Classic cars with history: Lancia Beta Coupé 2000
Fernando Alvarez
22 December 2011
3 min. 
The Lancia Beta 2000 Coupé is a model that is still remembered in Spain today, and we dedicate today’s Classic Cars with History article to it.
In the section Cars with History we now go back to a time when Lancia was a self-sufficient brand, although it depended on Fiat, with a well-earned reputation thanks to the Stratos and other models with beautiful designs such as the more recent Lancia Thema 8.32 Ferrari or the very Lancia Beta.
As a curiosity, the Lancia Beta was presented at the 1972 Frankfurt Motor Show as the first model of Lancia in which Fiat had direct involvement. Its name came from one of the first models that Lancia had created back in 1909; that is why it took the second letter of the Greek alphabet as its name, since in the early 20th century there were models that started with the letter Alpha and reached the letter Lambda (the eleventh letter of the Greek alphabet) in 1922.
But let us return to the Lancia Beta of the 1970s and part of the 1980s. The first variant to appear was the Beta Berlina, the Coupe, the Spider (built by Zagato), the unusual HPE, a handsome estate (a sort of pioneer of the Shooting Brake), and the spectacular Montecarlo, designed by Pininfarina, which was not strictly a Lancia Beta but another model built using Beta components.
Although the Beta was fitted with engines ranging from 1.3 to 2 litres, the one that concerns us most closely is the Lancia Beta Coupé 2000, produced in Landaben, Spain, around 1979.
Regarding the latter, here is another curiosity related to the intricacies of Spanish tax law of the period. At that time, Spain had a law in force that penalised passenger cars with engines over 1920 cm³, with a luxury tax of 35%. As the Beta had an engine of exactly 1995 cm³, its price rose considerably. For this reason, Seat decided to borrow the engine from the Seat 132 2000, with a small modification that reduced this engine to 1919.7 cm³. This engine remained in the Beta (and in other Seat models) with a twin-barrel Bressel-Weber 34DAT 2/250 carburettor, with differentiated opening of the second barrel.
The Lancia Betas, especially the HPE, were the most expensive cars in Spain (1,200,000 pesetas for the HPE), but not the fastest. They were very comfortable and supple on the road, but their top speed was surpassed by other, cheaper cars; the Seat 124 2000 was one of them. However, the Beta made up for all this with a finish and poise that no Seat and few cars from other brands of the era had.
Unfortunately, in Spain the Lancia Beta sold very few units, and today it is very difficult to see one on the road in acceptable condition, unless you go to see them at gatherings. They are witnesses to a past in which Seat did everything possible to lift its image of almost obsolete models.
Source | Wikipedia, La Escudería
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Muchas gracias, por el informe
Un coche precioso….
La idea es dar a conocer coches del pasado que permanecen en el recuerdo de muchos.
Un saludo
Tanto el Beta como el HPE, por su bajo numero de unidades fabricadas, bajo numero de unidades rodando en la actualidad, y ya por las vicisitudes de Lancia como marca, que practicamente desaparede, en mi opinión es un coche clásico con un elebado potencial por delante. Estan subiendo de precio. Recientemente han sacado un libro en castellano interesante de estos coches.
Reconozco que estos coches tienen un potencial de revalorizacion tremendo dentro de los que se pueden denominar clasicos accesibles… Suerte los que tengan uno y lo conserven…, verán como se cotiza mas que un 124 2.000 y por supueso un 124 sport..
Yo no me lo planteé en su día.., y ahora ya menos porque tendo otro clasico.., pero hay que ver que cañeros son los Beta. Me quedaría con el HPE.., es el pionero en este tipo de coche coupé-break…
Totalmente de acuerdo…
Si ya es dificilil ver un Coupe…un HPE ni te cuento.
Hace poco ví uno en buen estado en una concentracin de clasicos…y aunque me gusta tb como decis el 124 Sport…no le cambio por el
Hay poquisimos, muchos han sido transformados para pruebas de clasicos y ahora pues los que se salvan se pagan.
Soy feliz propietario de un Beta HPE made in Lancaben.
Es una machina que transmite al volante unas sensaciones muy agradables. Es un coche que te da mucho juego y te permite hacer viejes a cualquier parte.
He tenido mas clasicos y tengo que decir que he tardado en descubrir las ventajas de este estupendo Beta.
Buscando el mas clasico coupé rojo me topé con una buena unidad de HPE azul. Ahora no se si le cambiaria… No me costó barato, pero en tampoco me arrepiento
Muy buenas Esteban
¿Podrias ponerte en contacto conmigo para saber que unidad de Lancia Beta HPE tienes ?
Llevamos un registro de los Lancias Betas hechos en Landaben ya sean Coupes o HPEs , este registro esta publicado el libro sobre los Betas que se ha publicado hace un par de añitos por Angel Aguila y que ha comentado Jose antes.
Yo tengo un Beta Coupe tambien de los nacionales y en restauracion todavia despues de 6 añitos.
Te dejo mi mail a ti o a cualquiera que tenga un Beta de los nacionales para ampliar ese registro de Betas nacionales.([email protected])