By Robert Emslie
This is Pininfarina’s 1978 Lancia Gamma Spider concept car, an offering that built on the design of the styling house’s already brilliant production coupé. We never got the Gamma here in the U.S., but we did get this car’s nominal little sister, the Beta-based Zagato. I’m thinking that if Fiat ever intended to revitalize Lancia as an aspirational brand rather than the open wound it has presently become, this would be an excellent place to start.
Last Call indicates the end of Hooniverse’s broadcast day. It’s meant to be an open forum for anyone and anything. Thread jacking is not only accepted, it’s encouraged.
Image: CarStyling.ru
Latest
Cars, Trucks, Bikes, Project Cars, DIY, Travel, Adventure, Podcast, Videos
Jeff Glucker
http://www.motorstown.com/images/lancia-beta-hpe-02.jpg
I had a Lancia Beta HPE in 1992. I liked it very much, mainly because girls liked it. Unfortunately it was an ardent devotee of the rust devil. It´s fate was sealed when left A-pillar was rusted through, giving the windshield a tremor. Italian cars of the 80s have awesome design- but sheet metal was worst in history.
Pininfarina did a showcar based on the Gamma Coupe with a similar theme, the Olgiata. Giovanni Agnelli used it as his own car for a while.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/Lancia_Gamma_Olgiata_1982_schr%C3%A4g.JPG
The ‘ordinary’ versions of the Gamma Coupe kept the ‘speedboat’ roll-bar styling feature expressed in sheet metal too. But it can be hard to pick up in photos.
It’s interesting to note that none of the special Gamma versions kept the mid level rubbing strip stupidly recessed into the concave side indentation. I’ve removed it from mine and was relieved to discover that Aldo Brovarone, the designer at Pininfarina never liked it either and revealed that it had been forced on him by Fiat management. The car looks much better without it
http://www.motorstown.com/images/lancia-gamma-coupe-01.jpg
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/f3/fd/d5/f3fdd5a597daae56b3995226dc704c4a.jpg
When I saw one I thought it was owner-installed!
First Lancia I ever saw was Chevy Chase’s Modern Problems.
It was also the first time I saw a gal’s nipple on the big screen.
Impressions.
http://www.imcdb.org/i085505.jpg
The Spyder didn’t just have a removable roof, but a removable rear window as well.
http://coachbuild.com/forum/download/file.php?id=52650&mode=view
The LeMons Rally came through my town tonight. I didn’t get to see many because most of them were late or went straight to their hotels. When I pulled into the lot, there were a couple of guys waiting to see the cars roll in. they asked me how my drive was, assuming I was a participant. Not sure whether to take that as a compliment or not?
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/37e4e1871bc060aeaf0126125b04f83fb4a498d7ec0ac83d424e81cdc0ff0129.jpg