Targancia: 1982 Lancia Beta Zagato Spyder

This next tip comes from JJ in Ottawa who writes: You seem to feature these about once per year and at $7,200 USD,
this one sets a high water mark for price.  With fewer than 9,500 built,
these must be getting scarce in any condition.  I recognize this one
from it’s personalized plates, and i’ve seen it around town occasionally
over the last 15 years.   At less than 2,500 miles per year, this car
seems to have been well taken care of, so the price does not seem
unreasonable.  For some reason I can’t help but sing Ren & Stimpy’s ‘Log’ song in my head….. It’s better than bad- it’s good!  Find this 1982 Lancia Beta Zagato Spyder offered for $9,500 CAD ($7,206 USD — what is up with the crazy exchange rate these days?) via kijiji.ca.

To make the Spyder version of the Beta, the guys at Lancia contracted the design to Pininfarina, but the execution/production was done by the Milanese based carrozzeria Zagato.  The result is an odd combination of targa top and convertible with the final product being reminiscent of the Baur Targa coachbuilt BMWs.

Mounted in front of the passenger compartment is a 2.0 liter all alloy
inline-4 that puts 108 horsepower and 114 ft-lbs of torque into the
front wheels via a 5-speed manual gearbox.  Lancia (like Saab) had used
front wheel drive for years to win rallies before the advent of
economy cars and all-wheel-drive…so you can give this thing a pass for
driving the wrong wheels.

Last thought from JJ: Oh yeah, I just remembered what Lancia stands for: Last Again, Not Competitive In Anything.  Zing!  See another Lancia for cheap? Send it here: tips@dailyturismo.com