| If Town were a car we'd be a 1970s Lancia 22:04 - Nov 28 with 1755 views | TNBlue |
Expensive, stylish and perform well on a good day but full of weak spots and liable to break down when you need them most. |  | | |  |
| If Town were a car we'd be a 1970s Lancia on 22:09 - Nov 28 with 1257 views | cressi |
A wartburg 2 strokes and were done. | | | |
| If Town were a car we'd be a 1970s Lancia on 22:54 - Nov 28 with 1207 views | mellowblue |
expensive, fairly, but depreciation mean't they were a good second hand buy.
stylish, of course.
perform well, unreliable no,they were pretty reliable actually, strong mechanics.
liable to rust though.
I had 3 or 4 in the 70s/80s, loved them. | | | |
| If Town were a car we'd be a 1970s Lancia on 22:57 - Nov 28 with 1198 views | cressi |
| If Town were a car we'd be a 1970s Lancia on 22:54 - Nov 28 by mellowblue |
expensive, fairly, but depreciation mean't they were a good second hand buy.
stylish, of course.
perform well, unreliable no,they were pretty reliable actually, strong mechanics.
liable to rust though.
I had 3 or 4 in the 70s/80s, loved them. |
Lancia or wartburg | | | |
| If Town were a car we'd be a 1970s Lancia on 23:19 - Nov 28 with 1186 views | mellowblue |
| If Town were a car we'd be a 1970s Lancia on 22:57 - Nov 28 by cressi |
Lancia or wartburg |
The Italian beauties that are Lancia. Having 3 or 4 Wartburgs would be an embarrassing confession to have to make. | | | |
| If Town were a car we'd be a 1970s Lancia on 23:28 - Nov 28 with 1175 views | Churchman |
The Lancia Delta Integrale is one of the finest hot hatches ever made. Brilliant car, brilliant engineering. If I had the skill and ability to maintain one, I’d have one. |  | | |
| If Town were a car we'd be a 1970s Lancia on 23:35 - Nov 28 with 1162 views | bluelagos |
| If Town were a car we'd be a 1970s Lancia on 23:28 - Nov 28 by Churchman |
The Lancia Delta Integrale is one of the finest hot hatches ever made. Brilliant car, brilliant engineering. If I had the skill and ability to maintain one, I’d have one. |
My thoughts exactly. You want a volvo that's never going to excite you, McCarthys yer man.
Get the Lancia firing on all cylinders and you simply won't get better. Good things come to those who wait. |  |
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| If Town were a car we'd be a 1970s Lancia on 23:39 - Nov 28 with 1158 views | WeWereZombies |
| If Town were a car we'd be a 1970s Lancia on 23:19 - Nov 28 by mellowblue |
The Italian beauties that are Lancia. Having 3 or 4 Wartburgs would be an embarrassing confession to have to make. |
I think they're quite collectable now, aren't they ?
Lancias, not Wartburgs... |  |
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| If Town were a car we'd be a 1970s Lancia on 23:45 - Nov 28 with 1147 views | Churchman |
| If Town were a car we'd be a 1970s Lancia on 23:39 - Nov 28 by WeWereZombies |
I think they're quite collectable now, aren't they ?
Lancias, not Wartburgs... |
They’re certainly very rare and yes, mega collectible. | | | |
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| If Town were a car we'd be a 1970s Lancia on 23:46 - Nov 28 with 1149 views | mellowblue |
| If Town were a car we'd be a 1970s Lancia on 23:28 - Nov 28 by Churchman |
The Lancia Delta Integrale is one of the finest hot hatches ever made. Brilliant car, brilliant engineering. If I had the skill and ability to maintain one, I’d have one. |
I had the chance to buy one when they were still affordable but the bog standard interior and LHD put me off. Remarkable cars. | | | |
| If Town were a car we'd be a 1970s Lancia on 23:51 - Nov 28 with 1144 views | Churchman |
| If Town were a car we'd be a 1970s Lancia on 23:46 - Nov 28 by mellowblue |
I had the chance to buy one when they were still affordable but the bog standard interior and LHD put me off. Remarkable cars. |
I was never in position to buy one (or to maintain it) but I get what you say about LHD. The mouse fur interior? Not bothered about that.
Awesome machine. Always liked cars that didn’t look a lot but had it where it counted. | | | |
| If Town were a car we'd be a 1970s Lancia on 23:57 - Nov 28 with 1129 views | cressi |
| If Town were a car we'd be a 1970s Lancia on 23:39 - Nov 28 by WeWereZombies |
I think they're quite collectable now, aren't they ?
Lancias, not Wartburgs... |
East German wartburgs I believe | | | |
| If Town were a car we'd be a 1970s Lancia on 00:05 - Nov 29 with 1123 views | mellowblue |
| If Town were a car we'd be a 1970s Lancia on 23:51 - Nov 28 by Churchman |
I was never in position to buy one (or to maintain it) but I get what you say about LHD. The mouse fur interior? Not bothered about that.
Awesome machine. Always liked cars that didn’t look a lot but had it where it counted. |
actually looking again, the interior is better than I remembered it being. Still LHD is an issue though there were a few dealer RHD conversions which compromised the steering making it lower geared, supposedly. Lancia are still alive and kicking in Italy and are supposed to be bringing out a retro version of the Integrale, but it will never have the raw beast factor of the original. | | | |
| If Town were a car we'd be a 1970s Lancia on 14:01 - Nov 29 with 961 views | Churchman |
| If Town were a car we'd be a 1970s Lancia on 00:05 - Nov 29 by mellowblue |
actually looking again, the interior is better than I remembered it being. Still LHD is an issue though there were a few dealer RHD conversions which compromised the steering making it lower geared, supposedly. Lancia are still alive and kicking in Italy and are supposed to be bringing out a retro version of the Integrale, but it will never have the raw beast factor of the original. |
Italian cars were always a bit tight on the seating and pedals so I can’t imagine RHD conversions were a great success.
I had opportunity to borrow German cars around 2000 and drove my dad’s BMWs and Audi’s before that. The pedals were slightly offset and I was told that was due to adapting them to RHD. Gave me horrendous backache. They’ve clearly done something because my relatively new A3 has a perfect driving position for me.
I think the Lancia name was pulled from U.K. due to rust. They, like Alfa’s, really did dissolve. In a sense I hope they don’t produce a retro version of the Integrale for the very reason you give. It was of it’s time and best left there. [Post edited 29 Nov 2025 14:16]
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| If Town were a car we'd be a 1970s Lancia on 14:44 - Nov 29 with 925 views | flykickingbybgunn |
Did n't the engine keep falling out after a few years. The Lancia. Also had a well earnt reputation for rust in all the places you dont want it. |  | | |
| If Town were a car we'd be a 1970s Lancia on 15:02 - Nov 29 with 910 views | Churchman |
| If Town were a car we'd be a 1970s Lancia on 14:44 - Nov 29 by flykickingbybgunn |
Did n't the engine keep falling out after a few years. The Lancia. Also had a well earnt reputation for rust in all the places you dont want it. |
My mums best friend’s husband bought a big Wolseley in the early mid 70s brand new. One week in he braked at the lights and the engine didn’t. The boys at British Leyland had forgotten to put the mounting bolts in. They tried to wheedle out of repairing it by blaming him (it was the 70s and a refund on anything was a tough ask). Rubbish cars were not the preserve of our Italian friends.
But yes, everything fell out of Lancia's, Alfas and Fiats. You had to be an enthusiast or a bit mad to buy one. Looked good though. [Post edited 29 Nov 2025 15:04]
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| If Town were a car we'd be a 1970s Lancia on 16:19 - Nov 29 with 871 views | flykickingbybgunn |
| If Town were a car we'd be a 1970s Lancia on 15:02 - Nov 29 by Churchman |
My mums best friend’s husband bought a big Wolseley in the early mid 70s brand new. One week in he braked at the lights and the engine didn’t. The boys at British Leyland had forgotten to put the mounting bolts in. They tried to wheedle out of repairing it by blaming him (it was the 70s and a refund on anything was a tough ask). Rubbish cars were not the preserve of our Italian friends.
But yes, everything fell out of Lancia's, Alfas and Fiats. You had to be an enthusiast or a bit mad to buy one. Looked good though. [Post edited 29 Nov 2025 15:04]
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Oh I did not mean that bad workmanship was exclusive to Italian cars. But some of them were design disasters. Even if they looked good at the time.
Just about then I had an Austin Healy Sprite. When it rained too hard a small paddling pool was to be found in the passengers footwell. | | | |
| If Town were a car we'd be a 1970s Lancia on 16:29 - Nov 29 with 867 views | Bluespeed225 |
My mate took his to a northern soul weekend at a holiday camp, 1989, every time he closed the door , something fell off! On the Monday morning we collected the various bits up, mainly bits of rusty steel the size of sardine tin lids, plus assorted nuts and bolts. | | | |
| If Town were a car we'd be a 1970s Lancia on 16:59 - Nov 29 with 838 views | Benters |
| If Town were a car we'd be a 1970s Lancia on 23:28 - Nov 28 by Churchman |
The Lancia Delta Integrale is one of the finest hot hatches ever made. Brilliant car, brilliant engineering. If I had the skill and ability to maintain one, I’d have one. |
I seem to remember those as a rally car ? |  |
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| If Town were a car we'd be a 1970s Lancia on 17:15 - Nov 29 with 802 views | Swansea_Blue |
| If Town were a car we'd be a 1970s Lancia on 23:28 - Nov 28 by Churchman |
The Lancia Delta Integrale is one of the finest hot hatches ever made. Brilliant car, brilliant engineering. If I had the skill and ability to maintain one, I’d have one. |
I'm with you on that. As luck happens - https://www.modelsport.co.uk/p
Probabl not what you had in mind, but you could start small and work your way up  |  |
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| If Town were a car we'd be a 1970s Lancia on 18:39 - Nov 29 with 764 views | mellowblue |
| If Town were a car we'd be a 1970s Lancia on 15:02 - Nov 29 by Churchman |
My mums best friend’s husband bought a big Wolseley in the early mid 70s brand new. One week in he braked at the lights and the engine didn’t. The boys at British Leyland had forgotten to put the mounting bolts in. They tried to wheedle out of repairing it by blaming him (it was the 70s and a refund on anything was a tough ask). Rubbish cars were not the preserve of our Italian friends.
But yes, everything fell out of Lancia's, Alfas and Fiats. You had to be an enthusiast or a bit mad to buy one. Looked good though. [Post edited 29 Nov 2025 15:04]
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I wasn't too mad buying them. The trick was to buy them after a 2-3 years. Fiat heavily discounted them when new, so the depreciation was high. Keep them a couple of years and then move them on. I used them as my company car at the time so the further depreciation did not impact me and it was a cheap initial buy for the company. Keep them longer than that, and rust would start to be an issue. I used to ziebart the underneath of the car to protect them. To be fair plenty of cars were rust buckets in those days. Lancia were singled out for it in the UK for rustiness and never recovered from it. | | | |
| If Town were a car we'd be a 1970s Lancia on 18:43 - Nov 29 with 752 views | mellowblue |
| If Town were a car we'd be a 1970s Lancia on 16:59 - Nov 29 by Benters |
I seem to remember those as a rally car ? |
Correct, different versions of the Lancia Delta won 6 World Rally Championships in a row 1987-92, usually white with lots of Martini stripes, very good looking car. | | | |
| If Town were a car we'd be a 1970s Lancia on 22:33 - Nov 29 with 703 views | Churchman |
| If Town were a car we'd be a 1970s Lancia on 16:59 - Nov 29 by Benters |
I seem to remember those as a rally car ? |
It was and hugely successful. But to make a rally car they had to produce a certain number of road going versions and I suspect (correct me if I’m wrong Mellow) that’s why they did onlyLHD versions. | | | |
| If Town were a car we'd be a 1970s Lancia on 22:38 - Nov 29 with 701 views | Churchman |
| If Town were a car we'd be a 1970s Lancia on 18:39 - Nov 29 by mellowblue |
I wasn't too mad buying them. The trick was to buy them after a 2-3 years. Fiat heavily discounted them when new, so the depreciation was high. Keep them a couple of years and then move them on. I used them as my company car at the time so the further depreciation did not impact me and it was a cheap initial buy for the company. Keep them longer than that, and rust would start to be an issue. I used to ziebart the underneath of the car to protect them. To be fair plenty of cars were rust buckets in those days. Lancia were singled out for it in the UK for rustiness and never recovered from it. |
Well done you. Much braver than me but I guess as a company car you didn’t have to worry too much. At least they were exciting. The only two I ever had were a Astra and a Vectra. Aside from being fine with Vauxhalls and them not letting me down, excitement was….. zero.
Did you use waxoyl? I did a few times, but I’m not sure it made much difference really. [Post edited 29 Nov 2025 22:45]
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| If Town were a car we'd be a 1970s Lancia on 22:43 - Nov 29 with 692 views | Churchman |
| If Town were a car we'd be a 1970s Lancia on 16:19 - Nov 29 by flykickingbybgunn |
Oh I did not mean that bad workmanship was exclusive to Italian cars. But some of them were design disasters. Even if they looked good at the time.
Just about then I had an Austin Healy Sprite. When it rained too hard a small paddling pool was to be found in the passengers footwell. |
Rag top cars at that time all leaked like hell. If you see a Sprite now they look tiny! Mind you, leaks wise reach into the 80s including tin tops. The first ever second car we had (a 1.0 Nova saloon in brown and beige - mmm) leaked like the Titanic. Problem solved by drilling a hole in the front footwells and hanging out the ‘carpets’ when the smell got too bad. Dirt cheap transport though. Easy to fix too. [Post edited 29 Nov 2025 22:55]
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| If Town were a car we'd be a 1970s Lancia on 22:52 - Nov 29 with 675 views | Churchman |
| If Town were a car we'd be a 1970s Lancia on 16:29 - Nov 29 by Bluespeed225 |
My mate took his to a northern soul weekend at a holiday camp, 1989, every time he closed the door , something fell off! On the Monday morning we collected the various bits up, mainly bits of rusty steel the size of sardine tin lids, plus assorted nuts and bolts. |
Tremendous story.
Reminds me of a long weekend me and my chums had on the south coast. On the A2 the Hillman Imp overheated and was abandoned. One of the other chaps had a primrose yellow Herald estate. The rust on it was epic. When you opened the doors you could hear the rust. Tailgate - Niagara Falls in rust.
We got seven of us in that, thanks to the dead Imp. I suspect that a coordinated shuffle in the car and the chassis would have finished in the road.
The Marina worked ok and took a load more plus the beer. Goodness cars were truly dreadful in those days. [Post edited 29 Nov 2025 22:54]
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