Delta Forza - The Lancia Delta Story 

It's incredible seeing an old Lancia Delta that is not an Integrale on the road: They look like two completely different cars. One is a battered, out of fashion, old italian mid sized hatchback, the other is a beautiful icon with a sporty and beautiful design. PS an an italian, living a couple of kilometers away from where they built the Delta S4, I apprecaite the pronunciation effort.

I miss the time when you made a car look sporty by putting 4 round headlights on the front. In fact, that time was before I was born so I MISSED that time

My father used to own a base model, even that had a level of power never witnessed before by us. Sadly, he had to trade it for a more modern car with AC system because of me being born and I will never forgive myself for that.

Heated front seat on a compact way back then? Wow!

Being Italian I could not thank you enough for pronouncing correctly the word for spear instead of "the anxiety" (l'ansia). ❤😊

My first exposure to the Delta was the Martini liveried rally car on the game Sega Rally which took on the Toyota Celica. I only knew it as a competitive race car.

Had the HF 4WD, 8v integrale and the 16v integrale too. Regret to this day ever selling them and remains my favourite car of all time, even with its flaws.

What a simply stunning machine. I remember seeing one on Wheeler Dealers so many years ago and thinking yeah, that is forever cool.

Bought my first lancia in February 1999, at 8v integrale Then replaced it in 2003 with an evo 1 which I still have Nothing puts a smile on my face and ups my heartbeat than this Fantastic car Fantastic video Thanks

A mate of mine used to work for Lancia delivering cars around the country including the Evos. I once went along for a ride in a customers Evo 2 that he was taking from London to Bishop's Stortford for a right hand drive conversion. I remember him picking me up outside my house and being utterly terrified when he immediately buried the throttle, the performance at the time was ballistic. I believe Jeremy Clarkson once referred to them as four wheel drive turbocharged thugs.

The Lancia Beta story would make for a good 5min video. I doubt it would get 200k views, but Betas were an interesting bunch of cars. Cheers Andy.

It's a blessing when Big Car uploads. Thanks again for another amazing video!

I am in the US. I have a historic Group N Integrale rally car in Martini livery (though it didn't rally in Martini colors in the day). I recently showed my car in a display of Italian vehicles that was part of a festival on Italian culture. The festival was held in Seattle Center, which is home to the Space Needle, several museums, and a small stadium where some kind of ball game was being played. Lots of the general public not there for the Italian festival went past the vehicle display. The people watching over the vehicle display said that there was a LOT of interest among those passing by in my car, an Integrale Evo, and a Lambo Aventador.

I never had a Delta but I did own 2 Lancias, a Beta coupe & a Monte Carlo. Thanks for your coverage on Italian cars, your knowledge is excellent and you seem to appreciate what is unique about them

Among a veritable sea of absolute gems, in my opinion the Integrale is still the ultimate 80s car.

I worked for a Lancia dealer in the early '80s and my firm's car was a Y10 Turbo, which was interesting to say the least. I drove almost all the cars in the range and I the car I remember most was the HF Turbo and the ie version that followed it. Despite having 130, and later 140 bhp it had narrower tyres than the XR3i and RS Turbo yet, still held the road really well and handled brilliantly. I always thought that was down to superior design and engineering. Unfortunately the spectre of the Beta was never far away.

How this marque still survives is bewildering. One model on sale which few people buy and nothing much in the pipeline. It's such a pity that this manufacturer has fallen from such a height considering it made the most beautiful cars back in the day....

I love your videos, a few corrections though. The electric ones took part in the World Rallycross Championship (not rally) and unfortunately both cars burnt down and took all the teams equipment in the same fire so no more Lancias there as well. Keep up the good work!

Do the Giorgietto Giugiuaro story !!

The delta integrale cabrio was actually owned by the then Fiat CEO Gianni Agnelli

I WAS NEVER THAT EARLYYY

A cool thing: one of the Delta's design prototypes originated the FSO POLONEZ! FSO was originally planning to put 2.0 liter engine too, but the license to produce it was too expensive so they just adjusted the design with the Polski Fiat chassis.

Fell in love with the Delta in the mid 80s when I saw one on the coast road in Liguria near San Remo in the mid 80 s… in the gorgeous blue colour like the one at 10:30 in the video… an iconic colour like on the Betas and Trevis of the period. I had a facelifted 1986 1300 LX in red, fantastic little car until a front end crash wrote it off.. bodyshell creased at the top of the A pillar / roof junction and that was that..😢

One of my favorite cars of all time. Thanks Mr. Big!

Thanks for a great video and for actually pronouncing the name Lancia correctly! Not sure why so many others can't!

My first car HF-turbo in red. Loved the styling and driving. Prisma also very beautiful.

The back end of the Ypsilon seems to have style elements inspired by the 1939 Lancia Aprilia.

Great quality content as usual! Thanks for all your efforts and thank you for injecting so much humor, you had me cracking up! 🤣

I absolutely love the Delta - the original ‘cooking’ versions, HF Turbo and the various Integrales. I think they represent an era where Giugiaro was well and truly at the top of his game. I also liked the idea of an early ‘premium’ small hatchback - the competition took a while to catch on - but you can see the Delta’s inspiration behind the Audi A3, BMW 1 series and MB A class. Finally, does anyone else see a little Delta influence in the Hyundai Ioniq 5? Top marks by the way for the correct pronunciation of ‘Lancha’- not even Harry Metcalfe gets it right - and he owns 2!

I’ve been waiting for this one since I started watching your channel.what a legendary machine

Wow! So looking forward to this video. One of my all time favorite cars. Peak Lancia

When I spot a new "Big Car" video in my notifications. It always makes me happy.

I had a HF turbo and a 8v integrale, people i haven't seen for years still tell me how much they loved my integrale when i see them

The Lancia Delta Integrale was the pinnacle of coolness, performance and style. I use to drool everytime I saw one. A mini Ferrari that could be driven everyday, or almost!

So glad you're covering this! Time to open a beer and enjoy 😁

What a car, great in so many aspects, rightfully become an icon. I personally like also the Mk3 (that i remember sold more than the 2), still so diffused here in my zone

Loved this so much, please do a Lancia Thesis video one day.

What a iconic and timeless beauty of a car

1500 views in just a half an hour. We have been waiting your fresh video definitely!

My dad has an early 8V Integrale, absolutely incredible car to drive

It’s good to be reminded of these cars. I had an ‘86 Delta HF Turbo i.e. which was great fun. It had it’s down sides (continuous electrical gremlins, single figure m.p.g. when driven spiritedly, and an appetite for wheel bearings (or maybe that was my driving style) and I used to describe it as a four door, two seater as putting adults in the back seats wasn’t kind), but it was FUN. Miss it still. Replaced it with a 2 litre Dedra (thanks for mentioning them here, most people in the U.K. seem to have never heard of them) which was an enjoyable car, but definitely moved the dial more towards comfort over sport.

Great video, the Delta Integrale is one of my favorite cars! The Mk2 Delta on the other hand was such a letdown, the picture at 17:36 really shows its awkward rear-end design. I personally liked the styling of the Mk3 and briefly considered buying a used 1.8 turbo a couple years ago.

Thanks soooo much, that you decided, to say Lancia and not Lansya in the whole video, so i could watch it and don't suffer :D I was once a proud owner of a 92' Delta Integrale HF (in red of course) - lord, how i regret selling that car today......

A huge THANK YOU from an Italian motor enthusiast who can't stand the English pronunciation of this classic Italian brand! 😊

Yes a lancia video I love the Italian car vids

Bedankt, ga door met deze mooie mix van kennis en nostalgie!

I had a HF Turbo. I really loved it.

another great presentation - top job sir

bring back these types of vehicles. please! love this look, i am bias as i owned a 1980 VW Rabbit. love this inexpensive style of car.

BABE WAKE UP A NEW BIG CAR VIDEO JUST DROPPED

Always loved watching the likes of Markku Alen, Juha Kankkunen and Miki Biasion throwing GrA Deltas through the forests of Wales and leaving the competition for dead... You should absolutely cover the Fiat Strada / Ritmo story too. "Hand-built by (clearly intoxicated) robots..."

A superb video, as always. You channel is more like watching TV than RU-vid :)

I saw the Chrysler version at the Detroit Auto Show (NAIAS), and really liked it, and thought it would be a good seller. However, most of my photos from that year were of the extreme high stiletto heels worn by the show stand models!! I was today years old when I learned that this version was actually sold in any market!

I've still got this poster on my bedroom wall since 1991.

Thank you for pronouncing it correctly

One of your better videos. I love Alfas. Lancia has never appealed to me, but you make a strong case with this video. I would like to drive one just for the experience.

I drove both the SAAB Lancia 600 and the Lancia Prisma in the 80's. Great cars to drive. Felt quite luxurious. Nice cars when they worked. Unfortunately, the overall quality and reliability was terrible.

Great video!! Thank you!!!

I had a 1982 Delta 1500 HLX for a short while in the early 90's. It was the same colour as the one shown at 0:40 with the exact same interior trim as the one shown at 4:05. Although it had a really nice quality interior, and a few design quirks compared to most mainstream cars (interior door release was inset into the door armrest, so not immediately obvious as they blended into the trim), or MacPherson strut suspension all round, it was also the most unreliable car I have ever owned and left me stranded on quite a few occasions. Also, things like the ride height being quire high so that body roll in corners was massive, and when cruising at 70mpg in 5th gear the engine was pulling almost 4,000 rpm which was ridiculous. Despite all this, I still remember it with fondness and if I had the money would consider buying a good condition HF Turbo. I probably would regret it as I would probably be left stranded somewhere, but at least it's a nice place to sit while waiting for the recovery truck. Again.

The old Delta was similar shaped to the MK2 Golf. Then there was the Golf G60 and Rallye with the flared arches.

Brilliant video - thank you. My family had Lancia's and for us they were great cars. Performance, style and practical too.

just found your channel... subbed! I own an evo 1 here in NYC (they of course were never sold here) and it goes unnoticed by many, but those who know, it makes their day/week/month/year even. I'm regularly beaten in it my your average crossovers now, being that it's over thirty years old, but it's still an incredibly fun car to drive. Although I wouldn't call it a 'hot hatch' as it was far above that back in it's day, as it had way more power, and was even faster than the Ferarri's of that time!

Now we need to get people in the UK to pronounce Peugeot correctly. 🤣. Love you guys!!

That 25 minutes flew by!!

Been waiting for this video since Jeremy spoke about lancia

Very interesting video thanks

So, it's a Lancer. Got it. Oh and I was TODAY years old (49} when I first heard about the S4 Stradale! What a delight! ❤

Lan ch'a. Love the dashboard of Delta. it's so beautifully laid out. Feel so sorry what happened to the brand even with all their iconic line-up of cars and top ideas with their engine designs.

**World Rallycross (RX) Championship. (23:17). Very different racing to the WRC! The funny thing about the current Lancia Ypsilon is that, despite being an ancient 500-based hatch that's only sold in Italy, in recent years it outsold Alfa Romeo's _entire range_ that's sold all across Europe. That's both remarkable for Lancia and damning for AR... but it does suggest that an emotive return for its best known nameplate (outside the Stratos) could have some legs.

Great and informative video as always! As a Swede, I'm perfectly comfortable pronouncing it "Lansia" as a spear ("spjut") can also be called a "lans" in Swedish. It was in fact a fighter jet built by SAAB in 1956: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saab_32_Lansen

Finally, someone covered the Delta

Ooh that zagato cabriolet 😮

Back in the mid 80's I had as my company car an Astra MK1 which I found to be very suitable for the "A,B, &C" roads of rural Scotland. Part of the job included the recovery of vehicles where their owners had reneged on the finance deal. One such job included the recovery of two Lancia Delta's. Both had minor faults that had to be repaired before they could be sold to clear the balance of finance. I was fortunate enough to buy one of them as I had fixed the problems they both had! (dislocation of the gear linkage). Even today 38+ years later I still regret selling that absolute dream of a road rocket, & having bought two more over the years which were eaten by the rust worm! The Delta is without doubt the best handling car that has been in mass production!

The Lunch Ere Stratos was stunning.

Didn't even know there was a second and third generation Delta! But given I live in the UK not overly surprised!

I had that red Lego car when I was a little turd back in the 1980's. Haven't seen one since. Thanks for the flashback to a great time.

The last Delta was GORGEOUS! I love Lancia cars, so elegant!

Somewhat quoting Al Bundy: "I cry for this brand!"

I love your videos, you are a very good RU-vidr.❤

Great video, here in England my great uncle bought a base blue 5 door new, I could never understand why!

I bought a new 1979 Lancia Beta coupe back then when I was a young man. it was one of the best handling sport car I'd driven. I drove it hard and passed six cars in a roll on a two lane road. Six months later a drunk driver ran the red light and smashed and total my Beta. I used the insurance money to buy an Alfa Sprint...still have the sprint after all these years!

I still got one. A late HF turbo - Golf GTI killer.

Very grateful that Alfa took the engine and drivetrain of the Integrale 16v and stuck it in a 155 (Q4) Had mine for 20 years. I'm under no illusions that it's as fast or nimble as an Evo but I i love knowing where it came from

Really enjoy your videos - thank you very much!

A legend, we never had Lancia in Brasil but I can feel the spirit from far

I used to drive an Integrale in the 90ies and a Delta II HF in the early 2000s. Wonderful cars - especially the Integrale, which came in black without any exterior tuning and the back lights not looking much different as VW Polo of this time. Made others likely underestimate this car. Once, I was driving through a village exactly at legal speed, noticing an impatient big Mercedes S in the mirror - who of course started to overtake me even before the end of the village. At the sign, when he was around my height, I gave him a friendly smile and simply dove off, leaving him into dust without any chance. Satisfying. But most fun I've had on small, winding roads as they can be found in the mountains. It has been a nice time... *sigh* For Lancias future, it will be really hard to find a good positioning. They already managed (especially outside Germany) to establish Alfa Romeo as a more sporty brand giving you some exclusivity compared to Audi & BMW - not being a cheap option. I don't think that there is much potential for another sporty brand amid generally declining interest in technology & motorsports (beside F1) and changing perception of car-ownership in urban areas. In times when you can order an Vauxhall/Opel Astra with all the fancy options that 5 years ago have been exclusive for high-priced models of premium brands, It would be hard to define, communicate and deliver another "luxury" approach - especially, since others like Genesis are already there. The only gap that I currently see in the market would be a "conservative" brand. A line of modern cars, that refuse to follow the trend to total minimalism. Continue to have switches & knobs for all relevant functions, distributed in a good ergonomic way. Have a big display in front of the driver, a touchscreen integrated in the dashboard in the middle - with the possibility to control actions there with a Mazda or BMW - like knob alternatively.

Danke!

amazes me just how much power they managed to put through that development of the FIAT Strada/Ritmo chassis which itself (in my very distant memory) was a FIAT 128 evolution

As an Italian I have to say what happened to the Lancia Delta makes me want to cry. Looks like Subaru carried on the torch with the the Impreza WRX.

That was really good thank you. My goodness those later Delta's looked bloody awful.

I can't support Patreon, but I'll leave a like, I love these videos.

Great video! Ref the electric Delta, I'm suprised you neglected to mention their most famous ability... 💥🔥 at Lydden Hill in July

My dad had one 1500 lx which he loved and I had an HF Turbo which was such a wolf in sheep’s clothing.. regretted selling it and wished I’d kept it.. best drive I’ve ever had was with the wife going to Italy via Austrian alps in my turbo ie.. ahh memories!❤

I had a couple of 1500s and they were fun little cars.

If Lancia bring the Delta back as an EV, they should follow Hyundais footsteps and go for a retro boxy shape based on the original Delta a bit like the Ioniq 5

❤😍 loved it, great video

Delta HF Intergrale Evoluzione, A true legendary hero

Excellent episode really enjoyed it cheers

Love your videos, have you ever considered motorcycle manufacturers and motorcycles? I'm sure there's some great stories to be told about Norton and all the other British firms alone. That's before you get on to the plethora of Italian manufacturers etc.. ? Thanks and keep up the good work.

Great quality content again. Thank you.