More Betas.......

[Betaboy2.0]

As if 4 Beta saloons, a Delta and 2 Gamma saloons wasn't enough, I seem to have re-acquired 2 more Betas.

 

This is Hector, the HPE 2.0 Automatic. I owned him 9 years abo for a bried period, gave him away to a friend who has done NOTHING with him for the lasy 9 years, and now he is coming home. "Has potential" is i think the phrase....

 

 

 

 

Ok - so he needs a bonnet, but other that that, a bit of paint and a repair to the hole in the roof he really isn;t too bad!!

 

 

The inportant thing is that the boy is coming home and will live to see another decade or two!

[Wilko220]

Top work. Must be massively frustrating but at least it's back in good hands.

 

Can you make the pix any bigger though.

[Guest]

 

Yours is mint condition compared to the last one I have seen.

[Betaboy2.0]

And now we come to Eric the Beta Berlina.

 

7 years ago, he was one of the nicest Beta saloon in the country. I sold him to a friend, who sadly didn;t really understand that leaving a 70's Italian car (or for that matter any 70's car) out in your front garden for 5 years with no cover, is not a good idea. As you can see, Eric suffered, so i offered to take him back!

 

The grass growing from the drivers footwell carpet was a disappointment, and the moss festering on the drivers seat was a new take on seat coverings. The black, mildew neadlining was potentially only a small health hazzard, and the gallon and a half of water that came out of him once I removed the footwell bungs was at least a solution to the hosepipe ban!

 

I'm sure that Eric has the potential to once again reign supreme - but he really will be a fair amount of work!

 

So, as an inspiration to myself, I set about with the G3 and autoglym once he arrived back in Wiltshire. And the resul;ts speak for themselves.......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Isn't the rescue of old Shitter fun!!

[Mr_Bo11ox]

That must be a real gutter to watch something like that get spoiled through blatant neglect, I think you should give your mate a ROCKET. If you've got the best example of a rare car you have a responsibility to at least make a token effort to look after the damn thing.

[Betaboy2.0]

 

JUst seeing if this is any bigger......

[Betaboy2.0]

 

 

 

Bigger pics! Sorry, this posting malarky is all a learning curve to me!

[Wilko220]

Yep

[Betaboy2.0]

And the really sad thing is that less that 7 years ago, just before I sold him, this is how Eric the Beta looked.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, at least I have something to aim for!!

[vulgalour]

That's two cars I've never seen before, but have added to my ever increasing "Ooh, that's nice" list.

[skattrd]

Good luck with the work betaboy.

 

I was tempted by an HPE recently, but my lack of permanent garage space for it was the deciding factor. I really want an HPE, but could not have one and keep it outside for large periods of time.

[carlo]

What a beautiful colour that saloon is, never seen one like that before.

[outlaw118]

My brother's 3rd HPE, a VX, sold after one too many mysterious electrickery faults

[fiatdaft]

I do miss my old beta saloons,nice to see some being looked after ,top marks.

[Hertz]

Look forward to seeing progress on your collection betaboy. Well done for saving them.

[Mash]

The blue Berlina is identical to one I used to walk past every day on my way to school in the late 80s. It was definitely the last one in my home town and definitely the last one I ever recall seeing "in the wild" so to speak. There's no way of me ever remembering the number. Have you any history to show if it was ever resident in Beverley in East Yorkshire? Long shot but you never know!!

[Vin]

This is good. At least they are back in safe hands and have the opportunity of the TLC they've surely missed whilst out of your ownership.

 

 

Yours is mint condition compared to the last one I have seen.

 

I saw this with my own eyes a couple of weekends ago. It's in Ripley, Derbyshire isn't it...

[Guest]

 

Hats off to you, those Betas are fantastic. Have you read the Wim Oude Weernink tome on Lancias? There's a really good Beta section..................

 

Also, I know where there's a really MINGING HPE Volumex if you're interested.

[chaseracer]

 

These really were made from rejected ersatz Russian cheese, weren't they...?

[Betaboy2.0]

What a beautiful colour that saloon is, never seen one like that before.

 

Capri Blue - surely only Lancia would give one of their colours the same name as a rival car!!

 

 

I'm still to be convinced that Betas are any worse than most other things from the early / mid 70s. VW 412s and K70s needed wings and sill almost a quickly as Betas, Alfasuds bio-degraded even faster. ADO16s regularly needed sills at first MOT time, and look at how fast Datsuns, Toyotas, Citroens, Fords MGs and Simcas disintegrated.

 

Lancia got the bad press as they put their hands up to the problem - and that is when things went even further downhill. Sales fell through the floor, the stocks of unsold Betas in the UK piled up and "new" cars sat in fields unregistered for 2-3 years. eg, the blue (ish!)HPE pictured is on a Y-plate. Registered in August 82. Looking at the spec, I bet it is a mid 79 built car. So it would have been 3 years old before it was even registered (My Beta S3 saloon is Jan 83 registered and confirmed as April 80 build!)

 

So, with a "new" Lancia back in the day, sadly it could have been 6 years old by its first MOT - and how many Datsuns / Fords / Austins / MGs etc got through their MOTs at 6yrs old without needing some remedial work.

 

I'm not saying it's right - just an explanation!!

 

I'll get off my soapbox now and carry on with preparing the quizes for SHITEFEST