Grownkoski Blog: Lancia Beta Hpe 1978

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The first body style to appear, and the most common was the four-door berlina (sedan), with a wheelbase of 2,540 millimetres (100 in) and 'fastback' styling giving the appearance of a hatchback, although in fact it had a conventional boot like a saloon. This practice was common in the industry at the time as manufacturers deemed that hatchback designs would not be accepted in this market sector.

1978 Lancia Beta Hpe

1978 Lancia Beta HPE Hatchback
Late in the Beta's life, with assistance from Pininfarina, a drastically reworked three-box saloon variant was released as the Beta Trevi; the Trevi also introduced a controversial new dashboard layout with deeply recessed displays, which was also later used in the third series Berlina. Number built: 194,914 Berlinas plus 36,784 Trevis.

1978 Lancia Beta HPE

The second style to appear was a 2+2 two-door coupé with a 2,350 millimetres (93 in) wheelbase. The bodywork was developed inhouse by a Lancia team led by Aldo Castagno, with Pietro Castagnero acting as styling consultant. Castagnero had also styled the Beta's predecessor, the Lancia Fulvia saloon and coupé. Number built: 111,801.

1978 Lancia Beta Hpe. 1978 Lancia Beta HPE PICS; 1978 Lancia Beta HPE PICS

The next version to be launched was a two door convertible called the Spider (or Zagato in America). In brochures Lancia spelt the name with a "y" rather than an "i" possibly to differentiate the car from the Alfa Romeo Spider. The Spider used the coupé's shorter wheelbase and featured a targa top roof panel, a roll-over bar and folding rear roof. Early models did not have a cross-member supporting the roof between the tops of the A to B Pillars. Later models had fixed cross-members. The Spider was designed by Pininfarina but actually built by Zagato. Number built: 9390.

Lancia Beta : le rêve

1978 Lancia Beta HPE

The Beta HPE was a three-door sporting estate or shooting-brake introduced in 1975. HPE stood for High Performance Estate, and then later High Performance Executive. This model had Berlina's longer wheelbase floorpan combined with the coupé's front end and doors. The HPE was also styled in house at Lancia by Castagno's team, with Castagnero as styling consultant. It was renamed the Lancia HPE (without the Beta) from 1979 and was discontinued in 1984. Number built: 71,258.

1978 Lancia Beta HPE

1978 Lancia Beta Hpe. Lancia Beta Volumex HPE; 1978

1978 Lancia Beta Hpe. 1978 Lancia Beta Hpe; 1978 Lancia Beta Hpe
The final variant was the Pininfarina designed – and built – two door Lancia Montecarlo (note that the vehicle was named "Montecarlo" written as one word, not Monte Carlo, one of Monaco's administrative areas). This was a rear-wheel drive mid-engined two-seater sports car that shared very few components with other Betas. Montecarlos were available as fixed head "Coupés" and also as "Spiders". The car was originally designed as a Fiat, a big brother to the Bertone-styled Fiat X1/9, and was initially called the X1/20 in prototype stage; it is therefore not related to the Beta by design, but used much of its components. First Series cars (1975–1978) were badged Lancia Beta Montecarlo. There was then a 2-year gap in production. The revised Second Series cars (1980–1981) were simply badged as Lancia Montecarlo. In the United States of America the First Series cars were marketed as the Scorpion alongside the rest of the Beta range. Scorpion was used because General Motors had already used the name Monte Carlo for one of their cars. The Scorpion name was a reference to Abarth. Number of Montecarlos built: 7595.

Lancia Beta HPE 1978

1978 Lancia Beta HPE PICTURES

When Fiat acquired Lancia in 1969, the company had been without a Technical Director for a year, no successor having been appointed following the death of Antonio Fessia a year earlier. At the Beta's launch late in 1972 Fiat chief Gianni Agnelli told journalists that Lancia's output would be about 40,000 units in 1972 at a time when a volume of 100,000 was needed to cover the fixed costs involved in developing and building the cars. Lancia's lack of profitability was also evidenced by the absence of replacement models under development at the time of the Fiat take-over, while the Lancia Fulvia, though much loved by enthusiasts, had been developed with little concern for making it cost-effective to produce: it had therefore been sold at a high price in correspondingly low volumes. The company's new owner's objective with the new Beta was to retain the quality image (and resulting price premium) of existing Lancias, while minimising development time and production costs by using in-house Fiat group technology and parts as far as possible. The project adapted a well-regarded existing Fiat engine, fitted transversely and driving the front wheels in line with Fiat's investment in this configuration during the previous decade. The gear box was a development of a transmission unit then being developed by Fiat-partner Citroën for a forthcoming model of their own. Above all, and in contrast with the Fulvia, the Beta design was relatively inexpensive to produce in volumes significantly higher than those achieved by predecessor Lancia saloons.