Lancia Beta Forum

Hi (I may have registered / posted on an old forum but I can't remember)

My name is Felix, I'm a Chemical Engineering student at Bath, and I am on the look out for a car. I have an irrational passion for Italian stuff that any sensible (or possible ill informed) person would avoid.

My Father is (was) a Lancia enthusiast, but his interest has waned somewhat. However he has a Coupe IE (was his daily until I was 2 or so), Coupe VX and a slightly sad HPE VX in the garage. None have been on the road in the past 18+ yrs. There are also lots of spares. Also a Flavia and a Fiat Barchetta. oh, and a 20ft Lancia sign!

So you can see why I am interested in Lancias!

I am looking at possibilities for running a Classic (20yrs +  insurance is cheaper) as a daily.

One of the options is a Beta Coupe/Hpe. My fathers are all too high engine capacity to be kind on insurance at the moment, but anything up to 1800cc is a possibility.

Am I crazy to consider a Beta as the car for me? I would be happy to put up with some quirks and extra maintenance to have something special!

Thanks For any replies,

Felix

Hi Felix,

No you're not mad. A classic is a pretty good choice for a student. It's different, far more stylish that a cheap eurobox, and you'll get to learn loads about maintenance (whether you want to or not). You'll also get good knowedgable support from the club. An HPE in particular is ideal for pilling all your crap into.....

The other advantage with a Beta is that the 1600 are not much slower than the 2000  - you just have to row them along a bit harder.

The only problem I can see is finding one as you'll probably have to travel about a fair bit. You should be able to find a decent 1600 Coupe or HPE for around the £2k mark, less if you don't mind sorting out a few problems yourself.

Regards

Thanks, there seem to be a lot of betas around, but not on the road.

How are the 1300s? I see they are not all that down on power over the others, but I guess they have to be worked hard. Seem quite rare though.

An ideal car for me would be one with a solid engine/ gearbox and bodywork, but it could be a little rough around the edges.

I will put a topic in general discussions, as I assume more people look there.

Once I know a bit more there might be a wanted ad. ;)

I may also have some questions from my old man.


Felix

Hi Felix

Firstly the 1300 is very rare, only seen one for sale over the last year and that was in a dealers who had had it as a show car for years. Most UK cars left are Series 2 Facelift, which tend to be mainly 2000, but there are 1600s out there.

As to maintenance, the big issues tend to be timing belts and oil, make sure you change them regularly (I am sure that others will also offer their suggestions as what to keep on top of).

The bodywork is always the issue on the pre treated metal bodies of this era, so where possible, get a view from soemone who knows the car type and where they are prone to go.

As mentioned above the HPE is probably the one to go for as an all round useful car (especially for moving kit and people).

The other alternative would be to go for a low spec delta which may give you less issues with bodywork as I guess Lancia improved the manufacturing by then, but as I have no experience of them, I will leave that to others to comment...

Peter

Welcome Felix,

The last 1300 I saw being driven in the UK was the Green one featured in Top Gear (Lancia Special) sadly it came to a sorry end.

1600 is a fantastic car to start with, a lively engine that performs just like a good italian twin cam should! That was my first ever Lancia back when I was 18 and I was well and truely hooked - 24 years later I've lost count of the Lancias I have owned.

There are a few 1600's around - varying conditions.

As Stuart says, you'll end up getting handy with the spanners, but if you do the basics then the car will look after you.

A Beta Coupe is a million times better looking than anything Corsa/Clio/Punto/Ka etc etc!!

Good luck and don't be afraid to ask questions!

i agree with all the above, how good is it  to hear support from a younger generation

i too had a 2000 coupe when i was 18 but simply could not afford to keep it on the road at the time and sadly let it go  :(

however like Matt i was bitten by the Beta bug and i bought another in late 2006 and as i have posted have finally had all the necessary work done to make it a usable daily car  :D

compared to my friends cars of the time 1988 when we were 17/18, mark 2 escort, 1300 dolomite, mazda 323 (the real old shape) there was no comparison.... having said that the same could well apply today to many of the dull cars out there!

they look great and if you are keen to work with it (unlike me) i guess you can do much of any necessary yourself

Rik

Peter, sadly I do have experience here and can confirm Deltas rust just as enthusiatically as Betas do. Rear arches and turrets, trailing edge of the roof and screen surround are all weak spots.

Ah, in that case stick with a Beta as in my opinion has more style about it.

Peter

I'll pm you in a minute, but agree mostly with the others, especially Stuart! Check out my Turbo for the mentioned weak spots on delta's! ;D Never driven a 1600 but been in one enough times, great engine sweet as a nut, but the 2000's not bad either, it will certainly rev ::) If you persist I would have thought you could find some pretty cheap insurance quotes, i've only just turned 22 years young, with all mods. declared on my 2.0 IE, insurance is only £265 fully comp for me :)
Marcus.

best of the bunch is 2.0ie smoother running than the slightly gruff 2.0 carb models, much more economical than a vx and nearly as sweet as a 1600 but not as rev happy. Shame about the upholstery though it's rather like it is trimmed in dish cloths, in this aspect the wool cloth of the carb cars wins hands down!! In modern traffic the 1600 is a bit short on torque not too bad in a coupé but in the heavier HPE and especially sedan a bit of a bind and embarrassment. Don't dismiss a sedan as a starter by the way not especially stylish but cheap if you can find one and very practical plus your friends will love the spacious interior. You could learn your way around a beta on one before moving on to a coupé and I suspect insurance may well be cheaper   

just to explain the insurance. any normal car is £1000+ on a normal policy for me (1.0 micra etc...) and anything interesting is nudging £2K

however on one or two classic policies I can have a 20+ year old car from £550 ish

limits on that are up to 1300cc , or a bit more for a bigger engine, up to 1800cc

That's with Peter James, who I must thank for being very helpful with all my questions, and a few quotes.

I passed my test in September, but I'm 21, so insurance rules are a little interesting, depending on the company.

I have yet to try a couple, but really they all want me to have held a licence to longer.

I would love my dads 2000ie,  it needs a good look over and a few small issues sorting, but is a really solid car, however I can't insure it for under £2000 a year right now.



thanks for the replies again everyone!