Say goodbye to these.

"AMC/Renauledge" (n2skylark) 09/14/2015 at 16:13 • Filed to: None

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Here it is. The front of the updated 2016 Lancia Ypsilon. Lancia’s last car, and sold only in Italy. Compare it to the current model and you’ll see a cleaner grille and lower fog light/air intake arrangement. The awkward headlight shapes and angles remain, but work better with these changes.

The little 5-door Fiat 500-based hatch is something I wish they’d sell in the States through Fiat dealers. To avoid badge confusion, they could sell it as a Fiat very easily, I’d think. It’d probably do as well as or better than the 3-door. I’d consider buying one.

Alas, that probably won’t happen. And given the retreat of this car and brand to one depressed market in Europe, this facelift might be the last time Lancia makes headlines before it’s shuttered for good.

So take a good look, because it’s the last time you’ll see these.

Laurence > AMC/Renauledge 09/14/2015 at 16:22

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It’s pretty good as far as modern small cars go, but it’s hardly the way Lancia should go, is it?

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > AMC/Renauledge 09/14/2015 at 16:31

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Isn’t there also a Chrysler badged version of this car in some markets?

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > AMC/Renauledge 09/14/2015 at 16:33

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This bumper looks like it wants to be a Chrysler products. like a less dramatic version of the 200’s grille bar thing.

Svend > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 09/14/2015 at 16:38

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There used to be in the U.K. because Lancia pulled out of the U.K. Market years ago but Chrysler have pulled out of the U.K. as well now. So there is that.

Seat Safety Switch > Laurence 09/14/2015 at 16:45

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Anything would beat the Lancia Voyagers I saw while I was visiting last.

AMC/Renauledge > Laurence 09/14/2015 at 16:47

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Not really. Especially when you consider that the ONLY reason Lancia offered the Y10/Ypsilon line in the first place is because they absorbed Autobianchi and had the Y10 - the A112 replacement - in the chute already.

So the last real heritage Lancia in any stretch of the imagination was the 2014 Delta. And the last proper Lancia, period, was the 2009 Thesis.

GhostZ > AMC/Renauledge 09/14/2015 at 16:47

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What was the last Lancia that wasn’t built on another company’s platform/frame?

AMC/Renauledge > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 09/14/2015 at 16:48

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Yeah, my guess is that this styling update was finalized before FCA decided to end the Chrysler/Lancia product collaboration in Europe.

AMC/Renauledge > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 09/14/2015 at 16:50

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Not since last year. Chrysler-badged Lancias and Lancia-badged Chryslers were killed off in all markets after 2014. The Ypsilon in the only Lancia left, and it's only sold in Italy.

Luke's Dad Sold His 2000TL To Get a Sienna > AMC/Renauledge 09/14/2015 at 16:53

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It literally has the face of the Camry SE two generations ago.

Laurence > GhostZ 09/14/2015 at 17:08

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Looked into this, and not including concepts, the last lancia built on a dedicated platform that wasn’t shared with another FCA product was the Thesis, which came out in 2001 and was ugly as sin

AMC/Renauledge > GhostZ 09/14/2015 at 17:14

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I’m pretty sure it was the 1984 Beta and Gamma. Though the Beta shared its engines with several members of the Fiat range.

The Delta and Prisma were based loosely on the Fiat Ritmo/Strada/Regata. The 037 and the Delta S2 that developed from it were codeveloped with Abarth.

The Thema shared platfoms with the Fiat Croma and SAAB 9000 (and later Alfa 164). The Y10 was a heavily reworked Fiat Panda designed as an Autobianchi to replace the A112 and badged as such in Italy into the ‘90s, and as a Lancia everywhere else (later A112s also got this treatment). The Delta 2/Dedra were based on the Fiat Tipo/Tempra. The Zeta and Phedra minivans were based on the PSA/Fiat Eurovans.

The Y and Ypsilon were shortened Puntos. The Kappa was a stretched Alfa 166 (as was its replacement, the Thesis). The Lybra was a reworked Alfa 156. The Musa was a badge-engineered Fiat Idea. The Delta 3 was a stretched Fiat Bravo. The Flavia, Voyager, and Thema 2 were all rebadged Chryslers. And the current Ypsilon is just a rebodied Fiat 500.

So there you go.

Amoore100 > AMC/Renauledge 09/16/2015 at 22:40

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Even though this isn’t even close to the actual Lancia that we know and love, I still shed a tear...just like we did for the NG Saab 9-5 though we all knew it was only an Opel Insignia underneath...it’s that last bit of faith, finally extinguished after years of hoping that maybe, just maybe all of this could become real.

AMC/Renauledge > Amoore100 09/16/2015 at 23:38

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I know. I had such high hopes for that Fulvia concept back when it debuted in 2002/03. It would have been a perfect addition to the line and could have easily worked on the Alfa 147 or Fiat Stilo platform.

I’d have rather seen a new Stratos based on the Alfa 4C but with the 3.0TT V6 out of the Ghibli S nestled behind the cockpit instead of the 1750cc I4 the Alfa has now. This Ferrari 430-based one-off is exactly how that car should look.

And as for a new Lancia Delta Integrale, I don’t - for the life of me - know why Lancia didn’t give the actual 3G Delta an AWD crazy-as-a-shithouse-rat version.

Amoore100 > AMC/Renauledge 09/17/2015 at 00:04

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It’s funny how most Lancia concepts look backwards instead of forwards...it’s one of those brands that can’t let go of the past, and this kind of retro-style should have been its savior...instead, Chrysler did what it does best and quashed funds, silencing the brand and its team of brilliant engineers and designers...

AMC/Renauledge > Amoore100 09/17/2015 at 00:48

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I think the reason it looks back to the past is that the past is the last time there was any inspiration in the brand. The early ‘90s and the Delta Integrale was the last time most people cared about Lancia.

Lancia created staggeringly avant-garde cars through the 1980s. Delta Integrale, 037 and Delta S2, Thema 8.32, and even the Y10. And once cars like the 2G Delta, Dedra, Zeta, Lybra, and Kappa replaced all the interesting ‘80s stuff, it became clear that Lancia was turning into leather-lined Fiat.

Once Fiat bought Alfa Romeo, the death knell for Lancia began. They never figured out how to allow both brands to remain true to themselves and simultaneously find big enough and separate enough markets to where they could both do well without competing with each other. They couldn’t do racing because that was Alfa’s thing. They couldn’t do luxury because that was Maserati and Alfa’s things.

By the early ‘00s, the only thing Lancia had left to distinguish itself was its past. So they did retro. Until that craze played out. And then they had nothing.

Amoore100 > AMC/Renauledge 09/17/2015 at 01:05

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All very accurate. And very tragic. Very much like the GM killing Saab story. And I suddenly want a Thema 8.32 again, if only to watch the spoiler go up and down, up and down, up and down, up and down...