Uncovering A Forgotten Supercharged Gem - The Lancia Beta Coupe Volumex
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- Опубликовано: 5 май 2024
- From the family of cars that killed Lancia, the 1984 Beta Volumex was a unique proposition at this time. Everyone else was going to turbocharging and Lancia went with a supercharger that made a paltry extra 13hp... why? The Supercharged Lancia That Nobody Talks About!
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I worked in a Lancia dealership in the late 70s and early 80s (David Miller Lancia in Lytham St.Annes). I was still in my teens and did various odd jobs including working in the parts department. I loved going into the showroom to see the cars, partic when a Stratos was on show, which happened occasionally for promotional purposes even though they had stopped selling them in the late 70's. Although I wasn't real smart back then, I did quickly understand that while Lancia's looked great and drove great, the ownership experience was woeful. We often had customers who had bought new cars bring them back with a whole host of issues. And of course there was the rust - it just killed Lancias more than a few years old. I now live in the States where Lancias are a very rare sight on the road, but I fondly remember my time spent working around them all those years ago.
The United States never got the supercharged version but my Aunt had a Coupe.
She was a stewardess who flew out of LAX.
She was relocated to LaGuardia and had to drive her coupe cross-country.
She picked me up in Denver to help her drive to New York.
I remember the car was gutless at the mile-high altitude of Denver and once down to sea level the engine was spinning at 4,000 to 4,500 rpm trying to keep pace with
Interstate traffic.
The air conditioning was basically a joke because when it was in use it made the engine overheat and barely made a discernible difference in the interior temperature.
It had the characteristic Italian driving position and was noisy.
My aunt kept it for a few years after she got to New York.
She drove it all over the East Coast and loved the front-wheel drive when they went to the mountains to ski and how she had few problems getting around before the streets were plowed.
But eventually, the combination of salt and Italian metal meant that it was terminally rusty within a couple of years and parts and service were always difficult to find when Lancia and then Fiat left the market they became virtually impossible to find.
She bought a BMW 3 series after that and it's still driving BMWs.
But when you bring up the subject of her Lancia Coupe she remembers it fondly and conveniently forgets all the time it sat at the garage for weeks to get parts so it could be repaired or how many times it wouldn't start because of the cold or the numerous times waiting on the side of the road waiting for a recovery truck!
When I owned two Lancias, I lived in California, the club was pretty active there and attended the Monterey Concorso Italiano annually. we also met up in Italy for the 100 year anniversary
@@EyesWideOpen61 California owner of a 1.3 FWD Fulvia rally coupe. My Alfa mechanic pulled up the carpets (who would think of doing that!?) and showed me the ground that was visible through the floor. Darn that rust. It was otherwise a lovely car. A few years later, my uncle in Illinois bought a metallic brown color Beta coupe when it debuted (that was a very avant garde choice for a corporate executive in Chicagoland). He enjoyed driving something distinctive and I showed him how to heel and toe. His daughter got it for going to college. She traded it in for a Cougar before pulling up the carpets. Maybe it didn't rust...
I'm from Preston, I've just commented that my old man test drove a VX, that was at Grosvenor Motors in Preston on Ribbleton Lane however I remember him buying a Gamma ie from Millers for my mother in approx 1980 - it as light metallic blue with the blue velour interior. Happy Days indeed!
These cars are terribly underrated by most people. I had a Beta coupe and a Monte Carlo, and they were the favorite cars of my life.
Good to hear! What did you like about them?
Back then, round about 80/81, I had a Monte Carlo. Looked great, but dynamically very disappointing. I've owned lots of cars, and generally adjust quickly to how they are, and find something good about them. The Monte Carlo..., balky gearbox, not awfully willing engine, long arms, short legs driving position, wary of the brakes. Sold on without regret. As I recall abut the Volumex, my view of it at the time was that it didn't really offer anything much over what was already on the market, and the single outstanting feature, the superchager, didn't boost the power sufficiently to make it a 'want to buy one' feature. And then there was the rust reputation.....
@@andrewpreston4127 had a perfect rust free example that was rebuilt from the ground up, fuel injection, 2 L, fixed the brakes. Euro bumpers. Finished the way it should’ve been.
This was a very low volume car, handmade at Pininfarina. Not a lot of development $ went into it, it’s related to the x/1-9 Fiat mechanically but with (Lampredi) Twin Cam engine
The race version won the rally championship, the last 2WD car to ever do so.
@@EyesWideOpen61
Engines in X1/9 were also Lampredi, but SOHC.
You’re quite right , Jack . The engines dropping out never happened. The rust stigma was started by The Daily Mirror who wanted a big stab at foreign imports as the tax import levy had been lifted on imported goods since we joined the Common Market in 1973/4 , therefore not protecting our home produced goods so much. Lancia sold more cars in 1977 in the UK than BMW. A couple of motoring scribes labelled the Beta as the best Lancia yet , and that included John Bolster of Autosport magazine. The Beta range was so clever in its suspension design , that both Ford and Toyota looked to the Beta for their new respective Mondeo and Carina models in the 1990s , nearly 20 years on ! And what a clever design. The saloon was capaciously designed for passengers and their luggage , despite being of modest size, and the HPE , although slightly lower in roofline , still seated 4 occupants, with excellent luggage capacity, yet it’s exotic coupe looks captivated its buyers. Wonderful cars . Loved the video
so why did alfa romeos and fiats rusts just as fast if not faster. its a fact Italian cars are rust buckets
@@paulhunter123 I admit , they did. However, so did British cars, Mini/ADO16 subframes were notorious for it, as was Ford Macpherson strut top mounts , and the Ford Silver Fox metallic paint sometimes flaked off really quickly. In Italian cars, the issue was not Russian sourced steel, as Jack pointed out, so often incorrectly used, but the fact due to profuse regularity of strike actions ( like BL in our country) , cars bodies were left outside in the rains , untreated, leading to damp metal under paint etc; if you read road tests for the Italian cars the scribes commented on how well fitted/ finished they were when new. However , this was pre 1979 when all this kicked off.
nah ... they cared not a jot about local car industry and neither did GM or Ford.... they were gearing up to moving production to Spain, Netherlands, Germany, Belgium. The focus was to direct you to French and German vehicles. These 2 countries ran the EU... and wanted to ensure those vehicles got the import business. In the meantime "they " installled agitants into the BL operations that meant that whilst "they " were filling the docks with VW and Renault et al... BL couldn't produce enough for the UK market never mind the EU.
We'd done a deal with the EU in 72 ... drop our heavy industry in favour of being the financial centre of Europe (why I don't know as London was already the financial centre - but I guess they promised not to compete) . This meant that car production from Ford and GM would move to Europe over a couple of decades (curious isn't it? That these companies didn't face the farcical enterprise of BL who were now a millstone around the govt's neck).
If you need any clarification , look at the history of the steel and coal federation of the EU...... and the threat at BREXIT of removing London as the financial centre of the EU.
In 1983 I lived in Swansea, south wales. I worked a for a first division footballer. He was approached By the local Suzuki & Lancia dealer, to drive around in one of there cars.
A VX in red, identical to this model, he had it 24 hour, he asked me to take it back.
I only drove 20 miles, but the clutch was awful, got stuck in traffic, could not hand it back quick enough.
A few weeks later, a black Delta turned up, what a thing, best gearbox, I’ve ever used.
Hard to believe they came for the same stable.
One of the upsides of the rust issue was that 2nd hand cars were really cheap at the time. I went to University in 1983 with a 5 year old 2 litre HPE and then a 2 litre Spyder. Great memories and had a LOT of fun in those cars……..thanks for taking me back 😂😂
I met this older guy at the local classic car auction, and somehow we ended up eating in the canteen. We got on the subject of Italian cars, with my Alfa obsession, possibly. I said windscreens were falling out of Betas at 6 months. He said, no sunshine, 6 years. The greatest irony ever, is Lancia invented the rust warranty that made every other manufacturer, up their rust protection
Dad got his Beta Coupé dirt cheap early 80s at auction because of the rust issue, getting it sold on later though was a bit more difficult for the same reason.
I've got a HPE Volumex and I love it ^^
They were to slow should have Made 160 HP but only cranked out 110 on Dyno
@@Haffschlappe With some really simple mods you can get about 155hp. Air filter, 4 in 1 exhaust manifold, and replacing the intake camshaft with one from a N/A 2000.
@@jean-charlesweyland129 Had mine 13 years and was a quick car on the track.
Had a new exhaust manifold made up.
The car had 320,000 km on it when I sold it 12 years ago and it still survives.
@@HaffschlappeI was given a speeding fine in 1994 doing 121 on the A303 they were fast enough for the day a well put together car
That's a fantastic example of the Volumex Coupe. I owned the earlier series 2.0 coupe and absolutely loved it as a 21 year old. Heck, I still love it now that I have turned 60. It was stylish, fun to drive and fast enough (without being recklessly quick). With familiarity of the front drive set up it was possible to shuffle these cars down a country B-road at a serious rate of knots.
I also owned the 2.0 and enjoyed it, still makes me smile, and I am 67.
I am fortunate to have had a great many Betas in my teens, twenties and early thirties. Culminating in a Volumex coupe the same (well, in my mind at least!) red one as that you drove Jack. They are in quite a low state of tune, but a change of supercharger pulley, inlet camshaft and a DCNF carb (on the standard manifold) brings easy power and a very useable 150-ish bhp at the wheels. The handling was excellent and compliant, perfect for the Scottish Highland A and B roads I drove on. That easy torque made it a fantastic long range mile muncher too, I recall driving back from South of Bristol to Aberdeenshire in a 'quick time' and it was never stressed and even returned near to 40mpg cruising at the speed limit, officer. Fantastic memories - thanks for that Jack! 😎
I just finished restoring my Lancia Beta VX .. it looks identical to this..im in Auckland NZ..i love it
So many memories... my daily ride to the beach for a whole italian summer. By the way, it's such a pleasure to hear Italian names
pronounced perfectly!! Congrats!
Aesthetically I think the Beta Coupe is one of the most beautiful designs of the era. It's proportions are just right. Then again I think the pre-facelift Chevrolet Vega is beautiful to look at, too, so what do I know?
No, you're right. The Vega and the Beta were and are pretty cars. People just don't notice because of their ugly reputation or don't bother looking beyond it.
Both are gorgeous!
Another beutiful Beta is the HPE; a sort of shooting brake. One of the more interesting dashboards belong to the car initially called the Lancia Beta Trevi: That must be seen to be believed!
I have fond memories of Lancia's. I started out as a sales apprentice at my local Fiat / Lancia dealer in early 1980, weeks later the Daily Mirror Beta rust scandle broke!
I remember that Lancia UK were quite honourable and offered generous Part ex allowances on older Beta's. It was such a shame as Beta range drove way better than the majority of competitors at the time and the bad reputation really put a damper on sales. We had a light blue metallic Beta Spider in the showroom which looked amazing!
I'm looking forward to an update on the Pantera 👍
I had 2000ie, in that colour. I loved it. All these years later it still occasionally appears in dreams. 🙃
As soon as I saw it I was reminded of the trips with my girlfriend around Europe in the late 80s.
She wanted to buy a small car, I convinced her to get a 1.6 Beta Coupé, haha!
A blast to drive, beautiful fast travel, elegance; Even though it was a few years old, it attracted attention
It is always a joy to watch you review an Italian car; your enthusiasm is so clear to see and is infectious 🙂
Thanks for the shared joy.
Aah! talking about my brother again, he's got a Beta Volumex coupe. He bought it in auction maybe 25 years ago when a car museum (Haynes?) was having a change around. He bought the low miles car and then put it to one side on the 'to do' list. It's still on the side. As mentioned, Italian cars had a bad rep' back then so this one was given a rust proofing when it was to be exported and then another when it was imported. Rust can't get near this Italian car. It's more of a recommission than a project but one day it'll be back on the road.
We ran a rallye team in Michigan's Press On Regardless rallye when the brought one Stratos, and two rallye-prepped Beta Coupés. The Stratos had just won Rideau Lakes in Canada. On our event, the Stratos has electrical problems and dropped out. One Beta failed--and the team hired a tow truck, and towed it from service point to service point THE ENTIRE REST OF THE RALLYE. All 1200 miles. I loved seeing the Italian team all the way over here, and the Stratos was a spaceship, barely up to the window sill of our Datsun 510. Thank you, Jack, for the memories.
This brought back childhood memories of my dad's NA coupe. He loved it when it was working which, from recollection, was intermittently. On one occasion heading south on the M6 my mum was horrified to discover she was cruising at 110. The Beta was so much more refined than the Cortina it replaced
I'm in love!!! Would like to get our Thema 16v turbo a little brother like this!
My dad had one of these, bloody awesome car, pity about the rust.
Your enthusiasm is brilliant ..great video thanks
Thanks to the guys providing this car to Jack to review, It brought back some great memories, I had a 1600 and a 2 litre Coupe and a 2 litre HPE, of the 3 I liked the 1600 the best, much more free reving, but they were all great fun. The engines were awesome, the gearbox linkage was awful really, I'm sure you could engineer some of the issues with the action out now, I remember the adjustment on the horizontal throw was a problem, you either had an easy 1st/2nd or 5th, getting the sweet spot was difficult.
I would love another now, sold one back in the day for £75 aaah!!
I had an HPE VX for 13 years as my everyday driver.
One of the last, registered in 1985. The later models had the bonus of galvanised shells so no rust issues.
A great reliable car. Made a good tow car with lots of torque in the mid range. Its happy range was 1800-4000rpm.
The secret of the gear change is to get the right oil.
Took it on track days at Ruapuna. Curiously for a FWD car it breaks in to oversteer on the limit. The way to counter this is to put the foot flat. A lot of fun. Brake hard, provoke a little oversteer and drift out of the corner under power.
The car had 320,000km on it and was still going strong. The car is still on the road with the new owner.
I sold it as my wife wanted a more practical 5 door car. I got a FIAT Stilo Abarth. Looking at selling that after 12 years. It has been a solid reliable car too. Track day next week....
Its replacement is an older car. A Rover Tomcat. Less practical and the wife doesn't like it but she lets me have my toys.🥰
Had a cool plate on it too "HPE VX"
Absolutely lovely stilish sporty practical car the HPE!
Have various friends who owned the Coupé, Saloon, HPE and MonteCarlo. They all loved them
I had a 1983 HPE hatchback for a while in 1993 so it was getting on. It was fine for careful driving, BUT if you floored it there was terrible clutch slip and it revved like hell and went no where. So decided to sell it, the guy who showed up carefully drove it on the test drive and agreed to buy it. THEN when leaving we heard it rev like anything going down the road, we hid thinking he'd be back instantly demanding his money back - he didnt!
I recall Top Gear stating that you aren't a petrol head unless you've had an old Italian car, I think i qualify on this one.
In 1983 I bought a 1977 Beta HPE as a rusted MOT failure. It was one of the longer lasting Beta, s
Lancia, always a great unique brand. Truly a loss to the world for its heritage, image (We used to drool over the Delta, until a school mate was given a new one by his wealthy father for passing his driving test at 17, he wrote it off within a month) and usability. Thank you for 'another' great video, keep bringing these gems for us to watch and I think your views are always, spot on.
That brings back fond memories. Late 1980s. I was living in Tasmania and owned a 1980 Beta coupe. Red. Black leather interior. Sunroof. Same rear spoiler. I was young and sold it to fund a 2 year trip to the UK. I still miss that car…
God I love the Beta coupe - I'd have one today in a heartbeat if only I could find one in roadgoing condition. I remember drooling over one in a local shopping centre that was a competition prize when I was a kid. It looked so cool - the individual bucket rear seats totally blew my schoolboy mind...
The first car I bought here in Australia at 17 years old in the early 80's was a silver 1976 Lancia Beta Coupe. Some people bagged them out as they were made under Fiat ownership but I absolutely loved that car. Handled like a dream, sounded great and could cover country miles very rapidly indeed. Shocked more that a few Australian 70's V8's in a straight line as well. Had that Italian smell on the inside and I don't mean the smell of burning oil : ) When I sold it to go backpacking in Europe a few years later, it was the only car I ever made money on over the purchase price. Also later owned the HPE(estate) version.
Oh yes! I remember a neighbour having a near identical Volumex Coupe in the late 80s - a lovely thing.
As a child I saw the Lancia Beta Coupe during our holidays near Bolzano. It was one of my favorite cars. You have always nice cars on your channel. Best regards, Oliver S.
In the mid 80s, you could buy a complete VX engine out of an Argenta, brand new, for about $1500. After some modifications, a fellow FIAT club member stuck one into his Beta Scorpion (Montecarlo) and that woke up the 80HP pig of a car. He had a set of cams from Italtune in London, and a carburettor off of a Biturbo, I think. 44DCNF, gorgeous carb. Changed the pulley as someone else had suggested, and this thing screamed. I installed a Beta VX engine into an X1/9 and that car was very fast, but the engine setup was quite heavier than the standard single cam. When at Italtune, I got a ride in, and then drove a RHD Montecarlo with a later Lancia Delta HF engine with a larger turbo and chip. Wow! You could really wake up the FIAT and Lancias of the 70s and 80s with a FAZA catalogie and some cash!
I restored a rare 131 Volumetrico, which had the 1300cc compressor ala the 037. The Volumex models had an 1100cc compressor. You can easily spot the smaller ones as they has the "Volumex" plate, and an external reservoir for the gear oil that many owners never topped up, and caused bearing failure. The Volumetrico compressor used direct engine oil feed, and had a drain tube on the bottom which fed back into the oil sump. The 131 used a 90 degree hand made steel manifold, and you could fit any carburettor that you wanted, as the standard one was quite small, for mileage. I fit that wonderful 44DCNF from a Biturbo. The 131 had the best peformance of the off the shelf supercharged FIATs or Lancias at the time. I remember talking to Al Cosentino, and he said that the Polizia bought a run of 4 door 131 Series 2 cars, and that the wrecking yards had plenty of them, Visiting Torino, I found a yard which had one and bought as much as I could to put into my 131 standard 4 door, and srove it every day until it was stolen!
One of my favourite shapes ever and great to see on the road. Not to pick nits, but turbochargers are actually superchargers - just turbine driven ones.
I daily drove a VX coupe for 15 years, absolutely loved it. I wish I’d never sold it, the only car I really miss.
The side view is absolutely gorgeous and those Recaro's looks just right.
Here are some specs. Not that it wasn't mentioned in the video but just for fun.
Curb weight 1095 kg
133 Hp/5500
206 Nm/3000
0-60 8.5 s
124 mph top speed
Pretty good specs for a 70's car. As I think mentioned; the Supercharger gives the for cyl,, torque like a larger six cyl,,
Great video 👍
I just returned from a 1000 mile cycle to Milan and when climbing a hill out of Salin Les Bains in France, a whole bunch of classics went passed me on a rally. Alfa Spiders, VW Beetles , Renault 4 and amongst them was a red Beta Coupe ! It wasn't a Volumex but it made my day
The mom of a classmate had the Bèta Coupe. In Black spec... Beautiful car!! As a teenager i was a lot of times in Italy. The lancia oozes character...
There were a couple of reasons for using an ordinary carburetor rather than fuel injection. Besides the obvious reason of lower development costs (Aurelio Lampredi already had to justify the costly development for the 037 in the first place - which by the way was also homologated and equipped with carb as standard-, therefore the use of the Volumex concept also in Lancia Trevi, Coupé and HPE, Fiat Argenta, 131 and Spider Volumex) but also the use of a carburetor 'in front' of the supercharger indeed kept the temperature lower than fuel injection 'between' supercharger and head could do without an intercooler (as already assumed by hendo337)
That did pose a problem to the by then fuel injected 037 in racetrim and eventually led to water injection to cure the problem.
But whatever all the reasons might have been- a properly set up Volumex is an absolute delight to drive, engine characteristics are amazing and the sound is addictive!
Thanks for reviewing the Beta Volumex!
I thought there would be a technical reason. Great explanation
My 2nd car I had at 17 was a Beta coupe .
I loved that car, and it started the Affair with Italian cars , followed by 7 Alfas up to the Brera .
I remember given it some stick from a set of lights against a 2000E cortina and my subframe snapped and the car was finished , the banging was hilarious 😂, the whole car was rotten .
But didn’t spoil my affection for the Marque !
England's version of "tight hairpins" gave me a chuckle!! And I live in the land of the long, flat roads........
Have to say, that is a beautiful example of the Beta VX -- it appears to be in perfect condition.
I had a USA version 1978 Beta coupe with the 2 liter engine. Fun car.
Man did I want one of these as a young fella.
A local stereo store owner had a silver one and it was the talk of the town when he got it, heh. Cute.
I loved these and the estate HPE, lovely looking shapes.They were all rusty back then but even still the styling shone through.
I had a Lancia Beta Spyder back in the 1980's that I bought second-hand. I was on a three month holiday in the UK from New Zealand. When I returned to NZ I gave the Spyder to my brother and over the next 12 months it quite literally, rusted to dust. My poor bro, did all he could to save it but alas, it went to that car graveyard in the sky.
My all time favourite car. I was lucky enough to have owend three Lancia Beta's HPE in my lifetime when I was younger. Lancia will always be close to my heart ❤️
Love these Lancias. Many happy memories of being driven around in a HPE.
Loved the Beta series. So many different model types. The VX was excellent.
I was going to say. Never mind how it drives, the very fact that a Lancia is still around and driving is incredible in itself!!
Why is that?
My Dad traded up from an MGB GT to an ordinary Coupé a year or two before this was released, he wanted the extra space for my newly born sister and I and the Beta Coupé was his idea of being practical.
your dad wasnt satisfied with the rust of an MGB GT he upgraded to a Lancia.
My dad had the Lancia HPE, albeit a 1981 1.6. Chosen over the Trevi and the Alfasud Sprint.
It was quite a change from the Granada that the Lancia replaced and somewhat leftfield when he's always had Fords in my lifetime. He managed to fit us 3 young kids in it and even tow a caravan with it! Probably not a very 'Lancia' act.
I remember the sound it would make when he'd give it some beans (when my mum wasn't in the car!) - Waaa-bmmm.
He bought a Rover 3500 after that!
In my late teens I had an HPE 1600. I then upgraded to a Coupe 2000. I then had Volumex Coupe. At the time, the purists would point out that Lancia marketing dropped the Beta name for the Volumex. Mine was simply known as a Lancia Volumex Coupe. Gunmetal metallic with Martini pinstripe.
I had a red 2 litre two cam, then a dark blue one, second hand, I absolutely loved them, I sold my fiat supermirafirori sport for one. I later had Alfa Romeo 156 V6 3.2litre, what an engine.
They probably used Carburetors to keep the intake charge temps down, carburetors create evaporative cooling. It comes off almost like an Italian Saab with a Delta Integrale nose.
Interesting thank you!!
Also, I think this application was developed by Abarth, who embracrd carbs for a while after FI became " must have" (eg FIAT 130TC was only hot hatch on carbs)
I had two Beta Spiders, great fun to drive and play with as an engineering student.
I had a 2 litre NA coupe..... light, delicate, great handling...... they did the estate version, the HPE (high performance estate) in VX (Volumex) form, that was the one to have....... super rare even back in the day.....
We never got the VX in the states. By 1983, Lancia and Fiat were gone from our shores, with only Malcolm Bricklin importing the 124 Spider and X1/9 under their builder's names. Having owned quite a bit of italian steel, I did own one of the last HPEs imported to the US. It was a sweet car, but very underpowered with only about 86 hp squeezed from it's EPA choked engine. It was a sweet car, but living only a few short minutes walk from the Atlantic Ocean, rust took it's toll.
I had a couple of Beta HPE,s in the 80,s & a guy I knew had a whole collection in his garden/yard in Cheltenham.I liked these cars & they were quite practical having good load space & attractive to look at as well.
That car is pretty much totally unknown here in the US. Thanks for showing another gem of a classic.
Thank you. I love Italian cars. I owned a bunch of rear engine fiats and loved them all. I had a friend with an HPE beta. It died quickly. Shame I could not rescue it.
Having just nipped over to the UK last weekend to buy a 650 quid Merc clk200 coupe kompressor to go with my 3.8 brabus clk convertible w208s, I totally get this. I drove it back to sw france having bought unseen. A bit of a risque. But I have to say , for the first supercharged car I've ever driven, and a 23 year old ecobanger at that, that supercharged 2ltr pulls like a steam train. So linear from low down, like a big capacity naturally aspirated. So much nicer to drive than a turbo.
I had a 2.0l beta coupe
Such a engaging drive. Real fun car.
I had three of these in the early seventies in Australia - two 1800 coupes' and a two litre HPE. The rust issues were never a problem here (cars generally don't rust in Australia) but the support network was appalling. I gave up trying to buy parts (general service items) from dealerships and used to order them direct from Italy via a local Ferrari dealership. Like the USA, the supercharged version never came here. In fact, I believe they stopped importing them a few years before the VX even came out. Your comment about the interior is interesting as the early versions were quite different to what I can determine from the video - particularly in the dashboard area and they certainly didn't have Recaro seats.
My uncle in Switzerland had a late Coupe in red for a while, and a family friend “uncle” had a blue Trevi with the funky modern dash and recessed gauges. A friend in (West) Germany bought a late blue Beta Berlina (saloon) with that dash on my recommendation, and another friend there bought a late SuperMirafiori 2000 TC with the same great engine….
I don’t know, Jack - I think the Beta Coupe is a stunning looking car. Great video.
Loved these in the 80's, and also the Lancia beta spyder and the Montecarlo. I had 2 Alfasuds in the late 80's but never got round to getting the Beta Spyder, they were pretty cheap at one point and a friend got one in the lovely Orange paint.
The coupe Spyder in red was sublime.
Imagine if Lancia had got the rust issues sorted and put the volumex gear in a spyder body?
We’d be looking at a genuine Italian stallion.
Another very interesting video and a special Lancia.great review. All the best Bob
No mention about fuel consumption, the 2000ie, used to return 30mpg even if driven spirted, the volumex was dreadful on fuel, 20 mpg was considered good at the time, the Bosch L jet tonic was a revelation at the time
I found my Volumex excels on tight winding roads and city back roads. I found driving it like a big Mini was the way to go, but that is just me.
I couldn't agree more with the conclusions from the movie. Very underrated cars (in all versions)! I'm in possession of a 1976 2.0 Coupé - naturally aspirated - excellent, at least from the driver's point of view 😉. My friend had a VX HPE in late '90 - the main difference is that the engine is pooling harder and harder with the rising revs - much stronger and smoother than without supercharging. Also overtaking time after gear reduction is quicker with VX, however without it's not bad at all - so even nowadays it's pretty easy to surprise many drivers of the modern cars on the road! 🤭😁
One of my favourite cars ever, the HPE Volumex.
Great work Jack finding theses gems!
Almost bought the Fiat Argenta with this same engine - but it got away. Argenta Volumex, or VX. Also there’s the 124 SpiderEuropa Volumex and the 131 Compressore/Volumetrico too of course, also RWD.
Very easily tuned! Hörmann had a 170hp kit I remember (mainly a smaller compressor wheel really).
The 037 had the 16V Abarth head, so it’s more than ”higher boost”.
I wasn’t aware they did a Volumex Fiat Spider, but as that is one of my favourite cars, and they are ALL left hand drive, I will remember this for a lottery win and track one down 😂
@@howardlake6178 Great idea tho yes, they’ve skyrocketed! They do look badass tho, with those 15” rims etc. I suppose the cheapest way into RWD Volumex would still be the Argenta and I believe there is one in UK nowadays.
Love that car .I remember 40 years ago as a valetor running my hand over the top of the razor edge front wings. JUST GORGIOUS .
About the interior, that's a Series 3 body, so later interior, the early interior (on the Series 1and Series 2) were very weird! (They did get a hand throttle too! 🤣)
And the colours... Oh my, they were a bit of a 70s trip! I've seen interiors in yellow, red and green!
Wonderful sports car... was mid size, but seems tiny now. Love the Italians being different! The HPE was the prettiest
Had a 2 liter twin cam what a great car to drive, had so much fun with the car
Weight was 1000kg.
When the VX and 2000ie were launched, rust was no longer an issue because of a collaboration with SAAB.
The VX had a carb because of cost-cutting, but then Lancia spent a small fortune on the Recaro seats, which had carbonfibre frames - in the early-80s carbonfibre was *very* expensive. Crazy!
Don’t complain about the headroom / cabin space, it was a spacious limo designed for giraffes compared to the rival Scirocco.
The recaro seats were just normal with a steel frame, the VX still rusted but slower than the really early cars
Early turbocharged cars suffer from turbo lag also added heat under the bonnet so a supercharger has no lag , less plumbing and heat
I always passed on the Beta since I had owned its cousin, a Fiat 128 ... I really wanted the Scorpion because it was like an X19 which I could comfortably fit into at 6'3" ... until I actually drove one after driving my friend's MK1 Jetta GLI to the car park to meet the Lancia's owners. At mile-high altitude, the Jetta 1.8 w/K-jetronic injection was still amazing, while the carbureted Scorpion I drove felt asthmatic. A Scorpion with the Volumex setup would have made it quite a bit more interesting at this altitude.
My brother had a beautiful metallic deep blue Lancia Beta Coupé in period, I think a 1600 version, with a lovely contrasting mustard cloth interior. Unfortunately, on driving to Heathrow to catch a Tour flight to the 1977 Monaco Grand Prix it decided to burn-out its entire wiring loom whilst driving through the City of London; 70's Italian cars were well-known for their dodgy electrics. We missed our flight, but were upgraded to a BA flight, first class to Nice travelling alongside Joan Collins.
I still think the Beta Coupé is a beautiful design whenever I see one at a car show, so much better looking than the ubiquitous hatchbacks of the period.
Had 2 of these great cars. Had the 2000ie too. Loved the supercharger whirl and instant torque.
I picked up a two year old 2.0 Beta Coupe in 1985 for peanuts, the rust scandal had crashed the values by then. Same red as this Volumex. High lift cams, K&N air filter and custom twin pipe exhaust, it was an XR3 killer 🤣 Absolutely loved that car! Sadly hitting a lamppost on the M60 slip road at Cheadle at 80 MPH brought that joy to an abrupt end 🫣
When I worked in our body shop we had a lovely old lady as a reular customer that owned a Mercedes 123 and a RUSTFEE! Lancia Beta Coupe. I always told her to come by when she stopped driving the Lancia and she really showed up to offer me the car a few years late. She was the only customer who did that. All the others did promise me that but did not show up. Unfortunately I had to pass. I had two little kids at home and owned to many cars back then. I kind of felt guilty not buying the car. Maybe I should have done it in spite of not having the funds and space.
Had a look at one of these in the early '80s. I happened to mention the rust problem to which the salesman went all defensive remarking that Vauxhalls also had a rust problem. As my cavalier coupe, (Opel manta with a different badge), was made in Germany I don't think his reference to series 1 victors (and some others) from the early sixties was entirely relevant.
A similar rust problem affects much later Alfa Romeos. Water gets into the rear subframe and pools until it rusts through.
One of our neighbors had a Beta Spider in the eighties… What a car… 👍😅
Love that sound.Musical and happy
Thanks for the review, I wish we had more Lancias in the US
Oh Jack, I loved my Fiats. But they came to Australia as deck cargo on submarines. My 3 125S models rusted at the base of the B pillars, the doors rusted and the base of the windscreens. My 131S were the same. And my 124 AC and BC coupes had the B pillar and doors go. But they sounded great, they went around corners and the twin cams were great engines. The head gaskets went with a regularity and with practice I could change them in 2 and a half hours. (Wish my MGF and TF were that easy).
My whole family drove Lancias in the 80s, my dad had a Gamma, my brother had a Delta and I had the glorious Beta Coupe. Best car I ever owned but heartbreaking to see it slowly devoured by rust.
American here . I always open up YT to look for somethung and end up watchuing this channel. ,Not complaining , giving props . Good car stuff . Very personable and well done videos in this genre with good balance which could be difficult considering how weird people are abouit EVRYTHING and possibly taking a perceived slight about their car as though its them . Considering our intrepid host likes old italian and british cars its not like he doesnt deal with shortcomings and headaches yet still chases what is often heartbreak . Also NOT A DIG but I DO WONDER with this type of content if cars with issues arent bought because it makes for good content and makes the host relateable as far as getting corn holed by old car romances and people feel better about the British sports cars they never get right or take forever and the cars that are seeming good deals until repairs and maintenance eat all the equity BUT as you tuber its a right off and generates revenue . NOT MAD , its really brilliant in fact and wouldnt begrudge anybody , particularly someone so affable . Lots of effort or work but a nice hack if you have the disease of liking " to me" as an american obscure cars " built " as they were in those days. British and especially Italian Cars that are not Ferrari or Lambo always seemed to enter our market at worst time and quickly Americans had them under tarps , side of house or burried in garage , etc . Most of the neat cars like V4 fiberglass Sxandanavian cars and Triumphs and X-19s etc were always cars I saw and " admired " that never moved . Or Jags kids bought and put small block chevies in or something with the exception of the real nice Jags 60s-70 Jags that ran well and were well used and a fair amount of the Opel " Baby Corvettes" that seemed to work well and 914s were not completely uncommon . If you saw a nice British 2 seater in great shape the guy always had a big mustache , cap , airforce jacket and goggles ,wore wool maybe, a scarf and smoked a pipe or just looked like a time traveler from different period . A rich teenage friend had a new TR8 and it seemed cool having V8 and manual in that wedge but it became unserviceable pretty quickly . Not that American cars were great , but parts , price and ability to work on them made them less risky and you got where you were going and could drive them in rain and at night , in summer or whatever was not a pre condition for the sexy little euro cars that made the attempt to open dealershipsand crack the market .
Again, very intelligent and fluent analysis of a car generally neglected by the mainstream. This or a Ford Capri.....?
What a brilliant little machine. Absolutely love it!
Greetings from the Netherlands
What a beauty. Still one of the prettiest cars.
I used to lust after them then bought an AlfaSud. I had 4 Alfas after that.The last one being the 1.5 Ti. Still don't know why I sold it.
I was thinking of the Sud when watching this video. What a cracker that car was!
I couldn’t afford it when it was first imported, but I bought my South African Sud Ti blind from EBay. I’d heard it had one owner for 32 years. 5 years later, it did. In 100mm of rainfall a year, in one of the driest places on Earth. And it’s got a full 5 speed low ratio gearbox from a much earlier Sud. Cream. Beige. But I don’t care. I feel 18 again ever time I turn that key
@@martinrichardhorrocks9869 I couldn’t afford it when it was first imported, but I bought my South African Sud Ti blind from EBay. I’d heard it had one owner for 32 years. 5 years later, it did. In 100mm of rainfall a year, in one of the driest places on Earth. And it’s got a full 5 speed low ratio gearbox from a much earlier Sud. Cream. Beige. But I don’t care. I feel 18 again ever time I turn that key
@@howardlake6178👍🏻👍🏻
Beautiful car! Thanks for introducing it to us!
Thank you for this video! Betas were cool. Interesting engine, given that the Group B Lancias were also turning supercharging. Great sound. Really an Italian Capri.
Lovely car. It evokes memories of that time. Mitsubishi cordia turbo which used to torque steer like mad, ford escort rs 2000, datsun stanza…. The Lancia was one inwould have liked to own. As for rust- my datsuns all suffered the same fate. Dreadful. Thanks Jack and thanks for clearing up the myth re Russian steel.