beauty of a Beta

I spotted this excellent Lancia Beta Coupe in Sainsbury Car park tonight. It took me back a few years. I owned a fair few Lancias over the years. They were great to drive and a super design.

Unfortunately the Beta gained a reputation for being rust-prone, particularly the 1st Series vehicles (built from 1972 to 1975). A widely circulated rumor states that the cars used Russian steel supplied to Fiat in return for building the Lada factory.[10] However, these claims have never been verified. The steel problems are more likely due to poor rustproofing techniques as well as the prolonged strikes that plagued Italy at that time rather than the metal's origin.

At least in those days when you looked under the bonnet you could actually see an engine unlike these days when I don't recognise anything under the bonnet apart from the screen washer bottle