Start with what the Lancia Beta is: a 4-door fastback Sedan (car) / saloon (berlina) / 4-door notchback Sedan (car) / saloon (Trevi) / 2-door coupé / 2-door Targa top / targa (Spider) / 3-door shooting brake (HPE) / 2- with 1.3 , built from 1972 to 1984, as the oil crises and the first emissions rules rewired the industry. What it meant takes a little longer. The shape is credited to Centro Stile Fiat (Berlina) / Centro Stile Lancia under Piero Castagnero (Coupé and Trevi) / Pininfarina (Spider, HPE and Montecarlo). 436,613 were built.
Where it came from
The Lancia Beta (Type 828), stylised Lancia β, was an entry-level luxury car produced by Italian car manufacturer Lancia from 1972 to 1984.
It was the first new model introduced by Lancia after it had been taken over by Fiat in 1969. The Beta was made in several body styles, namely 4-door fastback saloon (Beta berlina), 4-door three-box, notchback saloon (Beta Trevi), 2-door coupé (Beta Coupé), 2-door targa (Beta Spider), 3-door estate (Beta HPE); a mid-engined sports car was also sold under the Beta name, the Lancia Beta Montecarlo.
Under the skin
The engine is 1.3 other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. On the scales it comes to 1000 –. The wheelbase is Berlina: 2535 mm / Coupé: 2350 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
In context
In the Lancia line-up the Lancia Beta has a clear place: it replaced the Lancia Fulvia; it handed the line to the Lancia Prisma; the factory was Turin. The cars a buyer would have weighed it against include the Renault 5, the Mitsubishi Lancer, the Volkswagen Passat. Nearby in the Lancia catalogue sit the Lancia 037 and the Lancia 2000.
Owning one today
MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the Lancia Beta has none: too old, too rare, or never sold there. Its value today is a collector's question, decided by provenance and condition rather than by a class average.
Lancia Beta Spider