Backtracking on the Lancia Zagato

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

Today I went by the other house (where the books are) and checked what I
should have checked before mouthing-off about the Lancia Zagato.

According to Wim Oude Weernink (author of "La Lancia", the classic basic book
on the marque) the Beta was much less of a Fiat rebody than I had thought; an
in-house design by holdover Lancia engineers, drawing on the Fiat parts pile
and drawing nothing from pre-Fiat Lancias, but still largely Lancia-designed
and Lancia-engineered. The Beta coupe body was designed in-house by Pietro
Castagnero, and is as handsome in photos as I had remembered it; in many
respects midway between the 105/115 coupes and the Alfetta coupes, a three-box
design with a cleaner articulation of surfaces than the Alfetta, crisper and
less voluptuous than the Bertone, as is the two-box design of the Alfasud
Sprint to which I had compared it. Personal tastes, others may differ.

The Beta Spider (evidently called the Spider, not the Zagato,,in Europe, per
Weernink) was a modification analogous to that of the Alfa GTC, with the
handwork-intensive modifications designed by Pininfarina and executed (in
steel) by Zagato, much as the GTC had been executed by Touring for the same
reasons. The hulls were built as Beta coupes by Fiat, shipped to Zagato to be
converted, shipped back to Fiat to be rustproofed, shipped back to Zagato to
be painted and trimmed, and shipped back to Fiat to have the mechanical units
installed. The model was dropped in Europe in 1981, but a small number were
built in 1982 for the US market.

Road & Track road-tested the Lancia HPE and coupe in November 1978, in the
same issue as the Alfetta Sport sedan automatic, the Alfetta a tad less
expensive (by $200), faster (by 9 mph) and quicker (by 4.1 seconds 0-80) with
shorter stopping distances (238' against 275' from 80 mph.)

The Zagato version was then road-tested by Road & Track in October 1979, with
an "At a Glance" panel comparing the Zagato with the Fiat Spider and the Alfa
Spider. In that order the weights were 2700, 2365, and 2430 lbs; 0-60 times
12.5, 10.6, 10.0; standing quarter mile times and speeds 19.0 sec/72.5 mph,
18.1 sec/77 mph, 17.6 sec/78.5 mph; fuel economy 20.5, 21.0, 27.5 mpg. The
engine data should gladden the hearts of Spica lovers; in US-tune the slightly
larger Lampredi twin-cam (1995 cc vs 1962 cc) developed 83 hp vs Alfa's 111
(both SAE net) and 101 lb-ft torque vs 116. The generally favorable report on
the Zagato (aren't they all?) ended with some quality-control criticisms:
"more than a few problems - - Granted, there was nothing that would disable
the car and all would be covered by warranty, but these were disheartening
things to happen in a car which has otherwise been transformed into one of the
most desirable in its class." Too bad; Lancia had been a splendid company,
older and generally more innovative than Alfa, and did not deserve such an
earned slide into bad repute. I would jump at a chance to own a decent example
of any pre-Fiat Lancia at anything like an Alfa-level price, but I'm not sorry
that I passed on that Beta.

Enjoy yours,

John H.
--
to be removed from alfa, see /bin/digest-subs.cgi
or email "unsubscribe alfa" to majordomo@domain.elided