Lancia Thema

The Lancia Thema was a model of Italian automobile produced in the 1980s. The 1985 Thema was one of four cars which shared the "Type Four" chassis; the others were Alfa Romeo 164, Fiat Croma and Saab 9000.

Related Topics:
Lancia - Italian - Automobile - 1980s - 1985 - Type Four - Alfa Romeo 164 - Fiat Croma - Saab 9000

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Thema was one of the most spacious and comfortable European cars of its time. Its 2.0 L four-cylinder engine, available in both normally-aspirated and turbo versions, was very popular, refined, and offered good performance. These engines originated from a Fiat series designed by Aurelio Lampredi, famed engine designer formerly of Ferrari and Alfa Romeo. The earlier car was also delivered with the 2.8 L PRV V6 engine developed in cooperation with the French PSA group and Volvo. This engine was replaced in 1992 with a 3.0 L V6 Alfa Romeo engine, regarded by many as one of the best V6 engines ever made.

Related Topics:
Turbo - Fiat - Aurelio Lampredi - Ferrari - Alfa Romeo - PRV

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Thema reestabliched Lancia as a high quality luxury producer after the problems the marque experienced with the earlier Lancia Beta in the 1970s. When Fiat sold one of their factories to Russia, they made a barter deal, getting poor-quality steel instead of cash. This steel went into many of the Fiat products in the 1970s and 1980s and nearly ruined the company. The Thema reversed this trend with a galvanized steel chassis. Build quality was higher than the Croma and at par with Saab 9000. However, the sales organisation in many markets was poor, and the secondhand value suffered.

Related Topics:
Lancia Beta - 1970s

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The car was also delivered as a station wagon (SW) designed by Pininfarina. The LX versions had same luxury equipment as the top of the range car Thema 8.32.

Related Topics:
Station wagon - Pininfarina

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Lancia Thema survived until 1994, when the marque withdrew from right hand drive markets (including Britain) because of a fall in popularity. But Lancia continued to be one of the most popular manufacturers on the Italian market and the Thema's replacement, Lancia Kappa, helped the marque sell its products well. It seems possible that Lancia may start to import to Britain again.

Related Topics:
1994 - Lancia Kappa

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Today the 8.32 -- and to lesser extent the Alfa engined V6 -- are real Classics.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~