Lancia Beta Montecarlo Turbo
A replacement for the Fulvia, the Lancia Beta was the first car designed entirely under the aegis of new owners Fiat, which had taken control in 1969. Introduced in 1972 it was, like the Fulvia, front-engined and front-wheel-drive with a variety of available body styles including a conventional coupe and targa-style convertible. Lastly, and rather oddly, Lancia also released a mid-engined, two-seater variant, available as either a coupe or convertible. Originally designed by Pininfarina as a replacement for the Fiat 124 coupe, the parent company declined to pick it up and it instead became the Beta range’s flagship even though it shared few components beyond the engine, gearbox and transaxle.
However, its mid-engined layout made the Beta Montecarlo ideal for the then current iteration of FIA’s Group 5 sportscar rules which had effectively created a silhouette class where only the bonnet, roof, doors and rails needed to remain as production. Powered by a 1.4-litre Abarth engine with an enormous KKK turbocharger helping it to produce close to 500PS, the Montecarlo Turbo won the sub 2.0-litre class of the 1979 World Championship for Makes. It won it overall the following year with victories in ten of the 11 rounds with a class win at Le Mans. In 1981 the Montecarlo did one better by winning all six rounds of the World Endurance Championship for Makes including another Le Mans class win. But of course, the Turbo wasn’t the only winner based on the Montecarlo…