The most powerful Beta version at the time, with 119 hp
Exceptionally well preserved
Wonderful period colour combination
Just three owners from new
When Lancia unveiled the Beta in 1972, much had changed. The illustrious marque had been part of Fiat for three years, and the Beta was the first model developed entirely under the new regime. The task was considerable: it had to preserve Lancia’s individuality while also being sensible to manufacture. Two things that did not necessarily mean the same thing in Turin.
Technically, the Beta marked a thorough break with the past. Under the bonnet were four-cylinder engines from the Fiat parts bin. Yet things were not quite as prosaic as that might suggest. Lancia reworked the engines for its own purposes and combined them with sophisticated all-independent suspension.
The five-door Berlina, with its distinctive fastback shape, came first. It soon grew into an entire family: Coupé, Spider, HPE and, eventually, the mid-engined Montecarlo sports car. Hardly any two Beta variants looked alike, yet beneath the skin they remained closely related.
The Beta thus became one of the most important Lancias of the 1970s. Modern, comfortable and, when it wanted to be, sporting too, it showed that even under Fiat there was still room for the sort of technical individuality that had always distinguished Lancia.
This Lancia Beta 2000 was delivered by Steyr-Daimler-Puch AG to St. Pölten in September 1977. For decades, the Lancia remained faithful to its Lower Austrian home and initially passed through the hands of just two owners.
In 2011, the Beta finally passed to a Lancia collector, with whom it spent the following 15 years. That such a long period in knowledgeable hands has done it no harm is plain to see today. Its state of preservation is remarkable – and, particularly for a Beta of this era, anything but a matter of course. Rust, after all, has seen off more than enough of them. Only the driver’s seat has suffered a minor indignity, with one seam coming neatly apart.
Its period colour scheme adds further appeal and perfectly suits the clean-cut design language with which Lancia drew a fairly emphatic line under its past during the 1970s. What was intended to look modern then has long since acquired a charm all of its own.
Today, a Beta is an exceedingly rare sight on our roads, particularly in Berlina form. One preserved this well is rarer still. With Austrian delivery, just a handful of long-term owners and remarkably sound preservation, this Beta 2000 is a pleasingly authentic survivor from an era of Lancia that remained underestimated for far too long.