Lancia Zagato

["John Hertzman" <johnhertzman@domain.elided>]

John Katos asked "isn't that the rebodied Fiat 124 Spider?" No, not quite. I
don't generally follow Fiat model lines, but the Lancia Zagato (which, as far
as I know, has no more connection to Zagato than the "GTA" has to the GTA) is
a targa-topped version of the Lancia Beta coupe, a visually neat
transverse-engined fwd small-Fiat-based analog, roughly, to an Alfasud Sprint,
with no disrespect intended to either the Lancia or the Alfasud. Or to Fiat,
for that matter. Lancia got roughly the same treatment after absorption into
Fiat that Alfa got, except that I don't think that any of the ur-Lancia
machinery survived as Alfa's engines did. The mid-sized Lancias anticipated
the Alfa 155, the large Lancia paralleled the 164, and the Beta/Alfasud Sprint
analogy probably isn't unfair except that the Alfasud was more "Alfa".

I almost bought a new Beta once, to be my wife's commuter; a local former Fiat
dealer had a slew of leftover new but very rusty 124 sedans and one very
handsome silver (with black leather, sunroof, alloys, and A/C) Beta. We
agonized over it for a week or so, and finally bought for about the same price
a second-series Scirocco instead, our first (and last) un-Italian car since
the MG 1100 and our first (and last) German car since the Beetle in 1958. The
Scirocco served well until 1987 when we got our Milano Plat and, as the saying
goes, lived happily ever after.

The couple of Betas I used to see in our community seemed to get shabby
awfully quickly; perhaps they just had unsympathetic owners, but door dings,
rust, faded paint, and long periods parked gave me an impression that they
were somewhat fragile and not well supported. Undoubtedly with the proper care
that tends to go with owner affection a Beta, Zagato, or Scorpion/Monte Carlo
could be an interesting and enjoyable car-of-special-interest, but to answer
Tim Timko's question "How much are these things worth?", my impression is that
the market interest in them is at best on the order of that of an Alfetta; a
choice example could be prized by someone who really appreciated them, but
both choice examples and appreciative buyers would be very rare indeed. I'd
guess his price was about right. And I will be interested in what other
opinions are.

Enjoy,

John H.
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