Lancia Beta Forum

Beta Stories/Photos/Videos from the 70’s or 80’s ?

-Photo’s
-Online videos
-Did you work for Lancia
-Drove one as a company car
-Learnt to drive in a Beta
-Worked in the press at the time
-Or just anything Beta related

It would be great to hear your stories/memories
absolutely anything that might be of interest from this era

If your not a member and would still like to share something, please use the contact admin tab at the top of this page.
For help inserting photos/videos please see our help section: http://www.betaboyz.myzen.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=163.0 (http://www.betaboyz.myzen.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=163.0)

Or drop me a PM / use the contact Admin tab

Hi
Just found this photo, which was taken in the 80s. Poole, Dorset.
Pretty sure that's a Beta Coupe.

Making the Allegro and the Avenger (?) look particularly dowdy.

Avenger/Hunter? Hard to tell.

As you say, the coupe looks from a different era( and continent!).

Mark 1 Cortina up the road. The Beta was very modern in the 80's and mechanics were used to basic stuff and were quick to dismiss complicated engines as rubbish. Must have been a nightmare to find a decent specialist.

i think British mechanics dismissed anything that wasn't Neanderthal and following the Ford/BLMC/Rootes philosophy. Actually if you look at an 8v twin cam it is a paragon of elegant simplicity 

That's very true.

My dad used to rant about the work done by garages on Imps that he had to sort out (they were generally pretty second hand by the time we could afford them) and they weren't particularly complex either  - just a bit innovative.

Mark IV Cortina in fore ground on the right. I had a couple for company cars and the 2.0 was no slouch and handled Okish for a larger car.

Peter

Our (my older brother and my) late father owned both a Lancia Beta Berlinetta Saloon (1300) and Lancia Trevi when we were growing up in Birmingham in the 70s/80s. Unfortunately, we were too young to get to drive either car. I dont remember much about the Beta but remember the Trevi being a great car to be in - apart from the electrics which always seemed to have something wrong with them! And both mine and my brother's memory of smoke coming into the car when reversing up a steep hill on holiday.

The following link takes you to some edited cine film of the Trevi in action in our road in the snow - with appearances by our late mother and late father and neighbour, taken by me and my brother.  https://www.wevideo.com/view/2914221642   Hopefully the link works!

Having seen the Lancia Beta Saloon at the NEC Classic Motor Show, we were prompted to share this video.
And, yes, we probably should have gone outside to help but if we had, there wouldn't have been the cine film to share now! :)

Excellent  - was great to chat with you at the show and thanks for uploading.

Great footage- when we used to have snow in the Midlands- 1981 ish?

I learned to drive in my Fathers 1.6 Mark 4! just loved it, really 'put it through its paces' loved driving it for any reason whatsoever ..would love to drive one again to see if it was as good as I remember.


Andrew

Totally agreed that the Mk IV was a great car. I resided in Johannesburg for a while and was fortunate to
own a Mk V  Essex-powered 3 Ltr Estate. The local Ford factory also built an XR6 Interceptor (saloon) version which
had triple Webers.

Hi Nigel

They did like their big engined cars in SA…..

One little story on the brown 2l Mark IV. I was coming home one evening from working on site to Aylesbury, nearly home and rounded a bend at reasonable speed to be faced with a guy coming towards me overtaking a line of traffic, so pulled onto the grass verge and unfortunately ended up in a small ditch with the front wing bent. No after effects for myself luckily, but when the car was returned all fixed I found, after a week or so, a pair of mole grips still attached to the fixed wing which had been used to fasten it whilst they welded it. I still have the mole grips 42 years on and they get used regularly…….

Peter