Beta Than You Think

Even rubber-bumper MG prices have left Betas in the dust, though its DOHC engine was designed by Aurelio Lampredi of Ferrari fame

by Rob Sass

For most collectors, the Lancia story effectively ends if not with the Fiat takeover in 1969, then certainly with the end of Fulvia production in 1976. The Beta—introduced in Europe in 1972 and in 1975 in the U.S.—simply does not show up on the radar of the few American Lancia collectors out there. It’s often derided as just another bad 1970s Fiat.

The recent rise in collector car prices has thinned the ranks of sub-$5,000 “credit card cars.” The bump in prices, however, has not affected the Beta one lick, meaning that even perennial D-listers like rubber bumper MGBs and Midgets have left them in the dust. Along with wretched refuse like the Alfa Romeo Alfetta GT, Volvo 262C, and the Renault 17 Gordini, the Beta is among the cheapest ’70s European GTs available to committed “value seekers.” It may also be the most underrated.

Designed by Lancia, not Fiat

Fans of Aurelias, Flaminias, and even Fulvias are unlikely to give the...