When Lancia became Italy's Buick.

"AMC/Renauledge" (n2skylark) 09/18/2015 at 12:50 • Filed to: None

4

17

Every enthusiast remembers the Alfa Romeo 156. The looks. The sonorous V6. The WTCC race cars. It was even supposed to spearhead the relaunch of Alfa Romeo in the US market. But almost no one seems to remember its platform mate, the 1999-2005 Lancia Lybra.

The Lybra replaced the near decade-old, dull-as-ditchwater Lancia Dedra that bowed in 1990. A lot had changed at Fiat in the intervening years. The auto giant had been busy integrating Alfa Romeo after the Italian government sold its stake to Fiat in 1987. Fiat grew their controlling interest in Ferrari to 90% in 1988, as well, so tons of development money was going that direction.

Then DeTomaso’s empire crumbled in 1993, which saw Fiat scoop up Maserati. With all these new race-inspired brands now under the same roof, Lancia’s record string of 6 World Rally Championship wins failed to resonate within a company trying to grow and market 3 different Grand Prix-legendary brands.

In order to create space for all the new divisions, Fiat decided to leave Lancia’s racing heritage in the past and turn it into a brand of sumptuously trimmed, understated near-luxury cars. Kind of like Buick in the US or Rover in the UK. Thus, the world-beating Delta Integrale was never replaced, and the second-generation Delta was significantly watered down.

Once the retro styling craze hit the world in the mid-90s, Fiat decided to move Lancia there as well, pasting big chrome grilles and brightwork all over their new models to remind everyone of Lancia’s charismatic and deeply sexy, if quite distant past. The Lybra was the first Lancia to receive this treatment.

The retro-styled Thesis, Ypsilon, Phedra, and Musa followed soon after. But sales levels weren’t sustainable. Gone were the days of flat-fours and big turbos on engines driving all for wheels. Despite its 156 sister offering the legendary Alfa V6, the most power the Lybra ever offered was 170hp from its top-line 2.4L Inline-5. As little as 102hp was standard in its base 1.6L four-pot. Turbodiesel 1.9L fours and 2.4L I5s were also offered, with up to 227lb-ft of torque. Most available with both 5-speed manuals or 4-speed automatics. Only 165,000 would be sold worldwide over 6 years. Which wasn’t nearly enough. So Fiat canned the Lybra in the midst of its major financial peril in 2005 and never replaced it.

As you may know, I’m a fan of cars with character. Which is why I love Buicks. I don’t mind tasteful chrome trim and nods to heritage. Comfortable seats and warm interiors make me smile. Performance is great, but nearly any Italian car can be fun. And I was born in the ‘80s, not the ‘40s.

So I really like the Lybra, whether it’s in sedan or wagon form. Part of me wants to import one of each, along with a Thesis and 2003-10 Ypsilon. But that’d be insane.

I know there aren’t a ton of comfort/character-before-performance car guys out there like me. But what do you think about the Lybra and what Lancia had become in the last 20 years?

deprecated account > AMC/Renauledge 09/18/2015 at 12:52

4

Ew. Looks like a Daewoo.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > AMC/Renauledge 09/18/2015 at 12:52

1

In one word: yuk. I just couldn't get by those looks.

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > deprecated account 09/18/2015 at 12:55

2

A Lanos and an E-class had a baby.

AMC/Renauledge > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 09/18/2015 at 12:58

1

Yeah, well the Lanos was penned by Giugiaro, so this was avant-garde back in the ‘90s.

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > AMC/Renauledge 09/18/2015 at 13:01

0

it was a failed experiment in the since that it didn’t stand the test of time.

MultiplaOrgasms > AMC/Renauledge 09/18/2015 at 13:07

2

Two things.

1. I know that they were trying to recapture the spirit of the Lancias made before Lancia was known for RALLYCARSUPERTURBOTWINCHARGEDWHEEEEEEEEEEPTUTUTUTUSPEEEDDEAD. (you know, anything made before 1970), but it does look like something Mitsuoka would make in the 1990s.

2. Judging by how many of those I see on an almost daily basis (like three, plus a bunch of decidedly less retro Kappas) I would assume they were not the worst cars Lancia ever made. Must be because of the blue Alcantara.

AMC/Renauledge > MultiplaOrgasms 09/18/2015 at 13:11

0

Exactly. They seemed to be solid and respected cars in Italy, but pretty much nowhere else.

As for the styling, Jaguar, Rover, Chrysler, BMW’s MINI, Daewoo, Ford, and many others went this retro-pastiche direction back then.

And the Kappa never impressed me much. It’s a little too understated for me. And the coupe’s proportions are way off.

How many Thesises do you normally see?

Brickman > AMC/Renauledge 09/18/2015 at 13:23

0

“I knew I should of got a fancier car” :P

MultiplaOrgasms > AMC/Renauledge 09/18/2015 at 13:25

1

Probably. I’ve heard quite positive things about Lancia sedans of that era.

I think the Kappa is one of those cars that only work in real life. Another thing is that the design works best when equipped with 17” wheels instead of the 16” wheels most came with.

I think I’ve seen about five to ten Thesis in my life, and none of them locally.

ranwhenparked > AMC/Renauledge 09/18/2015 at 20:11

1

A little foresight would have helped, but it wasn’t that difficult to see where near-luxury brands were headed in the ‘90s. Oldsmobile was tanking, Volvo and Saab were trying to move upmarket, Mercury’s best days were behind it, Chrysler had largely moved itself downmarket, and Rover, aside from a brief resurgance in the early to mid ‘90s, started going downhill again under BMW.

People in this segment wanted the prestige of a real luxury brand. If it meant a base model 3-Series with cloth seats and manual windows, then, so be it. At least it had the same blue and white roundel on the hood as a 7-Series. And that’s why the near-luxury, medium priced brands went into a long decline that basically continues today.

Fiat intentionally moved Lancia into a terminal market segment, and the results speak for themselves.

AMC/Renauledge > ranwhenparked 09/18/2015 at 20:38

1

See, I’m not convinced the medium price segment is a death sentence.

Oldsmobile and Mercury never really commanded higher prices than Chevy and Ford in their last several decades. Same with Chrysler. You can’t maintain a brand identity or a buyer base when all you’ve got is shitty cars priced and equipped very slightly higher than your mainstream brands.

SAAB and Volvo struggled for different reasons. They were too small to stay independent and joined companies in too poor of health to keep focus on them without watering down. Plus, when your image is safety and everyone else makes cars just as safe because you can’t afford to update your lines fast enough, you lose out.

Rover was managed so incredibly poorly. First it teamed up with Triumph, another middle brand. So they competed. Then they fell into BL and got squeezed by everyone from Wolseley to Jaguar to Vanden Plas. By the time the ‘80s rolled around, Austin was the only mainstream brand left and its reputation was so bad, they stopped putting the badges on the Metro, Maestro, and Montego less than halfway through their cycles. So then everything became a Rover and they had to figure out how to appeal to execs AND their employees. Then BMW bought in and ensured they’d never get their luxury reputation back.

Fiat’s problem with Lancia seemed to be a hybrid of the American brands’ and the Swedish brands’.

AMC/Renauledge > ranwhenparked 09/18/2015 at 21:05

0

All this to say, I think mid-priced brands can work well, but they often get ignored at the expense of the mainstream and luxury brands. The mid-priced brands then have their identities muddled as they’re effectively relegated to “one above mainstream” status.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > AMC/Renauledge 09/18/2015 at 23:23

1

Honestly, I don’t mind the Lybra...never saw one in person asthey were never sold in Canada, of course, but I don’t mind the looks of it and they weren’t TERRIBLE cars.

The Ypsilon, on the other hand....I am quite a fan of small Italian hatches, so as bland as most people might think it is, I would gladly import an Ypsilon, even the older ‘96-’03 First Gen. model! :) They had some unique styling, but I sortof like them, and they were FIAT Punto-based, so fairly reliable little runabouts.

AMC/Renauledge > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 09/19/2015 at 03:13

1

I LOVE the late ‘90s-early ‘00s Lancia Ypsilon, too! Super distinctive!

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > AMC/Renauledge 09/19/2015 at 07:00

1

There’s always the slightly “warm hatch” ‘Elefantino Rosso’

model as well! :P

Amoore100 > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 09/20/2015 at 00:54

0

So f*cking accurate.

RT > AMC/Renauledge 11/28/2016 at 09:11

1

By this point Lancia basically pulled out of the RHD market, so I haven’t seen any of these outside of continental Europe myself.

But there was the Dedra, its predecessor, which was quite common.

Fiat Tempra underpinnings actually made it pretty great to drive, and it didn’t rust - in fact it was extra galvanised in an attempt remedy Lancia’s reliability track record. It was far from perfect, but Lancia deserved a second chance. Shame all these small innovative brands tend to have trouble staying afloat.