Lancia on Top Gear - BBC America

[1,6 HF]

If I'm reading the schedule correctly, the Lancia episode of Top Gear will be shown on BBC America today, Monday, 29 March.

Worth watching, notwithstanding (or because of, depending on your point of view) the usual Top Gear inanity. Look beyond the usual clichés for an unusually positive treatment of the marque.

[riczag]

Ed

I am having a look at some of the past posts (before I joined the site). Was this the episode where they said that Lancia was the best car maker in the world with 7 great cars? If so, it was a great episode and for those that missed it, clips of that episode can be found on You Tube. Well worth viewing.

[1,6 HF]

Yes, that's the same one: Season 14, Episode 3. It can be found here:
http://www.casttv.com/shows/top-gear#removed

[riczag]

I think the presenters made a valid point about the poor marketing of the marque and a failure to emphasise the competition history and to capitalise on that history. I think that had they better marketed the marque, Lancia could have survived in the UK market notwithstanding the rust problems. Alfas rusted just as badly, and Alfas survived because they are seen to be sporty cars with an Italian joie de vivre. The Beta volumex stood out as something quite unusual and together with the Montecarlo (Scorpion) these properly encapsulated the enduring appeal of the Italian small sports car.

This is not the first time that Lancia made a crass error in marketing. Back in the 60s, the producers of The Saint TV programme (staring Roger Moore as Simon Templar) wanted to use the Fulvia as his car. However, Lancia were not willing to give the producers sufficient numbers of cars so in the end, the producers turned to Volvo who happily donated the P1800s. The failure to appreciate the worth of the virtually free publicity of having a car shown on TV on a regular basis associated with a suave debonair playboy type character was a big big error of judgment. The sales of the Fulvia (and other models) would have been far higher had Lancia been associated with that series.

[Old Man Wattsy]

Shock!! Horror!! The GFC has hit the US harder than I expected.
I guess you guys are back to carrier pigeon technology.
The episode was shown in Oz early this year and was downloadable in Nov last year.
For a typical TG ying and yang comedy routine, it is suprising respectful to Lancia. You just have to dig a little below the surface.
However, later in the episode, they make a good point about buying any home built kit car when Clarkson drives a kit Stratos.
Enjoy. I'm sure you will.
Regards, mick

[1,6 HF]

Mick,

That carrier pigeon comment went right over my head. But if you're thinking that we're way behind in seeing the episode, you may have missed that this is a very old thread. As you can see from the date of the first post, that Top Gear episode aired in the US last March. And we could download it (although not from the official BBC site) just after it first aired in the UK.

[Old Man Wattsy]

Phew, world order is restored.