Lancia Gamma Coupe
The Lancia Gamma came into being despite some not inconsiderable setbacks. It was the first Lancia produced under Fiat’s ownership and was developed in conjunction with Citroen and the CX. The car was to comprise the best of what both companies could offer including amongst other things, Citroen’s trademark hydraulic suspension. Two models were designed by Pininfarina, the Berlina (saloon) and the Coupe.
The Coupe was produced at the Pininfarina facility alongside the Ferrari 400, and the Berlina model was built by Lancia. Released to unsuspecting owners in 1976, from the word go the car quickly developed a reputation for mechanical fragility. The decision to run the power steering pump from one of the timing belts proved to be the principal cause of an early death. A cold morning combined with a dose of full lock on startup was enough to cause the timing belt to slip with the results being terminal for the engine. Cam shafts wore prematurely due to lack of lubrication, auto gearboxes failed due to blocked galleries, cylinder liner gaskets were made out of paper which failed easily and allowed to coolant to mix with oil, which main bearings do not like at all apparently! Front wishbones were made out of tin foil and……well you get the idea.
A fit Gamma Coupe is a wonderous machine, the 2.5 litre boxer engine throbs menacingly at idle but delivers a heroically broad spread of torque, starting just above idle and giving the car effortless performance and driveability. At 80mph/4000 rpm it is smooth and vibration free and feels at its happiest. The flat four engine enabled the designers to maximize the benefit of a low center of gravity (in the Coupe at least) and the car has outstanding handling compared to many modern cars – it must have been a revelation at launch. Staying flat through corners, the balance is magical and especially when you consider the suspension is compliant and soaks up bumps with contempt.
When I look at the ashes of Lancia today, a once proud, engineering-led company reduced to re-badged Chryslers, it’s easy to see the roots of their demise in the Gamma. A brilliantly designed car starved of development and constructed from low quality materials.
The Lancia Gamma was a front-wheel drive car with longitudinally-mounted boxer engine and with either a 5-speed manual transmission and later a 4-speed automatic transmission.[1] The Gamma received a midcycle face-lift, receiving Bosch L-Jetronic fuel injection as well as a new corporate grille, 15-inch "sunburst" alloy wheels, and a revised interior with new instrumentation, interior lighting, badging, handbrake and gear lever gaiter.
Though Fiat had planned to use one of their V6 engines, Lancia developed unique flat-4 engines for the Gamma. The Lancia Flavia and Flavia Coupe had used 1.8 and 2.0 litre flat four engines. Engine designer De Virgilio also drew up an engine for the Gamma which was a V6 4-cam with either 3- or 4-litre displacement, but this never came to fruition.
The flat engine, though large for a modern 4-cylinder petrol engine, lacked the cachet associated with six and eight cylinder engines but enabled Pininfarina chief stylist Aldo Brovarone to lower the coupé's bonnet line and to steeply rake its windscreen.
Pressure cast in alloy with wet cylinder liners, the engine was light and though it only produced 140 bhp (104 kW), (120 bhp (89 kW) in 2.0-litre form) its torque was available at just 2000 rpm.
Initially available with a displacement of 2.5 L (Gamma 2500), it was later joined by a 2.0 L version (Gamma 2000), which resulted from the Italian tax system (cars with engines larger than 2.0 L are subject to heavier tax burden). The displacement was lowered by decreasing the bore rather than the stroke of the engine. Both displacements were using Weber carburetors, and the 2.5 L also came in a version fitted with fuel injection (Gamma 2500 I.E.)
2.0 L carburetor 8v SOHC flat-4 - 1999 cc, 115 PS (85 kW)
2.5 L carburetor 8v SOHC flat-4 - 2484 cc, 140 PS (103 kW)
2.5 L I.E. 8v SOHC flat-4 - 2484 cc, 140 PS (103 kW)
Lancia Gamma Coupe
The Lancia Gamma came into being despite some not inconsiderable setbacks. It was the first Lancia produced under Fiat’s ownership and was developed in conjunction with Citroen and the CX. The car was to comprise the best of what both companies could offer including amongst other things, Citroen’s trademark hydraulic suspension. Two models were designed by Pininfarina, the Berlina (saloon) and the Coupe.
The Coupe was produced at the Pininfarina facility alongside the Ferrari 400, and the Berlina model was built by Lancia. Released to unsuspecting owners in 1976, from the word go the car quickly developed a reputation for mechanical fragility. The decision to run the power steering pump from one of the timing belts proved to be the principal cause of an early death. A cold morning combined with a dose of full lock on startup was enough to cause the timing belt to slip with the results being terminal for the engine. Cam shafts wore prematurely due to lack of lubrication, auto gearboxes failed due to blocked galleries, cylinder liner gaskets were made out of paper which failed easily and allowed to coolant to mix with oil, which main bearings do not like at all apparently! Front wishbones were made out of tin foil and……well you get the idea.
A fit Gamma Coupe is a wonderous machine, the 2.5 litre boxer engine throbs menacingly at idle but delivers a heroically broad spread of torque, starting just above idle and giving the car effortless performance and driveability. At 80mph/4000 rpm it is smooth and vibration free and feels at its happiest. The flat four engine enabled the designers to maximize the benefit of a low center of gravity (in the Coupe at least) and the car has outstanding handling compared to many modern cars – it must have been a revelation at launch. Staying flat through corners, the balance is magical and especially when you consider the suspension is compliant and soaks up bumps with contempt.
When I look at the ashes of Lancia today, a once proud, engineering-led company reduced to re-badged Chryslers, it’s easy to see the roots of their demise in the Gamma. A brilliantly designed car starved of development and constructed from low quality materials.
The Lancia Gamma was a front-wheel drive car with longitudinally-mounted boxer engine and with either a 5-speed manual transmission and later a 4-speed automatic transmission.[1] The Gamma received a midcycle face-lift, receiving Bosch L-Jetronic fuel injection as well as a new corporate grille, 15-inch "sunburst" alloy wheels, and a revised interior with new instrumentation, interior lighting, badging, handbrake and gear lever gaiter.
Though Fiat had planned to use one of their V6 engines, Lancia developed unique flat-4 engines for the Gamma. The Lancia Flavia and Flavia Coupe had used 1.8 and 2.0 litre flat four engines. Engine designer De Virgilio also drew up an engine for the Gamma which was a V6 4-cam with either 3- or 4-litre displacement, but this never came to fruition.
The flat engine, though large for a modern 4-cylinder petrol engine, lacked the cachet associated with six and eight cylinder engines but enabled Pininfarina chief stylist Aldo Brovarone to lower the coupé's bonnet line and to steeply rake its windscreen.
Pressure cast in alloy with wet cylinder liners, the engine was light and though it only produced 140 bhp (104 kW), (120 bhp (89 kW) in 2.0-litre form) its torque was available at just 2000 rpm.
Initially available with a displacement of 2.5 L (Gamma 2500), it was later joined by a 2.0 L version (Gamma 2000), which resulted from the Italian tax system (cars with engines larger than 2.0 L are subject to heavier tax burden). The displacement was lowered by decreasing the bore rather than the stroke of the engine. Both displacements were using Weber carburetors, and the 2.5 L also came in a version fitted with fuel injection (Gamma 2500 I.E.)
2.0 L carburetor 8v SOHC flat-4 - 1999 cc, 115 PS (85 kW)
2.5 L carburetor 8v SOHC flat-4 - 2484 cc, 140 PS (103 kW)
2.5 L I.E. 8v SOHC flat-4 - 2484 cc, 140 PS (103 kW)