When it comes to iconic car manufacturers, there are few more iconic than that of Lancia. The Italian car company is now a shadow of its former self, simply just a brand within the Stellantis umbrella. But for decades, Lancia produced some of the greatest cars in the world such as the Stratos and the fearsome 037. They were fast, they were gorgeous, and sometimes they were innovative. But as we with every automotive manufacturer, there were some missteps along the way and like many car companies, Lancia had its fair share of those missteps.

One of the cars that gained the most notoriety for being rather awful was the Lancia Beta. The Beta was soon manufactured in a variety of forms from 1972 to 1984, and that included the Beta Montecarlo, perhaps the best iteration of the Beta. But not every example of the famous Lancia worked so well. The Beta, particularly in saloon form, would go on to become well known for a multitude of rust problems, and it would actually start to signal the end of Lancia as the 1980s wore on, following a massive recall of rusted Beta coupes.

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The Lancia Beta Range Was A Vast Affair

1974 Lancia Beta Montecarlo Blue Side View
via Lancia

The Lancia Beta range first emerged in 1972, after Fiat had acquired the company in 1969. The new owners of Lancia hoped that the Beta would retain the quality image as well as the price premium of existing Lancias, but the Beta would be a car produced faster and in greater quantities than other Lancia models. The choice of Beta name was allegedly to symbolize a new beginning for the company, and reflected that the found of the company, Vinzenzo Lancia, utilized letters of the Greek alphabet for early vehicles.

The model range for the Beta was vast. The first iteration was the Berlina, the most common of the Betas, which was a four-door saloon. The Trevi was the next step, a four-door three-box notchback saloon and in 1973 came the Coupe version of the Beta. Lancia would also produce the Spider, or the Zagato in America, and the range was neatly rounded off by the HPE shooting brake and the Montecarlo. The Montecarlo though was in effect its own model. All versions of the Beta came with 1.3-liter to 2.0-liter DOHC engines and five-speed gearboxes, as well as fully independent suspension and rack and pinion steering.

Why The Beta Range Soon Became A Big Problem

1978 Lancia Beta HPE Front Quarter View In Blue
via Lancia

On paper, there was a lot of good about the Beta range. There was variety aplenty to suit anyone’s needs, and in 1975 all versions of the car were receiving positive press and also good reactions from the public. This saw Lancia/Fiat make the decision to sell the car in the United States, hence the Zagato name given to the Spider. However, it would actually be the popularity of the Beta that ultimately led to its downfall. All versions of the Beta ended up being quite poorly built, leading to a multitude of quality issues.

But it was within the body of the Beta that things got really bad. Fiat used very thin sheet steel from the Soviet Union, as did other manufacturers within the Fiat umbrella. This was thanks to a deal between Fiat and the Soviet government that saw an exchange of steel for the Fiat 124s that became the VAZ 2101/Lada 1200. The steel was of terrible quality, and this meant that it was very rust-prone. Once any corrosion started it would soon spread to the subframe of the car and just cause it to dissolve.

A PR Disaster That Ruined Lancia’s Reputation

Lancia Beta Coupe Front Quarter View
via viaRETRO

It was in the UK where the situation was really bad. So bad that Lancia spent millions buying back cars from disgruntled owners and replacing them with new ones. It was a huge PR disaster, the Beta forced into a downward spiral as a result thanks to the reputation hit that Lancia took. Later models of the Beta were thankfully much better. However, the damage was already done. The car remained in production until 1984 and then thanks to that terrible reputation, it was soon removed from the US and UK markets. It was the beginning of the end of Lancia.

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A Promising Car That Killed Its Creators

1974 Lancia Beta Spider Front Quarter View
via Lancia

While Lancia would still make great cars such as the Delta Integrale, its reputation was simply ruined. The Beta though has earned a cult following over the years, with many quite fun to drive, and they were undoubtedly good-looking cars. But it was a car that was bad for two reasons. It was prone to rust, and it pretty much killed the company. Lancia would remove itself from the right-hand drive market altogether in 1994, and the last model sold in the UK would be the Delta. While Lancia exists today, it effectively died in 1984 at the hands of the rusty Beta.

Sources: Lancia, Classic & Sports Car