How The Enemy Within Killed One Of Italy's Greatest Car Makes - History of Lancia

My mate had a LANCIA dealership in Glasgow in the late 1970s he told me they were an excellent car superbly engineered he actually owned one himself he sent it into a rust proofing company who rust proofed the whole car he ran that car right into the 1980s and never had a bit of rust

The best car I ever owned was a Lancia HF Turbo, white with Martini stripes. I did thousands of miles around the U.K and Europe in the 80's and early 90's and it never let me down and I loved it to bits, even if it did understeer horrendously in the wet and the windows didn't always go up when you wanted them to.

This is saddening. In the mid-80s, as a 20 year old, I purchased a Lancia Beta 2.0 Coupe. It was fabulous. Fast (for the time), wonderful engine and neutral and safe handling (for a FWD). It had it's flaws but, like all the most seductive Italian mistresses, it's looks and style were beyond persuasive so I happily forgave it it's trivial failings and frustrations, like the manifold bolts that just refused to stay torqued down and were a pain to reach due to the back-canted engine.

I was a mechanic in a former life and had the pleasure of working at a couple of Italian car repair shops where i saw all sorts including Beta, fulvia zagato, flavia, flamina, HPE. My favourite Lancias were those prior to fiat ownership; the V6, flat 4, and the 'V4' were truly works of art.

Excellent recap of Lancia, Alex. Yes, it's sad to see FIAT never made heads or tails of an otherwise fantastic brand. In an ideal world, you would have Ferrari for performance seekers, Maserati for luxury performance, Lancia for high-quality mass-produced performance, Alfa for a synthesis of all of the above and FIAT cars to surprise us once in a while. Also, ask the Maserati family how they felt seeing the government give money to Alfa and not Maserati in the 50s and 60s.

Hallo Giacomo,interesting story.In my family we had 42 Lancias from 1950 and personally I owned 11 of them.My first remember of a car is that of my mother's Fulvia Berlina,and my last Lancia was a Thesis V6 3.0.But I also remember my father's Flaminia Coupè (he had four of them,all metallic silver with black leather interiors because he thought that nobody could realize that he was changing car often....)and I have good rememberings of my cars.The first that I bought with my money was a beautiful Gamma Coupè mk 2.It was an excellent but fragile car,with fantastic stability and road holding and excellent brakes.It was not completely reliable,but,as all the Lancisti,I tended to love my Gamma and I am thinking to buy another one one day.My Gamma is still on the road,owned by a collector. I had also two Delta 2,a 5 door HF and a Hpe HF and I can say that one of the best cars I have ever had was the ugly K coupè,a 5 cylinder 2.0 liter turbo,that was a perfect car.The same I can say about the Thesis,that was a V6 3.0 liter. I agree with your description of the story of Lancia,but in the last 20 years Fiat spent a lot of money in the wrong way to save Lancia. Sergio Marchionne was a great finance manager but he understood nothing about cars.The results of his choiches are evident with Lancia but also with Alfa Romeo. After Marchionne Alfa was reduced to two models,the Giulia and the Stelvio,both with few engines and in one version. I don't consider the third Alfa,the 4C (I have one,I had I ride today with her) because even if I adore her,is probably the only car that is not at all useful.It is just a big toy,but you can't do anything with her,if not driving around for fun which is a great thing for a petrolhead but is a nonsense for a car maker. When mr.Marchionne said that the Lancia brand had no more appeal,he forgot that in all the world the word Integrale is still well known,and he lost the greatest opportunity to revive Lancia saying no to the Fulvia Coupè of 2003,that was a little masterpiece with people ready to buy one everywhere. Marchionne was the same man that,when the actual Fiat 500 was launched as a show car in 2004 as the Trepiuno,didn't want to produce her,and it had been a very hard task to convince him that that little car,rebadged 500,was to became a huge success. Lancia was very ill,but the final her final killer was Sergio Marchionne,a man for whom I have a real simpathy and admiration,but that was not the best as a car maker. And when he decided to replace Montezemolo with himself at Ferrari,he did other disasters. Compare the Montezemolo-Ferrari results with those of the Marchionne-Ferrari in F1 and you'll understand.

In early eighties my partner had a coupe and an HPE , both amazing cars .

Such a shame when one recalls their amazing race/rally heritage.I will long remember standing in the Forest of Dean at dead of night & hearing the Stratos approaching from about a mile away! Later I owned two Beta HPE,s & they were great.I always wanted a Thema Turbo but ended up with a Fiat Chroma which,in all fairness, was,nt bad,Also we had an italian car specialist in Harrow where I used to live.

The departure of Ir. Ghidella as manager of the car department and the last car man within Fiat was a blow which they never really recovered from. Under his stewardship FIAT had a renaissance and Lancia made some profit. He understood the position of Lancia and made the best of it. The take over of Alfa and the intern struggle of power drove Ghidella out.

I had 5 Lancias including 2 Betas, 1 HPE and Gamma coupe and they were all great cars. I even managed to find and buy back the Gamma after 10 years but had to part with again due to a divorce. I've tried to find it again but I think it's gone to the great scrap yard in the sky! I've also driven a Thema turbo, Montecarlo, Y10 and a Trevi.

The Delta III is subjectively a very handsomely and cleverly designed car. I owned one for more than a year and sold it a few months ago and it was always a conversation starter around the city. Quite reliable car as well. It was a Fiat under the hood obviously but it was definitely something to look at. I think it’s design still stands as one of the most beautiful modern c-segment hatchbacks today.

Great video as usual. It was a Lancia Delta HPE that started my love for Italian vehicles. Despite its various flaws, the driving experience was on another level than what I had previously experienced. Since those days, there have been a series of Fiat's and Alfa Romeo but it will always be a Lancia that holds a special place in my love of cars.

Thank you for that explanation. As someone who has owned four Lancias I'm appalled at what they've become .

I have 2009 Lancia Delta, had 2004 Alfa Romeo 156 before. Great cars both, reliable, beautifull and fun to drive. Hope both of these car makers will have a bright future.

A friend and I both bought 1600 Beta coupe's a couple of weeks apart in about 1988 ish. Mine was burgundy and his was a kind of, off green. Great memories, barring the cambelt snapping on mine hour's after a spontaneous purchase. I recall the interior's being far more opulent than any other production car of their price range.

The Gamma coupe is one of the most beautiful designs I've seen . I got to appreciate that when I was climbing over them in the local scrapyard.

Thank you. I owned a 1991 Delta. 1500 hundred miles from new it needed a new engine. After that the car got gremlins. It wasn't the only one, the dealer was full of brand-new Deltas with problems. I dont remember ever being so happy to sell a car. When it did work, it worked wonderfully.

As an English Italian myself, it is sad. My first car was a Y10 back in the 90s. What's happening to mass market Italian cars is sad too. They have no place in the modern world. People bought Italian cars for their looks, performance and "brio" on the whole. Now everything is going hybrid and EV, unfortunately, there's no place for performance from glorious engines like Busso's. Add to that, that SUVs and crossovers are what the market "wants" and there goes beautiful cars. That's why I can't see there being anything other than fiat 500 variants being sold by Italy soon...no need for a beautiful suit, when everyone is wearing track suits. Saying that, if they took the Giulia Cloverleaf, gave it 4WD, tweaked the interior and put a Delta like body in it and called it the integrale, I'd bite. Keep up the great videos.

I was lucky enough in the 90’s to own a red Integrale 16v. I still kick myself for selling it and even dream sometimes of finding it and buying it back! Currently on the waiting list for an LB Stratos. 🤞

That opening music from the news at 10 really brought me back. Wow.😊