa’s and still own a Ducati so I have a bit of Italophile in me. Mundane mechanicals, awkward proportions and nothing else to recommend it. The last Lancia worthy of the name was the Fulvia HF (not a fan of the Stratos, though the rebadged Chrysler 300 gets bonus points for just being weird). OK, rant over, it’s still a great junkyard find and thanks for taking the time to write it up.
If you haven’t actually driven a Beta, you missed out on something special. Superb and viceless handling, braking and roadholding, with a taut yet supple ride quality and a rev-happy engine singing a melodious song.
“As if on rails” never meant so much to me until I got mine and took it on a shakedown cruise along most of the Pacific Coast Highway #1 on the way home, taking each successive hairpin turn faster and faster as I discovered it just Would. Not. Break. Loose. no matter how hard I pushed it, my nerve finally running out before the grip ever did.
As for “mundane mechanicals”, sure it had the Lampredi twincam I-4 engine from Fiat’s Spider and other RWD models, but turned sideways driving the front wheels among numerous other refinements by Lancia engineers; however, that was one of the most advanced and efficient engines in the world at the time, so a real no-brainer for Lancia to adopt for their new model, freeing up their industry-leading engineers (who remained on-staff after the Fiat buyout) to develop literally everything else about the platform on a very tight deadline without any Fiat meddling.
And what advanced engineering it offered! The Lancia Beta platform was the very first car mass-produced to the overall engineering formula that ultimately became industry-standard worldwide: DOHC engine mounted transversely to a 5-speed transaxle for FWD, 4-wheel disc brakes, rack’n’pinion steering (w/ an option for ZF power steering), fully independent strut-based suspension with an elegantly simple and clever multi-link rear (the rear anti-roll bar was mounted on hinges to serve double-duty as trailing links) — all features we might find in nearly any mass-market econobox today, yet few cars had ANY of that, let along ALL of that, when the Beta debuted in 1972, nor many more when it retired a dozen years later.
Parents had two Beta sedans. Both unlucky cars, as they had three major crashes between them. Only one was Dad’s fault, too fast in the rain, the Michelin Xs let go and he nearly ended up in the cemetery. No injuries, but the inverted Beta ended up only feet from the cemetery fence.
Australia got the sedans, the lovely coupe, and the HPE estate, never the Zagato. It beats me why, as the RHD aspect was already there.
What a great article.
I just picked up a 1981 Beta Zagato. Needs some work, but lucky for me, it came with a parts car.
I live in Portland ME, and I think I’m probably one of the only ones in the New England area that will have a running one (come next summer).
Thank you for this writing. It was a pleasure to read 🙂
Here I am with my “new” Zagato
There was a faded red similar car in a junk yard near me I spotted maybe 15 plus years ago with an automatic tranny… In exceptional condition … I had previously purchased some donation type red block volvos and numerous used parts there over the years at the yard. Was on first name basis with the owner and parts office guy.. The Lancia had minimal rust spots, body, top and interior were very presentable. I borrowed a jump pack from the office and managed to get it started and ran it probably 20 minutes or so, sounded good, ran fine enough… Shut it off after warming it up and it would not restart. I’ve always been attracted to the Italian sport car but have never owned one… Should have brought it home and done what I could for it, but I was happy to have fired it up for a few minutes of rebirth and moved on to something else.. Along with the red blocks I even bought a z31 300zx there.. I’m 71 now and still playing cars, I have 3 bimmers, 99 528, 99 M3convertible, 96 328 and a 63 Mercury comet s22convertible just like my first car. Purchased that one in sept…
This article is showing up in my feed in 2024. Two years after. I own a Lancia Beta and I had one in college. Fun car and it attracted attention.