[alfa] Alfistis with Lancias..

[Paul Witek <pwitek@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Jake - 

If the price is right, go for the Lancia - you'll have a blast.  I owned a '79 Zagato, and I'd buy one again.  

Compared to Alfas, the parts costs are generally cheaper and easily available - the engine is a version of the Fiat twincam, and a lot of the usual places handle hard parts (IAP, etc.) and it's definitely worth picking up a catalog from Bayless Fiat/Lancia.  The Beta series of Lancias came along after Fiat took over the reigns, so you'll find a lot of shared parts between Fiats and Lancias of the period.  Reliability-wise, the twincam is a good solid engine, with no real weak spots - just don't let the timing belt get ratty.

A few things to check on the Zagato in particular, however, are some of the parts that are exclusive to that model - taillights in particular. Pretty much anything from the doors back is Zagato-specific, so any damage or missing parts there will be harder to deal with than anything up front.  

An 80's model would be my choice, too - the engine got fuel injection in 1980, and the departure of the carbs took a lot of the emissions gobbledygook with it, and left extra horsepower behind.  The automatic transmission would probably best be avoided, however.  Places to check are mostly the typical ones - rockers for rust, bottoms of the doors, etc.  Also check the tops of the strut towers.

As for general driving impressions, the Betas are loads of fun.  Like Alfas, the Fiat twin-cam loves to rev.  For front-wheel-drive cars, Lancia did a good job countering the torque-steer issue, and the shift linkage (with good motormounts and linkage bushings) has a darn good feel.  IIRC, Zagatos started life as completed Beta Coupe bodyshells that were shipped to Zagato for the conversion to a targa-vertible, then back to Lancia for rustproofing, then back to Zagato for paint and upholstery before finally being shipped back to Lancia for the remaining mechanical parts.   The end result is a car that was pretty stiff for something with a (more or less) removable roof.

Good luck - and have fun!

- Paul Witek



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