Odd Man Out
Back in the day when FIAT and Lancia had dealerships spanning the continent, FIAT was the prominant figure for affordable Italian automobiles. For those FIAT dealers who participated in representing Lancia, most had miniscule inventory at best. Here in Canada, you might have seen two Beta coupes, and maybe a Scorpion and the odd HPE at any given time on a showroom floor. Most were special order is what I understand. They were slow sellers when new, so its no surprize that I don't have several people jumping at the opportunity to purchase my HPE.
According to Brian Long's book "A Collector Guide: Lancia Beta", there were only 152 USA bound HPE's built between 1978 and 1979.
Talk about low production values! These cars were indeed the "odd man out".
1st series Beta Coupes for 1975 for North America was 3,722 units, while 2nd series from end of 1975 to early 1978 was an astonishing 4,290 coupes! Then another 345 units for the balance of 1978 (these were the last of the 1800cc engines).
From 1979 to 1981 there were another 2,111 units delivered to North America with the 2 Litre engine. I suspect that many of the cars in 79 through mid 1980 were carbed, while much like the changes FIAT did with fuel injecting the X1/9 and Spider in say mid 1980, Lancia followed suit. The last of all the NA bound Beta cars were fuel injected. Total Beta Coupe production for North America was 10,468 units! HPE comes in at 1,590 units for NA. Quite a contast!
Lancia's are special cars. Rare, yes. But if you can find a very clean car, they're worth holding onto. As far as values go? I agree with what has already been stated. Like anything else, values are affected by economic conditions also! It's all about disposable income in an uncertain economy. Who has it? Who wants to buy a collector car when the roof of your house needs to be replaced or your kid needs braces? It's all about priorities in where you wish to spend your money. It's a good bet that the majority of middle class income earners are in "safe mode" and have been that way since the crash of 2008.
We have all witnessed the craziness of Barrett-Jackson collector car values pre-2008 right? So where are those big spenders now? Even the wealthy are in safe mode. We've seen old car values plummet and many people have had to sell their "investments" at a loss!
Where am I going with this? I don't know! LOL
Oh yes, the Beta series of FIAT owned Lancia are the odd man out.
The build quality appears to be superior to the FIAT counterpart, the feel of the way the door closes and overall appearence of the fit and finish.These are subtle indicators of a superior build. Lancia's were sold as an upgrade to the FIAT afterall! But by todays standards??? Yikes!!! Today's upgrades are head and shoulders above any counterpart in the same auto family. Case in point: AUDI /Volkswagen, Lexus/Toyota, and Acura/Honda just to name a few.
Any way you slice it, the Lancia brand is a great choice for the Italian car afficionado. They're different, and attract a lot of fanfare.I suppose that's one good thing about being the odd man out.
Merry Christmas to my Xweb friends!!!
Allan