The Lancia Thema is an executive car produced by the Italian automaker Lancia between 1985 and 1994, and was one of four cars to share the "Type Four" chassis alongside the Alfa Romeo 164, Fiat Croma and Saab 9000.
[] Overview
The Thema was available as a sedan and as a station wagon designed by Pininfarina, and was considered one of the most spacious and comfortable European cars of its time.
The Thema re-established Lancia as a high-quality luxury manufacturer in response to the problems the marque had experienced with the Lancia Beta in the 1970s. When Fiat sold one of their factories to Russia, they made a barter deal, getting poor-quality steel instead of money. This steel went into many Fiat products in the 1970s and 1980s and nearly ruined the company. The Thema reversed this trend with a galvanized steel chassis. Build-quality was higher than the Fiat Croma and at par with the Saab 9000. The sales organisation, however, was poor in many markets and secondhand values for the car suffered.
Production of the Thema ceased in 1994 when Lancia withdrew from right-hand drive markets (including the United Kingdom) in response to dwindling popularity and sales. Lancia continued, however, to be one of the most popular manufacturers in the Italian market and the Thema's replacement, the Lancia Kappa, sold well.
[] Engines
Thema powerplants originated from the Fiat engine series designed by Aurelio Lampredi, the famed engine designer formerly of Ferrari and Alfa Romeo. The straight-4 2.0 L petrol engine, available in both naturally-aspirated and turbocharged versions, was refined and offered good performance. Earlier Themas were also offered with a 2.8 L PRV V6 engine, developed in cooperation with Peugeot, Renault, and Volvo. This unit was replaced in 1992 with a 3.0 L V6 Alfa Romeo engine; regarded by many as one of the best V6 engines ever made.
[] Thema 8.32
The ultimate Thema, the 8.32, used a 3.0 L Ferrari Dino V8. This engine was based on that of the Ferrari 308 qv with some being assembled by Ducati from castings made at Maranello and featured a traditional V8 split-plane crankshaft rather than the flat-plane used in Ferrari cars. It produced 215 bhp (160 kW) and was capable of 149 mph (240 km/h) in its Series 1 incarnation. The Series 2 engine was slightly detuned to 205 bhp (153 kW) and was slighty slower.
The car offered good performance (though the Turbo version was quicker than the Series 2 from 0 to 100 km/h) and excellent refinement, including a luxurious wood-and-leather interior by Poltrona Frau complete with the same luxury equipment as LX versions of the model. Unfortunately, a price tag of £40,000 (or more) in Britain, and the fact that only left hand drive versions were produced, limited its appeal, with only 9 being officially sold there. It was even a rare sight on Italian roads, with just 3,537 built between 1986 and 1991.
|
