The Worst or Most Pug Ugly Car In The World

[scoundrel]

As frequently seen on motorway hard shoulders and on the side of the road up and down the length and breadth of the British Isles in the late 1970s. Taken from wikipedia:

Unfortunately a combination of poor quality steel (allegedly Russian steel supplied to Fiat in return for building the Lada factory, a claim that has never been proven, but is still widely circulated; it is far more likely that the problems with the metal itself had more to do with the prolonged strikes that plagued Italy at that time than with the metal's origin), poor rust prevention techniques (typical of almost all automobile manufacturers in the 1970s), and inadequate water drainage channels led to the Beta gaining a reputation for being rust-prone, particularly the 1st Series vehicles (built from 1972–75). The corrosion problems could be structural; for instance where the subframe carrying the engine and gearbox was bolted to the underside of the car. The box section to which the rear of the subframe was mounted could corrode badly causing the subframe to become loose.

In plain English, this means that Lancia Beta engine mountings rusted and the engine and gearbox used to fall out of the car as you were going along. Just what you wanted.

Lancia had recently been taken over by Fiat of course...

[fleetwood77]

Originally Posted by scoundrel

In plain English, this means that Lancia Beta engine mountings rusted and the engine and gearbox used to fall out of the car as you were going along. Just what you wanted.

Lancia had recently been taken over by Fiat of course...

Another car I loved - my mother in law had a brand new Beta back in '79 - a 2 litre coupe and it went like a rocket. It was reliable for the couple of years she had it and she, wisely perhaps ,sold it after a couple of years thus avoiding the unpleasantness with the engine mounts.

I also owned a 72 Lancia Fulvia coupe and it was an exhilarating car to drive - you just wanted to flat out everywhere , all the time. Gorgeous looking too. It rusted faster than I could cataloy it of course.

[scoundrel]

Originally Posted by fleetwood77

Another car I loved - my mother in law had a brand new Beta back in '79 - a 2 litre coupe and it went like a rocket. It was reliable for the couple of years she had it and she, wisely perhaps ,sold it after a couple of years thus avoiding the unpleasantness with the engine mounts.

I also owned a 72 Lancia Fulvia coupe and it was an exhilarating car to drive - you just wanted to flat out everywhere , all the time. Gorgeous looking too. It rusted faster than I could cataloy it of course.

Lancia were a relatively upmarket brand in the UK, a bit like Alfa Romeo still are. Just like your typical Alfa, a typical Lancia went very very well, when it went at all. But obviously once the engine and power train declares independence from the rest of the car, you've got a bit of a problem.

[squigg58]

Originally Posted by scoundrel

In plain English, this means that Lancia Beta engine mountings rusted and the engine and gearbox used to fall out of the car as you were going along. Just what you wanted.

I think you're being slightly mischievous, scoundrel!

The quoted paragraph in Wiki ends with the lines ... "Although tales of subframes dropping out of vehicles were simply not true, a vehicle with a loose subframe would fail a technical inspection. In actuality, the problem affected almost exclusively 1st Series saloon models and not the Coupé, HPE, Spider or Montecarlo versions."

It goes on to say that the press started one of their typically well informed campaigns (!) to exaggerate the problem which only applied to early saloons, many of which were 5 or 6 years old by then.

A friend's Dad had the coupe (shown in your photo) and it was a crackin' good car, especially when compared to the woeful rubbish being cobbled together (occasionally!) by BL at the time.

[Amazone]

Tyrell P 34
http://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?...20080801182142

Goggomobil
http://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?...20080713212144

[icu]

Strange design:

Zündap Janus 250cc, 14PS
2 passengers had to look out of the backwindow
Zündap Janus ( Youtube )

[scoundrel]

Originally Posted by squigg58

I think you're being slightly mischievous, scoundrel!

The quoted paragraph in Wiki ends with the lines ... "Although tales of subframes dropping out of vehicles were simply not true, a vehicle with a loose subframe would fail a technical inspection. In actuality, the problem affected almost exclusively 1st Series saloon models and not the Coupé, HPE, Spider or Montecarlo versions."

It goes on to say that the press started one of their typically well informed campaigns (!) to exaggerate the problem which only applied to early saloons, many of which were 5 or 6 years old by then.

A friend's Dad had the coupe (shown in your photo) and it was a crackin' good car, especially when compared to the woeful rubbish being cobbled together (occasionally!) by BL at the time.

I'll fess up to being selective in my quote but in my defence I have to say the Beta really was a piece of poo and it really did used to drop its motor onto the floor as it went along. As the author of the wikipedia article admits, there was an issue with inadequate drainage: the mounting points at the rear of the front subframe collected mud and water. In Britain, in the winter months, this mud and water would contain high concentrations of rock salt, used to treat the roads for snow and ice. Inevitably, the mountings went rotten as an old banana and the engine broke loose, scraping along the floor.

I am not making this up.

I especially enjoyed the Lancia UK spokesman, Mr Andrew Anders, explaining that there was no general recall because Lancia in Italy had assured their UK partners that there was no safety problem, and that new models, with the design fault corrected, had been launched on the UK market on (drum-roll maestro, please)...April 1st.

ITN News says that the rear mountings let go and the engine scraped along the ground at an angle. The gentleman from Lancia UK openly conceded this to be true, but argued that the engines didn't drop out but merely fell backwards at an angle to the rest of the subframe. IMHO, this is the engine dropping out of the car, factamundo. Sure, I played a little bit with the wikipedia article to emphasise my case but that was because the wikipedia author, clearly a Lancia enthusiast, was being disingenuous, rather than because I myself was trying to mislead you all, oh my VEF brothers and sisters.

[fleetwood77]

Originally Posted by scoundrel

I am not making this up.

I remember seeing a picture in "Car" magazine in the early 80's of a flooded field near a port somewhere in England. The field was full of brand new Lancias standing up to the top of their wheelarches in muddy water

[MXE1369]

Originally Posted by mvasilj

Ladies and gentlemen, I present too you the stylish new
Yugo 55



Quote form Wiki

I see this was the sport edition with rallye wheels. My exgf bought one. Lasted almost 8 months.

[Sparrows]

My old Datsun Cherry fell apart with tinworm. At the death there was more filler than metal. A young guy bought it off me as a first car! SUCKER!!!! Now I drive a Mitsubishi LWB Shogun 3000 V6. What a lovely ride only downside is its a thirsty bugger!