Wanted one of these for ages 1983 LANCIA GAMMA COUPE FI SILVER CLASSIC 2.5 PROJECT on eBay (end time 23-Oct-10 20:29:15 BST) no room to store it though

From the amount of rust on it, id say it only looks a year or so old

hahaha

I was going to say with the surfac rust showing, Titanic will be in better condition under the paint !!

No problem with rusty cars, but it's a bit fugly for me I'm afraid.

I'm going to google 'rehaul' and see what work the brakes need......

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and if you took the badges off it, nobody would ever know what it was.

It will be scary delving under the wheelarches and carpets ...

Fiat Dino is one of my favourite motors, love the old Italian rustboxes, Suds, GTV6s etc.

It is interesting that it isn't a particularly photogenic car - but in the flesh it is very pretty and quite striking.

The thin pillars and classic lines make it look very Italian exotic in my humble opinion.

Few people on here will ever have seen one I suspect - I'm 48 and I have only ever seen 2 that I know of.

I would restore it and have it re upholstered with leather and have a nice thin ally and wood rimmed steering wheel fitted

mmmmmmmmmm

Go for it, it's so rare I haven't even heard of it

A mate of mine has a Montecarlo in his barn. Although to be fair, you'd have to be pretty clued up to recognise it.

He started by taking the brightwork off to give it a polish. It's now a bare shell, with big holes

Not seen one before but I really like it!

Most of them were probably written off when the timing belt failed which they did on a regular basis. Very quick when they did run though

It is a very pretty very rare car, but beware the rust is the least of your problems, this is car equivalent of the female bunny boiler, the engine is a flat four with sleeved bores and paper seals thinner than a fag paper between the sleeve bottoms and where it meets the crankcase, and the seals always perish which allows oil and water to mix even when they were new. No matter what you do or how clean you are at rebuilding this engine it will eventually leak again, then the timing belts keep shearing the bent valves. Then when it finally runs the idle is rough and doesn’t suit the looks of this car, I once rebuilt one of these engines in a proper lancia garage five times. If your going to get this car go with the mindset of an engine transplant Audi might suit the bill. Then the electrics and interior will need to be sorted no spares .

quote:

---

Originally posted by T Rex
It is a very pretty very rare car, but beware the rust is the least of your problems, this is car equivalent of the female bunny boiler, the engine is a flat four with sleeved bores and paper seals thinner than a fag paper between the sleeve bottoms and where it meets the crankcase, and the seals always perish which allows oil and water to mix even when they were new. No matter what you do or how clean you are at rebuilding this engine it will eventually leak again, then the timing belts keep shearing the bent valves. Then when it finally runs the idle is rough and doesn’t suit the looks of this car, I once rebuilt one of these engines in a proper lancia garage five times. If your going to get this car go with the mindset of an engine transplant Audi might suit the bill. Then the electrics and interior will need to be sorted no spares .

---

In the early 80s, the Glasgow Evening Times was where you sold your car if you lived within the circulation area.

There was a Gamma Coupe in there week after week after week.
Little by little the price came down but still no takers.

Eventually, the owner offered it for sale at the price of a straight swap for two balloons and a goldfish.

The paper picked up on it and ran a little article and the woner admitted he couldn't get rid of it for love nor money.

I've always wanted one

Don’t get me wrong I love old Italian cars, and whenever I see any old car on somebody’s drive, my mind goes in to possibilities mode , but if ever there was a car destined to spend their last days gently rotting on somebody’s drive as a dream to never be realised, or be tarted up and put in a motor museum this is it, you are a brave man Mr Mookaloid.

Well I can't buy it just now because I just have nowhere to store it. If I did have somewhere I would definitely buy it.

I like your idea of a transplant for a more reliable serviceable drivetrain though. After all nobody will know if it doesn't quite sound how it should

A genuine RUST 2 ROME classic...... I may try to drive it back to where it came from and leave it there.....
its about the right price as well