Lancia’s great hope

I enjoyed the European Car of the Year story (February), particularly the 1980s section. I was working at my local Fiat and Lancia dealership when the Delta was launched. All hopes were pinned on it after the Beta scandal.

There was lots of customer interest, but supply of new cars was very slow. One customer ordered the basic model, which arrived and looked great with a really appealing interior and, amazingly, a good paint finish. All went well and the customer drove off very happy, only to return about 20 minutes later saying he couldnʼt select fifth gear.

It was taken into the workshop and the gate for fifth was completely solid. The foreman had a look at the linkages and diagnosed that a four-speed ʼbox had been fitted during production, despite the car wearing a five-speed gearknob. We swapped in the gearbox from the demonstrator, but it summed up what could be expected from the factory back then.

At the same time, the new Strada was coming through with a special hotwax treatment before shipping. This resulted in just about every car needing a respray before delivery because the wax resulted in a mottled camouflage effect that couldnʼt be polished out.

Eifion Salisbury

Bedford, Beds