Lancia Fulvia, yes or no?

[PerfAdv]

now compare this with an original and look at the division between glass and metal. From the the modern one you might think that average people have become much smaller, as they apparently need a much lower glass house....however we all know that statistically even Italians are growing taller, so why the hell do they have to change a perfectly balanced model like the original into something where the glasshouse looks like an afterthought...

Granted the original has a delicate charm that's missing in modern design, but I've become accustomed to smaller glass canopies. In addition, in modern safety-derived engineering, shorter pillars make for a much stronger passenger compartment.

Still, some of the latest tiny canopies are pushing the limits...

[Ingolstadt]

I just don't see the point of having Lancia as a luxury brand, it would be far more compelling to catapult Lancia into BMW's category, Alfa still has ther virtues that at least, are understood and remembered by many. Fiat is moving up from nifty, cheap packagings to something like Golf MK5 (Grande, Brava) so VW pulled in Skoda to fill up the lower markets.

Lancia can create a huge buzz if they were to re-create Delta and Stratos (yeah, they don't own the name, but they could re-register it as Lancia Stratos rather than Stratos alone) and had a double entry into street WRC (WRC-liked cars but terrorizing tarmacs instead of mud) as a retaliation from Europe to Evo and Scoobys-> This i believe will be a greater achievement, a great contenders.

Fulvia, i could only imagine a young teenage girl getting all excited bout it.... and Lancia couldn't sell it as a more premium car than AR, they couldn't slot it in between Fiat and AR as well cos both's selling price are already in quite a close gap. And honestly, who would want a European Daihatsu Copen? This is the closest thing i could imagine consumers would relate to. If it ain't Copen, it had to be bigger, and if it's bigger, and premium, it'll be in TT or Boxster's turf. Which with its elegant lines, would only attract a minor, niche 23-27 yr old young working ladies. But don't get me wrong, i believe ladies would not want a 'ladies' car, ladies cars are men's perception of what a lady should drive. Ladies deserve M3s, Evos Exige as well.

Back in the 60s, euro coupes are generally sized like the Fulvia and are acceptable cos generally, European cars are real petite in size, resurrecting the Fulvia in that size doesn't make sense, make it a modern coupe and walla~BMW 335 ....

Fulvia doesn't stand a chance, thou i personally find it attractive, at least to car enthusiasts. And many here voted for the resurrection of Lancia Fulvia is solely becos they miss the glory days of Fulvia, no one would buy one. Especially it's premium.

[Revo]

Ingolstadt, 99% of people here were born before the glory days of Fulvia.

IMO new Fulvia would be a worthy successor to Fiat Coupe.

Cheap, fun and not particulary fast.

[Ferrer]

Thanks man. The way I see it, Alfa Romeo tries to bring out the sporty image, but the cars still are slightly overweight (The hot hatch Brerra I think? not very sure).

The fact that there will be no cars like the Delta Integrale sucks. I understand your point though. The company is still shaky and can't risk another failure. However, what in particular makes the Fulvia so sure footed, than say a well engineered five passenger family car with a bit of sports attitude, say in the lines of an Acura TSX (with its own Italian flair, of course)?

They can make a Lancia TSX because that's actually what the Alfa Romeo 159. And with the current economic conditions Fiat faces they simply can't afford to allow overlap. As a result Lancia has to choose cars that either are marketed different to Alfa Romeo or directly completely different. What Fiat (and Lancia and Alfa Romeo) need is good products that sell well and at the same time enhance the reputation and image of the brands. In my opinion the Fulvia is one of those cars.

EDIT You can see post below why I think the Fulvia would be a success.

[Ferrer]

I just don't see the point of having Lancia as a luxury brand, it would be far more compelling to catapult Lancia into BMW's category, Alfa still has ther virtues that at least, are understood and remembered by many. Fiat is moving up from nifty, cheap packagings to something like Golf MK5 (Grande, Brava) so VW pulled in Skoda to fill up the lower markets.

Lancia can create a huge buzz if they were to re-create Delta and Stratos (yeah, they don't own the name, but they could re-register it as Lancia Stratos rather than Stratos alone) and had a double entry into street WRC (WRC-liked cars but terrorizing tarmacs instead of mud) as a retaliation from Europe to Evo and Scoobys-> This i believe will be a greater achievement, a great contenders.

Fulvia, i could only imagine a young teenage girl getting all excited bout it.... and Lancia couldn't sell it as a more premium car than AR, they couldn't slot it in between Fiat and AR as well cos both's selling price are already in quite a close gap. And honestly, who would want a European Daihatsu Copen? This is the closest thing i could imagine consumers would relate to. If it ain't Copen, it had to be bigger, and if it's bigger, and premium, it'll be in TT or Boxster's turf. Which with its elegant lines, would only attract a minor, niche 23-27 yr old young working ladies. But don't get me wrong, i believe ladies would not want a 'ladies' car, ladies cars are men's perception of what a lady should drive. Ladies deserve M3s, Evos Exige as well.

Back in the 60s, euro coupes are generally sized like the Fulvia and are acceptable cos generally, European cars are real petite in size, resurrecting the Fulvia in that size doesn't make sense, make it a modern coupe and walla~BMW 335 ....

Fulvia doesn't stand a chance, thou i personally find it attractive, at least to car enthusiasts. And many here voted for the resurrection of Lancia Fulvia is solely becos they miss the glory days of Fulvia, no one would buy one. Especially it's premium.

I think you're missing the point of the car completely. Think of it as a coupe shaped rival to the Mini and you¡re much closer to the idea. The Mini has had great success amongst the enthusiast and the fashion concious public. It's premium and commands a high asking price. The Fulvia could do the same for Lancia.

If anything Lancia has a reputation for small premium cars. The Ypsilon sells very well and is the sole responsable for the survival of Lancia. The Musa, while nothing more than a slitghly modified rebadged Fiat Idea, outsells it's Fiat sibling despite being significantly more expensive. All that demonstrates that there's potential in Lancia. The problem is that neither is particularly appealing to the enthusiast. And that's where the Fulvia comes in, it brings the enthusiast into the equation. Now I'm no expert nor have I conducted any "reliable" surveys or maret studies, but I think that sales of the Fulvia can easily met the specialty car target (20.000 cars/year) and even exceed it. It only needs to be done. And it can be done cheaply basing it on Fiat and Alfa Romeo components, with some fine tuning.

On the other hands all the other concepts you suggest simply aren't feasible for Lancia (or the Fiat Group for that matter). The Delta Integrale can't be done because regulations don't allow that degree of rawness anymore and they don't have the budget to develop and make it. A Lancia Stratos can't be made because there's no suitable platform for it, and before you start suggesting Ferrari's F430, remeber that the Stratos was a very special car with a very short wheelbase and the engine mounted sideways, and car built on the F430 platform would not be able to meet those requirements and as results proportions would be altered and we would end up with an aberration. A big sports coupe can't be made for 2 reasons, first there's already the Alfa Romeo Brera and the Alfa Romeo GT for that, and a car built in the premium platform wouldn't be class competitive and what Lancia needs is a winner not another flop.

Basically the Fulvia is the best option if we want to have sporty and enthusiast minded Lancias and we also want Lancia to survive for at least another 100 years.

[Ingolstadt]

and before you start suggesting Ferrari's F430, remeber that the Stratos was a very special car with a very short wheelbase and the engine mounted sideways, and car built on the F430 platform would not be able to meet those requirements and as results proportions would be altered and we would end up with an aberration. A big sports coupe can't be made for 2 reasons, first there's already the Alfa Romeo Brera and the Alfa Romeo GT for that, and a car built in the premium platform wouldn't be class competitive and what Lancia needs is a winner not another flop.

common need not be sarcastic to flame a good debate shall we? I did say Lancia can't build it big (large coupe) and i find it particularly hard for Lancia to sell it well as a small coupe. I just don't see the market and the sales it will get.

Ok, perhaps Delta might be too extreme, but with Lancia's radical approach, a modern Stratos is the best pick. I welcome more thoughts, but i still couldn't get over it, i still find Fulvia as a good, nice car for established marques, not one that's on the edge of dying off.

[Ferrer]

common need not be sarcastic to flame a good debate shall we? I did say Lancia can't build it big (large coupe) and i find it particularly hard for Lancia to sell it well as a small coupe. I just don't see the market and the sales it will get.

Ok, perhaps Delta might be too extreme, but with Lancia's radical approach, a modern Stratos is the best pick. I welcome more thoughts, but i still couldn't get over it, i still find Fulvia as a good, nice car for established marques, not one that's on the edge of dying off.

I wasn't being sarcastic at all. If Alfa Romeo can have the Maserati chasis and a carbon fibre body on top of it, why can't Lancia have the Ferrari chasis? I was just saying that with the technical conditions the F430's platform offers the resulting car wouldn't resemble the Stratos at all. They could perhaps use the Alfa Romeo Diva's chasis, but I don't how production ready or cost effective is that. Furthermore Lancia simply isn't pursuing the Stratos spirit in their cars, as I already explained you, and the Fulvia would be a much better link with the rest of the range.

[NSXType-R]

I get your point Ferrer. It's sadly the only real option for them. It'd be nice to see a coupe competitor to the Mini Cooper, I just wish the styling wasn't so bland.

[Mr.Tiv]

I get your point Ferrer. It's sadly the only real option for them. It'd be nice to see a coupe competitor to the Mini Cooper, I just wish the styling wasn't so bland.

The original Fulvia was understated as well.

[Ferrer]

Apparently the Fulvia is on again...

http://news.windingroad.com/concept-...ankfurt-stand/

[Mr.Tiv]

Apparently the Fulvia is on again...

http://news.windingroad.com/concept-...ankfurt-stand/

Hooray. Shame it is likely to never grace these shores.

[Mäusekino]

they have to make money first, so they should build a new delta (which was presented as a concept recently) -based on the new bravos plat- a new Y (3&5 door version) &, a new mini mpv -both on the grande puntos plat- and then a new fulvia, preferably with RWD and looking like the concept.
when they would build the fulvia first, they'll get a prob, cause it'll be an expensive solitaire cause of RWD. a new thesis, a big coupe or an suv (of which i also hope, they kick off) would have the same prob

[Ferrer]

they have to make money first, so they should build a new delta (which was presented as a concept recently) -based on the new bravos plat- a new Y (3&5 door version) &, a new mini mpv -both on the grande puntos plat- and then a new fulvia, preferably with RWD and looking like the concept.
when they would build the fulvia first, they'll get a prob, cause it'll be an expensive solitaire cause of RWD. a new thesis, a big coupe or an suv (of which i also hope, they kick off) would have the same prob

The Fulvia is meant to be a small front wheel drive coupe. And trust me on this, it'll lift Lancias image (if they make it at all, that is).

[Kooper]

This is why I hate companies owned by other companies.

Lancia should compete with Alfa Romeo (which I still believe never should've gone FWD in the first place), just like Maserati should compete with Ferrari. If there's a collision of interests, sell off the brands that matter less and concentrate on the brands you have left.

This way, Lancia can be given free reign and produce cars worthy of the name (assuming they were to go solo or bought by another company).

But alas, Lancia is owned by Fiat and has to play second fiddle to Alfa. Anyhow, I think the Fulvia will be a great image-builder for Lancia. They should build it.

I'd love to see a new Delta as well btw. What does Alfa have to would compete against such a car? The 147 (or it's imminent replacement)? They could aim that car more at the Germans (A3, 1 etc.), with the Delta the Subaru and Evo competitor, just better built and more Latin. Is that a winning recipe? I think so.

[Ferrer]

Well apparently the Fulvia is on. Again.

Return of Lancia Fulvia gets green light again - Autoblog