A Top Gear Take on Lancia
Really been jonesing for one of these lately. Maybe not a mid-engined Lancia Montecarlo (sold in the US as the Lancia Scorpion) as shown above, but for a Lancia in general.
What’s the appeal? Imagine a car with the cachet, élan and romance of a classic Alfa Romeo, but rare as hen’s teeth, and even less practical.
What’s attractive about an impractical car? Well, why are we often drawn to others so dissimilar to ourselves? Where’s the “practicality” in that kind of arrangement? Sometimes we just want the heartbreakers, and there are few marques able to break hearts quite as effectively as Lancia.
A few years ago, the Top Gear presenters asked themselves which automaker had produced the largest number of great cars, and after some deliberation, they (rather surprisingly) passed over such legends as Ferrari, BMW and Jaguar and settled on Lancia. The following couple of clips span only part of the show’s coverage of the brand, but they illustrate at least somewhat the cars’ appeal to obscure car nuts like myself, and if nothing else showcase some lovely shots of classic Lancias in motion.
This clip features a number of early Lancias, most prominently the achingly pretty Fulvia and stubby Montecarlo:
And a nice feature on the Stratos rally supercar:
Also worth a watch:
http://www.topgear.com/uk/videos/brand-new-clip-diy-lancia-stratos
That is a neat clip. I wonder what chassis, if any, the designer of the kit car based the kit upon? Nice choice of engine at least. :)
I actually found the engine to be the pièce de résistance. A real work of art!