Is this what I think it is?

[FinnJohn]

http://www.oregonlottery.org/images/jnumbers/checks/1/medjackpotpb_05.gif

[DJ]

I think it is!

Excellent!!!

[rossocorsa]

looks like a golf/rabbit to me

[1,6 HF]

looks like a golf/rabbit to me

more specifically a cabriolet; if it's a Beta, it's missing some important sheet metal...

which is just as well, as the subtext appears to be either 'hey, if we win we can ditch this beater' or 'look! an oncoming train!'

[chrisc]

Thats not even close to a beta :) then again maybe its a little clearer to me as ive owned both

[DJ]

Thats not even close to a beta :) then again maybe its a little clearer to me as ive owned both

You're probably right. Just looking at the headlights and grille and the vent in the top of the bonnet, it looks very much like an early Beta to me. I didn't pay much attention to the rear roof and pillars. We've seen at least one chopped/converted Beta (red BTW).

[chrisc]

You're probably right. Just looking at the headlights and grille and the vent in the top of the bonnet, it looks very much like an early Beta to me. I didn't pay much attention to the rear roof and pillars. We've seen at least one chopped/converted Beta (red BTW).

I should have clarified - its a golf, and ive owned one of those as well as a beta.

The giveaways as you say are the smaller inner headlights, lack of bezels on the inner ones, grille, bonnet vent. Also the entire centre of the bonnet is raised on the golf where the beta just has a pair of raised lines bordering the centre section - see

http://picasaweb.google.com/ChrisChennell/LanciaPreRestoration/photo#5181818853420084882

and lastly the corners of the front wings are wayy too pointy and squared off for a beta.

[1,6 HF]

The giveaways as you say are the smaller inner headlights, lack of bezels on the inner ones, grille, bonnet vent. Also the entire centre of the bonnet is raised on the golf where the beta just has a pair of raised lines bordering the centre section ... and lastly the corners of the front wings are wayy too pointy and squared off for a beta.

Having had both early and later Betas, I don't mean to nitpick, but it's not the "smaller" inner lamps--it's just the opposite: the larger outer ones. Betas have quad 5-3/4", while the Golf has inner 5-3/4" and outer 7".

The lowered section in the hood should have been a giveaway but, in fairness, DJ thought it might be an early Beta, and these don't have the broad raised center section (of course, they don't have a lowered one, either). What the early cars do have, however, is brightwork headlight bezels on all the lamps; it's only the later cars that have black ones. And the 'split' grille that your car wears was introduced in 1982--the last year for Lancia in the USA; few cars here have it, and they're almost all Zagatos.

But for me, other than the obvious issue of the "airy" rear cabin, the dead giveaway is the square fender corners and the thin, squared-off hood edge. As you quite correctly point out, both are rounded on the Beta, early or late.

And of course it's a bloody cab. I mean, DJ, could the ad agency really have used the one red Beta Coupe that had an accident with a can opener?

[DJ]

And of course it's a bloody cab. I mean, DJ, could the ad agency really have used the one red Beta Coupe that had an accident with a can opener?

I assumed it was certainly possible. Why wouldn't it be?

However, further research reveals that it's highly improbable that it was the one I was thinking about. See pics below. (UK car, RHD)

http://lancisti.net/photopost/data/907/thumbs/Convertible_Beta_001.jpg (http://lancisti.net/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=7510) http://lancisti.net/photopost/data/907/thumbs/Convertible_Beta_002.jpg (http://lancisti.net/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=7511) http://lancisti.net/photopost/data/907/thumbs/Convertible_Beta_003.jpg (http://lancisti.net/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=7512) http://lancisti.net/photopost/data/907/thumbs/Convertible_Beta_004.jpg (http://lancisti.net/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=7513) http://lancisti.net/photopost/data/907/thumbs/Convertible_Beta_005.jpg (http://lancisti.net/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=7514)

[rossocorsa]

I rather imagine that has the rigidity of a wet cornflake packet and the hood looks rather inelegant but with the hood down it has a look that makes you wonder why they didn't do it that way originally

[DJ]

Pretty much my thoughts exactly. I probably wouldn't have described the top (hood) quite as gracefully though...:)

[SIMid]

There's an aussie bloke who did a very similar conversion many years ago.

Good to see these wheels painted black in the centre. I was wondering what they would look like with modified stockies. ;)