Lancia Motor Club

General => General Chat => Topic started by: toby2449 on 22 April, 2010, 07:48:38 PM



Title: Why can't we have Lancia instead of Chrysler!!!!
Post by: toby2449 on 22 April, 2010, 07:48:38 PM

So alot of ye have read my thread on FGA's plans for its brands, & how we (UK & ROI) are getting stuffed with Chrysler instead of lancia, which every other european market is getting. Sadly today Fiat ireland confirmed there are no plans to re-introduce the brand to RHD markets.

We came so close in 2007 to getting Lancia back, & yet despite future lancia/Chrysler having to be developed for RHD we're getting the short end of the stick. This annoys me, i love this brand, i want to see it back.

I'm wondering is there anything we can do to change the situation, if the forums/owners clubs of Ireland & UK get together, make their feelings known to FGA, would they re-consider & dump Chrysler in favour for Lancia.... i'm thinking of a joint idea as FGA see ROI & UK markets as the same market.

am i being naive?? I'm going to post this on both Irish & English sites to see the reaction

this may be a daft idea that a small group of people could lobby an industrial giant into changing its mind, but hey why not!

cheers guys!


Title: Re: Why can't we have Lancia instead of Chrysler!!!!
Post by: fensaddler on 22 April, 2010, 10:20:24 PM
They've concluded there is no money to be made from us, or Japan, or any of the other RHD markets.  I'd imagine snowballs in hell have more chance than we do of changing their minds.  Sentiment counts for nothing....unless you are Alfa, in which case you've been allowed slack to under-perform and eat money for years.


Title: Re: Why can't we have Lancia instead of Chrysler!!!!
Post by: fay66 on 23 April, 2010, 12:09:45 AM
They've concluded there is no money to be made from us, or Japan, or any of the other RHD markets.  I'd imagine snowballs in hell have more chance than we do of changing their minds.  Sentiment counts for nothing....unless you are Alfa, in which case you've been allowed slack to under-perform and eat money for years.


I think you're flogging a dead horse, for anyone whose really concerned about not running a modern RHD Lancia, it's a case of bite the bullet and go LHD, no real problem driving a LHD car here as long as you're sensible about it, and in fact when running to a motorway at an angle, it's a great advantage.
As you tend drive closer to the kerb side in a LHD car, I got into the habit of looking up the inside of the vehicle in front on left hand bends to get a good look, of course you have to be careful when pulling out to overtake, but that has the added advantage of making you keep a good distance between you and the car in front.
For anyone who is really concerned about the view forward when pulling out to overtake, when I had the Y elefantino Rosso, I purchased a clever mirror arrangement whereby you had a mirror that fitted in the top right corner of the windscreen, that gave a view of the oncoming traffic, I'm fairly certain they are still available.
With Ypsilon there is a way around the lights and speedo, and we know that at least two of our number have overcome the problems to personally import new Delta, so with a bit of ingenuity, it's not a big problem, more a state of mind.
Ask any integrale pilot ;D
Brian
8227 8)


Title: Re: Why can't we have Lancia instead of Chrysler!!!!
Post by: Harvey on 23 April, 2010, 05:32:06 AM
It's just such a disappointment from the heady heights of what was promised in 2006. Instead of a dealer network and a revitalised range, we get Chryslers. You could still import a Lancia, but to everyone else it'll be a LHD Chrysler.


Title: Re: Why can't we have Lancia instead of Chrysler!!!!
Post by: toby2449 on 23 April, 2010, 12:20:53 PM

ah well i suppose my idea was somewhat away with the fairies!!

I'd personally import a LHD Lancia tomorrow, but there are a couple of problems....

you can't get car finance on one (being a personal import)so it'd have to be a personal loan, which the banks are exactly tripping over themselves to give
How do u get insurnace on one, since most insurance companies don't have Lancia's one their system, & it being LHD surely this pushes the cost right up?


Title: Re: Why can't we have Lancia instead of Chrysler!!!!
Post by: donw on 23 April, 2010, 05:34:41 PM
Dont know the insurance market in ROI but in UK the LMC scheme accepts LHD at normal rates.

Don


Title: Re: Why can't we have Lancia instead of Chrysler!!!!
Post by: stuwilson128 on 23 April, 2010, 10:25:49 PM
Quote
How do u get insurnace on one, since most insurance companies don't have Lancia's one their system, & it being LHD surely this pushes the cost right up?

I was extremely surprised when I phoned up for an insurance quote before I ordered my Nuova Delta as it was listed on the system.  I currently insure the Delta with Direct Line.  The cost of insurance for the Delta 1.9 Twin Turbo is not much more than I was paying for the Alfa 156 1.8T-Spark I used to own or the Lybra (which was insured as my main car until the Delta arrived), both of which were insured by either Direct Line, Churchill or Tesco insurance. 


Title: Re: Why can't we have Lancia instead of Chrysler!!!!
Post by: westernlancia on 24 April, 2010, 07:12:05 AM
I think you're flogging a dead horse, for anyone whose really concerned about not running a modern RHD Lancia, it's a case of bite the bullet and go LHD

I frequently have customers come to me and ask if I can source them a rust-free right-hand drive Lancia (Fulvia, Appia or Flavia, usually). I tell them that they can have one or the other (i.e. rust-free OR right-hand-drive). But not both.

Britain is full of right-hand-drive cars that are rusty now or have been once (and have often been 'repaired' to questionable standards). Italy is full of left-hand-drive cars that have never been rusted, just need thoroughly cavity wax rustproofing, and will be good for another 20 years as long as they are stored inside and not driven in the salt (i.e. not at all between October and April - that's when you drive the Fiat Marea!!).

So Brian is right - time to wake up, smell the coffee, and start to love LHD (I actually prefer it anyway, especially as I do a lot of continental motoring, which means that I will be on the 'wrong' side of the car for 50% of the time anyway).

But you'd be amazed how many people choose to go down the rusty route instead of the LHD route. Beats me why though...

Cheers

Alan


Title: Re: Why can't we have Lancia instead of Chrysler!!!!
Post by: westernlancia on 24 April, 2010, 07:37:01 AM
Italy is full of left-hand-drive cars that have never been rusted

(Quoting myself here - that's as sad as it gets!)  :)

Meant to say before - if anyone wants help looking for a nice not-rusty Lancia in Italy I am always happy to help with the research! A few basic words of Italian are all that you need (because if you don't put some Italian into the search terms it will bring up English sites all the time).

But if you try something like 'vendo Lancia XXX / unico proprietario / mai restaurata / senza ruggine passante / buone condizioni / chilometraggio basso...' etc., you'll be amazed at what you find (you just have to replace the X's with the model of your choice!).

And don't be daunted by the idea of getting it back here - O.K., you will probably need to trailer it, and that will cost £1000-1500, but you will save WAY more than that on rust repairs. And you'll have a better car into the bargain.

Just let me know if you want any help...

Cheers

Alan


Title: Re: Why can't we have Lancia instead of Chrysler!!!!
Post by: westernlancia on 24 April, 2010, 07:56:38 AM
If you try something like 'vendo Lancia XXX / unico proprietario / mai restaurata / senza ruggine passante / buone condizioni / chilometraggio basso...' etc., you'll be amazed at what you find

(Still quoting myself - I need to get out more!)  :)

How about this, for a start, for sale in Rome:

http://www.autobelle.it/annunci/dettid.php?gb_id=109008

It's on www.autobelle.it, which is one of the best sites out there - always loads and loads of lovely cars on it (I keep getting tempted by them!).

And this looks like a beaut - O.K., it's £6000 plus import costs, but if you bought one in the UK it would cost you £4-5K and would almost certainly have extensive rust which would cost you another 3-4K in repairs to get done properly, so the Italian car would probably end up being cheaper in the long run. And this one is ready to roll!

This one looks O.K. too, although it's in Macerata, which is quite a way down and a fair way to go on the basis of a not-very-clear picture. But if the owner were prepared to send some more pictures it'd probably be worth a look:

http://www.autobelle.it/annunci/dettid.php?gb_id=107102

Cheers

Alan


Title: Re: Why can't we have Lancia instead of Chrysler!!!!
Post by: lancialulu on 24 April, 2010, 11:22:42 AM
Fantastic site! Will certainly improve my automotive Italian wandering around it for hours/days/weeks to come...

Tim


Title: Re: Why can't we have Lancia instead of Chrysler!!!!
Post by: DavidLaver on 24 April, 2010, 01:32:09 PM

Alan - I for one greatly enjoy ALL your posts (thinking about the new Delta launch as well as here) so if it takes a reply to your own posts to get you to post again that's fine by me.  That early Fulvia looks a treat - its just nice to know they still exist in that sort of condition at that sort of price for all we keep being told sterling is worthless.

As for the "Lancia / Chrysler" debate I'd rather have the new Lancias here badged as Chrysler than Chryslers here badged as Lancias.

David