Forgotten Classics
Discussion
dinkel said:
Does the same for me.
The Gamma coupe is amazing and timeless. Big 2.4 boxer 4 . . . It's so classy.
This was a beautiful car, but I'm afraid the engine was flawed in the piston department and Lancia never seemed to solve the problem.
I had three of these cars in a row and, despite sevicing and setting them up to utter perfection they all holed a piston, it just melted in the centre.
This can be a sign of severe pre-ignition or weak mixture, but it was never the same cylinder and the rest of the engine seemed to be unaffected.
I had the feeling that the piston material was not up to the mark and enough time hadn't been spent on development; but when it went it was simply gorgeous.
The tragedy of Lancia, I fully agree that the Gamma was a truly beautiful motor car.
In my humble the Monte Carlo also warrants a word on this thread as an affordable combination of style, mid engine layout and general panache but once again let down by heinous mechanical frailty.
The Monte of course spawned the illustrious 037 Rally car and indeed the group 5 Le Mans cars
To my mind I can’t help but think that there is a still a market for Lancia in the UK for those of us who prefer our motoring a little less bland
In my humble the Monte Carlo also warrants a word on this thread as an affordable combination of style, mid engine layout and general panache but once again let down by heinous mechanical frailty.
The Monte of course spawned the illustrious 037 Rally car and indeed the group 5 Le Mans cars
To my mind I can’t help but think that there is a still a market for Lancia in the UK for those of us who prefer our motoring a little less bland
simonrockman said:
If they make the new Fukvia and don't bring it to the UK there will be a substantial greay market.
Simon
Ahhh that lovely, lovely new Fulvia. I really hope they build it- it will be one of the very few cars I would want to ownf rom new. However, I'm sure I heard somehwere they have decided not to.
Shame, real shame
williamp said:
Ahhh that lovely, lovely new Fulvia.
v8thunder said:
[quote=dinkel]Porsche 914, '74 2.0
Original shape but never any follow up . . . a shame really.
There was a follow-up, but it took a while.
The Boxster
Are you kiddin' me? The Boxter follows the lines of the 911 . . .
Triumph Mayflower, luvly small luxury car
Saab Sonnet, TVR 3000Mish
edit:
Matra Simca Bagheera, not very much loved and only few exist due to serious breakdownfever . . .
>> Edited by dinkel on Sunday 21st November 21:12
Lancias come up a lot and certainly the Lancia Beta HPE was the best-looking estate ever and the Beta Coupe was a fantastically proportioned car:
Always had a soft spot for the 70's Firenzas too and the droop-snoot was a personal childhood dream that I never got to realise:
>> Edited by LuS1fer on Tuesday 23 November 10:27
Always had a soft spot for the 70's Firenzas too and the droop-snoot was a personal childhood dream that I never got to realise:
>> Edited by LuS1fer on Tuesday 23 November 10:27
Andrew Noakes said:
Lancia made some real beautifull but forgotten classics.
Absolutely. Fulvia Zagato anyone? I'm afraid I don't have a pic to hand.
That second Escort isn't really representative of the RS2000 - all the Mk2s had droop-snoot front ends.
you could spec the rs2000 with the flat front, the rally boys preferred them cos it was easier to hand 4 spot lamps off the flat front ..
I never got the Escorts at all. Basic mass-produced cars with mass-produced engines with struts up front and leaf sprung cart axles at the back. Learnt to drive in a Mk 1 1300 XL and hated it for poor rear visibility and being the most banal car in the world. Rough old dog of an engine and basically an improved Anglia. Sister had a 1300 estate that creaked like a galleon on the high seas. Fun? Not in my lifetime but I never drove an RS and preferred the coil sprung Vauxhalls.
My first car was an A-series engined Austin A40 Farina Mk II and that had character in spades and was pretty much like a dog with a bone when roused, if slow and underbraked.
Citroen SM was to die for, if weird, as I never liked the ugly back end of the frontally beautiful DS which these days would be facelifted...or bumlifted... in a heartbeat.
Lamborghini Espada was my other top car. Perfect...but I still chose the A40...
My first car was an A-series engined Austin A40 Farina Mk II and that had character in spades and was pretty much like a dog with a bone when roused, if slow and underbraked.
Citroen SM was to die for, if weird, as I never liked the ugly back end of the frontally beautiful DS which these days would be facelifted...or bumlifted... in a heartbeat.
Lamborghini Espada was my other top car. Perfect...but I still chose the A40...
I think the thing with the hot Escorts is that they're basically ordinary boring cars made to go like stink, and that, together with Ford parts interchangeability making it easy to "do things" to your ordinary boring Ford that would make it much more interesting, inspired a generation of petrolheads.
joospeed said:
you could spec the rs2000 with the flat front, the rally boys preferred them
Well that's a new one on me. I thought all the flat-front Mk2 rally cars were Mexicos or RS1800s. Now there's a curiously undervalued car, the RS1800: rally pedigree as long as your arm and great to drive, yet they're half the price of Lotus-Cortinas.
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