Jacking

"SteveH" wrote

Because the tabloid press found out that Lancia were posing as private buyers, buying up Betas and scrapping them in a desperate attempt to head off their corrosion problem.

Betas were made of very poor grade Russian steel supplied in exchange for building the Lada factory at Toliatti (I've been there, incidentally). The also had insufficient drainage holes and channels.

Lanci Betas, like all Fiat-group cars of the time, were appalling rust-buckets and I wouldn't place too much faith in the rose-tinted view put forwards by Practical Classics magazine.

The snag with PC is it's run by youngsters now. Who weren't around in those days. It's rather obvious by some of the amazing gaffs they make about cars from this period.

Well I only knew one person who ran Lancias. And this happened to him. It was a company car so didn't trouble him as much as if he'd actually paid for it. When spending other's money it's nice to indulge the desire for individuality.

I'd also ask just what was the purpose of this tabloid witch hunt? Lancia were never a threat to profits or employment in the UK. Could it be a few journalists had exactly these problems with their cars?

The poor quality steel was no hype - it was a fact.

There were a very small number of Series I cars affected - at no point did engines drop out, or anything like that. The problem became known because the subframe mounts became loose. Lancia bought these back and scrapped them, rather than repair them. This made headlines.

Unfortunately, even 5 years later, the press (in particular 'That's Life') went on a witch hunt over it - but got it completely wrong. They were featuring scrapped Series I cars as 'nearly new', when, in fact, they were all at least 6 years old and on their 2nd or 3rd owners when Lancia bought them back.

In fact, when the shit hit the fan in the press, Lancia had just introduced a 6 year anti-corrosion warranty - way ahead of the rest of the market.

Still, let's not have facts getting in the way of a good urban myth, eh?

As it was for just about *every* other manufacturer of the time - remember, the cars Lancia bought and scrapped were 6 years old at the time - it wasn't uncommon back then for a 6 year old car to be a complete rot-box anyway.

Late 70s Japanese cars were, if anything, even worse.

And don't forget that Ford will still sell you a brand new car that has the ability to fail it's first MOT due to corrosion even today.

This may be, but it doesn't stop everyone slating Italian cars for doing

It's just that the media only picked up on Italian stuff, mostly on the back of inaccurate reporting by That's Life.

Steve, you need treatment :-)

What Ford car currently on sale will fail its first MOT on corrosion? Where is your evidence?

You keep banging on about rusty KA's, but I see loads of R-reg ones that look completely rust free.

Early Fiestas and Escorts have some areas prone to corrosion, but they are getting on for 20 years old now. It's only because the total cost of ownership of these is so low that they are still around.

Chris

I don't believe this.

The Ka *still* isn't properly rust proofed.

And I've seen lots of younger ones with fairly advanced corrosion on the sills. And rear 3/4 panels, and on the seem between the sill and the floorpan.

They're a complete lottery - some are fine, some rot if you dare to look at them.....

Steve is correct. There have been cases of 3 year old Kas failing their first MOT according to honest john. OTOH I suspect that's a lot less likely now they fit anti stone chip film to the base of the B pillar.

Dave Plowman (News) ( snipped-for-privacy@davenoise.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

It was a fact for the entire European motor industry in the mid-late '70s - there was a real shortage of decent stuff, with poorly-recycled Russian steel being all that was available in any quantity.

Which is why P-R-S-T reg cars of *all* makes are few and far between.

Chris Whelan ( snipped-for-privacy@ntlworld.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

And there's plenty of R and S reg Mondeos, Galaxies and other Fords with very crunchy rear arches.

Dave Plowman (News) ( snipped-for-privacy@davenoise.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

What didn't back then?