1977 Lancia Montecarlo
(Lancia Scorpion in the US)

Purchased this one on ebay, then flew to Boston and drove it home.
The only problem on the trip was when I turned on the A/C, the belt blew off.
 
The beautiful blue interior is in great shape.  Everything works except the stereo.
 
 
I have quite a bit of experience with these cars and after the uneventful trip from Boston to Florida,
I'm sure it will make a dependable daily driver.
 
There is actually very little rust on the car with the exception of the drivers side floorboard.  
To do it right the whole interior will have to come out, so for now, I'm just gonna drive it.
The leak that caused the rust has been repaired, so it can wait.
 
It won 3rd place in its class on Italian Car Day, June 2001
at the Museum of Transportation, Brookline, Mass.
Check out its "15 Minutes of Fame"

Immediately after getting the car home, all 4 CV joints were replaced.  
The lightweight cam pulleys started making noise so I replaced them with metal ones
and put on a new timing belt.  
CV joints $425      Cam Pulleys $45       Timing Belt $18     TOTAL  $488

2002

In the year 2002 I did a lot of the work that had needed to be done since I got the car.  I replaced the lower cam tower gaskets that were oozing oil onto the exhaust manifold, put on another timing belt and replaced the exhaust manifold with headers and a new muffler.  The starter solenoid, which had been intermittent since I got the car, finally quit working so I replaced it and renewed the starter while it was out.  The driver side floorboard was rusted badly and the driver's butt was sinking slowly towards the pavement, so I decided that it might be time to fix it.  The old floorboards were cut away and I had new, stronger, stiffer metal welded in to replace them.  The interior went back in with new carpet from HomeDepot.  Only $20 and it matched not only the original color, but even the texture.  The rear cross-member in the engine compartment was cracked, as all of them seem to do, so it was patched with yet another weld.  Only larger and stronger this time.  It really tightened up the shifter.

Floorboards $125    Starter rebuild $75    Cross-member weld $25    Carpet $20  
Muffler $78    Timing Belt $18            TOTAL   $341
The headers were free.  I found them in the trunk along with various other parts.

In June, Teresa and I drove to Lake of the Ozarks
for a gathering of Fiat and Lancia enthusiasts.

 The 2700 mile round trip from Florida was mechanically uneventful.   Over twenty cars showed up.  Three were transported by trailer, but the rest drove under their own power.  Several made a round trip of well over a thousand miles, a few drove over two thousand miles.  Only one car broke down on the way and couldn't make it.  Pretty good for 25 to 35 year old sports cars with a reputation for being unreliable.  It just goes to show that you can't believe half of what you hear.  We had a great time, drank lots of beer, ate well and enjoyed meeting the folks I first met at Mirafiori.com.  We're looking forward to being at Fiat Freak Out in Asheville, NC June 2003.  Only this time we'll drive the red Beta or the blue 124 coupe.  

2003

So far in 2003 I have installed a new air conditioning system, replaced  the stock Scorpion wheels with Maserati Biturbo wheels wrapped in Nitto 205/60-14 tires, installed a stereo (don't know why. I never listen to it), a Momo steering wheel and a new clutch master cylinder.  The front wheel bearings were replaced just before driving to Fiat Freak Out in Asheville.  Over 1300 miles.  So far it's been a really good daily driver.  Dependable and fun to drive.  
Teresa has claimed it as her car but I can drive it whenever I want to.  
As long as she says it's OK.    

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