Lancia Beta Montecarlo
From the once large and innovative brand Lancia, only a sad remainder is still visible. Possibly this changes in the next years. The Stellantis group is apparently planning a kind of revival as a luxury brand for electric cars. Until that happens, however, all that remains is to look back at very different vehicles that have contributed to the creation of legends in their own way. One example is the Beta series, which debuted in November 1972 for the midsize class. The four-door sedan called Berlina was joined by four other body variants in the course of the following years. There was the Beta Coupé from summer 1973, the Beta Spider from fall 1974 and the Beta HPE (High Performance Estate) from spring 1975. The latter model variant was a four-seater estate coupé that looked like the normal Coupé from the front but was based on the long platform of the Berlina. The final variant appeared in the fall of 1975 as the Beta Montecarlo.
Mid-engine coupé
Although this body version continued to bear the same model name, it didn’t have much to do technically with the other offshoots. Lancia drew on design sketches by Pininfarina that had first been shown in the form of the Abarth 030 Concept and, shortly thereafter, in similar form as the Fiat X1/9. The Beta Monte Carlo was also a two-seat mid-engined car. It was available with either a fixed metal roof or a rollable targa top. In the U.S., the model was simplay called Scorpion and received a modified front end with round pop-up headlights instead of the twin headlights or square headlights in Europe. This car appeared as a supporting actor in the Disney move “Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo”. Due to low sales, Lancia ceased production of the Beta Monte Carlo in 1978. However, since the Fiat Group needed a new base vehicle for the World Rally Championship, especially for the then new Group B, production of Series 2 began in 1980 with additional windows in the C-pillars and a modified front end.
120 hp in Europe, 88 hp in the USA
Behind the two seats and a bulkhead, a two-liter four-cylinder engine with 88 kW/120 hp worked in the Beta Montecarlo. In the U.S. version, the Scorpion, stricter emissions regulations resulted in a reduction to 65 kW/88 hp. The U.S. model was dropped in the Series 2, which was also simply called the Montecarlo without the Beta epithet. While engine output remained unchanged, engineers enlarged the brake discs and improved the braking system by means of a mechanical brake booster. The hydraulic system of Series 1 had proved unreliable for various reasons. A total of around 7,800 examples of the Beta Montecarlo and Montecarlo were built. On all of them, the flat rear hoof opened to the left side of the vehicle. The implied C-pillars were visually somewhat reminiscent of some Ferrari models and obstructed the view of the rear at an angle. Our gallery shows a Series 2 car in Japan.
Motorsport versions for rallying and sports car racing
Based on the Beta Montecarlo and the Montecarlo Series 2, various cars were built for motorsport. Some examples competed in small classes in rallies, only slightly modified. Meanwhile, Abarth worked on an extensively modified version for Group B, which finally debuted as Rally 037. Apart from the engine mounting position and a few other details, however, the 037 didn’t have much in common with the Montecarlo. In addition, there was also a version for circuit racing under Group 5 regulations. These stated that only the basic silhouette had to match the production cars. As Lancia Turbo, the car made headlines and won the manufacturers’ world championship in 1980 and 1981. Hans Heyer also won the title in the 1980 Deutsche Rennsport-Meisterschaft (DRM). Lancia couldn’t convert these successes into good sales figures.
Images: Carzy
