Gateway Drugs: Lancia Beta Montecarlo
4 minute read
The Montecarlo was the marijuana ‘gateway drug’ to the Lancia Rally 037 which, in comparison, was the heroine shoot up in a dark alley that’ll eventually get you killed after selling all your furniture.
Lancia needed something to compete in Group B and the Beta Montecarlo was the selected platform for the homologation of the road going death trap of a car, the Rally 037. You know the 037 right? It took part in a little rallying series called ‘Group B’. Nothing too crazy here apart from some ‘no-holds-barred’ racing where acceleration was SO brutal, drivers would suffer from tunnel vision and pit crews would be consulted by team psychologists after severed body parts (fingers mostly) would be found in the engine bay. You’ve seen the videos of littered sections of fans standing within breathing distance of competitors and besides the odd death here and there not everyone got away scot-free.
The Montecarlo, however, was not AS wild as the Rally 037 but did serve as a gateway to performance aspirations for owners. That is when it wasn’t rusting away at the mere mention of an ocean breeze. In fact…it was not much of a mid-mounted inline 4 pot banger as one would expect, delivering a humble 88kW which would get you to a top speed of 190Km/h and 0-100Km/h in 9.3 seconds which, for a car from the seventies, was respectable. It was designed by the masters of the automobile brushstroke society, which you may have heard about by now…a little company from Cambiano in Italy called Pininfarina. Grazie! The entrance to the engine bay opens from right to left, a type of mouse trap effect. A unique accent that made cars from this era that much more special.
Largely playing the understudy in the Lancia drama to the omnipotent S4, the Montecarlo and 037 deserves its place in the sun. That younger more talented sibling isn’t stealing all the glory this time. It’s believed that the legendary Walter Röhrl tipped the 037 off as his favourite car of all time which was also the last two-wheel drive car to beat a four-wheel-drive counterpart in rally history driven by Röhrl. (Perhaps pinned down to sheer “I’ll-come-to-your-house-and-tell-you-to-get-lost” driver skills Röhrl possessed).
Even though the original Montecarlo lacked the fireworks of the 037 and S4, and as a road proved to be a nail in the coffin that was the demise of the Lancia brand itself, its DNA and close ties to the most deranged racing of all time, being Group B, needs to be acknowledged and respect paid to the automotive deity for blessing us with this version of 1970s gateway drugs, the Lancia Beta Montecarlo.
