Lancia Beta
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Lancia Beta | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Lancia |
| Production | 1972–1984 |
The Lancia Beta was a car produced by Lancia. It was the first Lancia produced by the company after it had been taken over by Fiat in 1969. The company chose the name Beta for a new vehicle to be launched in 1972. The choice of name symbolised a new beginning as it reflected the fact that the company’s founder, Vincenzo Lancia (1881-1937), utilized letters of the Greek alphabet for his early vehicles (Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, etc). Beta had been used before for Lancia’s 1908 car and again for a 1953 bus! Lancia had originally utilized the first letter of the Greek alphabet: Alpha. But this was not chosen for the new 1972 Lancia, due to the obvious confusion it might cause with a certain Milanese competitor called Alfa Romeo.
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[edit] Model range
The Beta was available in a number of different body styles:
- The most common body style was the four-door saloon or sedan, which had the wedge-shaped appearance of a hatchback (certain models even had a rear wiper) but in fact had a conventional boot. Late in the saloon's life it underwent a drastic reworking with assistance from Pininfarina and became known as the Beta Trevi.
- The second style to appear was a 2+2 seater two door coupé. The bodywork was styled by an inhouse Lancia team lead by Pietro Castagnero who had also styled the Lancia Fulvia saloon and coupé.
- The next version to be launched was a two door convertible called the Spider (or Zagato in America). The Spider featured a Targa top roof panel, a roll-over bar and folding rear hood. The Spider was designed by Pininfarina but actually built by Zagato.
- Then came a three-door sporting estate or shooting-brake called the HPE. HPE stood for High Performance Estate and then later on stood for High Performance Executive. The HPE was also styled inhouse at Lancia by Castagnero and team.
- The final variant was the Pininfarina designed – and built – two door Lancia Monte Carlo. This was a rear-wheel drive mid-engined two-seater sports car.
[edit] Features
All versions of the car came with DOHC engines, five speed gearboxes, rack and pinion steering, independent suspension using MacPherson struts all round and disc braking on all four wheels. The front wheel drive models were available in a number of engine capacities ranging from 1.3 L to 2.0 L.
As with a number of previous front wheel drive Lancia models, the engine and gearbox were mounted on a subframe that bolted to the underside of the body. However, in the Beta the engine and gearbox were fitted transversely in line. This Fiat inspired configuration not only enabled very neat engine bay packaging, but also, by tilting the engine 20 degrees rearwards, the Lancia engineers achieved improved weight transfer over the driven wheels and towards the centre of the car, as well as lowering the centre of gravity. The rear wheel drive Montecarlo employed a similar layout except the subframe was mounted at the rear.
On the front wheel drive Betas, Lancia designed a particularly original independent rear suspension with MacPherson struts attached to parallel transverse links that pivoted on a centrally mounted cross member bolted to the underside of the floorpan. An anti-roll bar was fitted to the floorpan ahead of the rear struts with both ends of the bar trailing back to bolt to the rear struts on each side. This unique design went on to be used in later Lancia models. Unfortunately the design was never patented by Lancia, and consequently inspired similar rear suspension system layouts in other manufacturers' vehicles during the 1980s and 1990s.
Despite its unique chassis, suspension and bodywork, for some the Beta could never be a true Lancia because of its use of the Fiat based engine. However, it must be remembered that the Fiat DOHC engine (originally designed by Aurelio Lampredi, who built engines for Ferrari until Fiat employed him) was one of the most advanced 4 cylinder engines in the world at that time. It is now regarded as a classic engine in its own right.
Nevertheless, the Lancia engineers made important changes to the engine for the Beta. These included a totally bespoke cylinder head which incorporated hemispherical combustion chambers, different valve timing, new inlet and exhaust manifolds as well as different carburation. These modifications resulted in higher horse power and torque figures for the engines as used in the Beta. In addition the mounting points on the engine block were different to allow for the transverse installation as apposed to the longitudinal installation utilised by Fiat. For these reasons the engines are not interchangeable between Betas and contemporary Fiats such as the Fiat 132.
The different models all underwent various revisions and improvements over the years.Power steering specially produced by the German company ZF became available on certain Left Hand Drive models and was also used on the Gamma. Electronic ignition became available in 1978. Automatic transmission became available the same year; the Beta was the first Lancia manufactured with an automatic transmission factory option. In 1981 power steering also became available on certain Right Hand Drive models. Also in that year a fuel-injected version of the 2.0 litre engine bacame available on certain models. Late in the model's life the Trevi, Coupé and HPE became available with a Roots-type supercharger; these variants were known as Volumex models and had the highest performance of all the Betas.
[edit] Legacy
The Beta was very well received by the motoring press and public when launched. The various models were praised for their lively performance as well as their good handling and roadholding. They were widely regarded as a "driver's car" with plenty of character. The Beta was competitively priced and managed to become the highest ever selling Lancia model up to that point.
Unfortunately a combination of poor quality steel (allegedly Russian steel supplied to Fiat in return for building the Lada factory), poor rust proofing and old fashioned paint techniques at the factory lead to the Beta gaining a reputation for being rust-prone, particularly the 1st Series vehicles (built from 1972-75). The corrosion problems could be structural; for instance where the subframe carrying the engine and gearbox was bolted to the underside of the car. The box section to which the rear of the subframe was mounted could corrode badly causing the subframe to become loose. Although tales of subframes dropping out of vehicles were simply not true, a vehicle with a loose subframe would fail a technical inspection.
In the UK (Lancia's largest export market at the time) the company listened to the complaints from its dealers and customers and commenced a campaign to buy back vehicles affected by the subframe problem. Customers were invited to present their cars to a Lancia dealer for an inspection. If their vehicle was affected by the subframe problem, the customer was offered a part exchange deal to buy another Lancia or Fiat car. The cars that failed the inspection were scrapped. Sadly in 1980 certain UK newspapers and TV programmes got wind of what Lancia was already doing to help its customers and embarked on a campaign to publicise the issue and humiliate the manufacturer.
Whilst later Betas (2nd Series cars) had reinforced subframe mounting points and post 1979 cars were better protected from the elements, these issues damaged the whole marque's sales success on most export markets. However, thanks to its strong driver appeal, the Beta still enjoys a following today. Surviving examples make an interesting classic car choice for the enthusiast.
Production ran from 1972 until 1984.
[edit] In popular culture
In Bad Timing, the character played by Art Garfunkel drives a red Lancia Beta Spider in the streets of Vienna. In Modern Problems the character played by Chevy Chase drives a light blue Beta Coupé behind a truck carrying and spilling nuclear waste!
[edit] External Links
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1918-1945: Aprilia · Ardea · Artena · Astura · Augusta · Dilambda · Kappa · Lambda 1945-1980: Appia · Aurelia · Beta · Flaminia · Flavia · Fulvia · Gamma · Monte Carlo · Stratos 1980-2000: Dedra · Delta · Delta S4 · Kappa · Lybra · Prisma · Thema · Y10 · Ypsilon · Zeta · 037 (Group B) Current models: Musa · Phedra · Thesis · Ypsilon Clubs: Lancia Motor Club (UK) |
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| Vincenzo Lancia | Corporate website | A brand of the Fiat group |
