Prime Find of the Week: Is the Gamma Finally Coming of Age?

Innovation like only few car manufacturers can possibly dream up, stunning Pininfarina design, boxer engine, Italian flair, deep velour interior, true GT capabilities, funky colour choices. What more could one possibly require?

Yet the Lancia Gamma seems to have always been hated by many classic car enthusiasts. Of course this is probably largely due to the poor reputation the Gamma series quickly gained due to poor build quality and hopeless reliability. However, I for one can’t deny that I’ve always been strangely attracted to the beautiful Lancia Gamma Coupé. Clearly my good friend and colleague Søren is too, as can be seen from his reaction to meeting an early example at the iconic Arne Jacobsen petrol station in Denmark last summer: Lancia Gamma Coupé: The First Under Fiat’s Rule. Read his story for some history on the model, and I won’t bore you by repeating it here.

But regardless of how Søren and I may feel, fact is that the Gamma has remained a budget classic car for what seems to be forever. However, is it just me, or have prices suddenly shot up over the last couple of years? – If not so much for the quirky saloon, then certainly for the elegant coupé. Has the Gamma Coupé finally come of age? I think it might very well have – and it’s about time too! Mind you, to me at least, it still seems like you’re getting an awful lot of stylish seventies wedge for your buck. Perhaps best then, to buy now before prices continue further north…

The LHD Gamma we’ve found here is from 1978 and thus a fairly late Series 1 car. It’s also the bigger 2.5-litre version (still carbureted as it’s a Series 1) pushing out 140hp and heaps of low-down torque. But what makes this one really interesting is that it’s claimed by the selling dealer to be a 1 owner car with a mere 43.000 km on the clock (equating to only 27.000 miles). They go on to say that it’s totally rust free with the exception of one minor bubble in the driver’s door, and that all panels have good and straight gaps. It certainly presents very original with the exception of a set of later Gamma Series 2 alloy wheels, and the dark red paint is both quite rare for the Gamma, but also in my opinion a very flattering colour for the sharp Pininfarina lines. The very seventies velour interior looks flawless and goes a long way to back up the low mileage. But most important of all with a Gamma, the dealer insists that it’s also in mechanical perfect condition and that it drives great. Reassuringly they tell us that the vulnerable timing belt has been changed regularly. Here’s a few pictures from the advert:

 

The Gamma is for sale with a German dealer just a bit west of Stuttgart in the south of Germany. Interestingly, they’re asking Euro 9.871 which at the current exchange rate equates to £ 8.650. Admitted, just 5 years ago, it would have been utterly unthinkable to ask that much for a Gamma, but with their recent price hike and considering the condition, low mileage and not least single ownership, the price almost seems on the cheap side in todays market. I certainly struggle to see how you will find a more stylish and stand-out youngtimer for that money – if of course the condition of the Gamma really checks out to be as good as claimed, once either you or a specialist has properly inspected the car. For more information, visit the full advert here: 1978 Lancia Gamma 2500 Coupé

 

With our Saturday instalment of Prime Find of the Week, we’re offering our services to the classic car community, by passing on our favourite classic car for sale from the week that passed. This top-tip might help a first-time-buyer to own his first classic, or it could even be the perfect motivation for a multiple-classic-car-owner to expand his garage with something different. We’ll let us inspire by anything from a cheap project to a stunning concours exotic, and hope that you will do the same.
Just remember – Any Classic is Better than No Classic! We obviously invite our readers to help prospective buyers with your views and maybe even experiences of any given model we feature. Further to that, if you stumble across a classic which you feel we ought to feature as Prime Find of the Week, then please send us a link to primefindoftheweek@viaretro.co.uk