Italian spots!

[russ92xmsed]

Good car spotting Matthew. Tuscany is stunning, and Umbria too in fact. When I went with my family, few years ago now, we had a Fiat Brava...the one with the three streaked lights on the back. Good car that.
Love a Lancia, really like the Ypsilon, and Kappa. Bland as anything, but for some reason it appeals.
Don't you think the Alfa 145 is a good accompaniment to the XM?.... similar sort of look, yet shrunken down to a supermini.

[MTXM]

It looks very nice. I could stomach 34c when not doing much...

The weather was great for sitting by or in a pool Will but sightseeing with hot children did not work quite so well!

Love a Lancia, really like the Ypsilon, and Kappa. Bland as anything, but for some reason it appeals.
Don't you think the Alfa 145 is a good accompaniment to the XM?.... similar sort of look, yet shrunken down to a supermini.

I can also see the appeal of a Lancia Russ as something slightly different, although spares could be an issue over here! The little Alfa is a bit 'XM' I agree and I was disappointed not to spot more older Italian cars, apart from the Alfa 155 and Lancia K - the latter looks like a small 164 and the K apparently replaced the Thema. I think I also saw a 164 flash past in Florence.
With regards,
Matthew T.

[russ92xmsed]

I wouldn't be surprised to learn the Kappa is a 164 underneath. Pretty sure it is. Engine spares might be easier to locate than you might think... The Thesis that replaced the Kappa is even wackier. Think very retro Italian Rover!
They make quite an intriguing coupe version of the Kappa. A little dumpy, but again, I sort of like it. Saw one in lake Garda. They are quite rare though. I do like the Gamma coupe. Shame you weren't treated to that!
I just wish Lancia were given a chance by Fiat. Just seems like such a waste of a famous brand.

[raynoon]

Love the Twingo in lime!
And whatever that is third from last (grey, EH.....) - someone actually put some thought into the rear-end design; rear lights a nice touch!

That's a Lancia Delta, I suspect part of the D has fallen off.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lancia_Delta" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Scroll down to 3rd generation

[Ocellia]

Watch 'Montalbano' for little Fiats! Aren't Lancias badged as Chevrolet here?
I had a Fiat Panda hire car in Sardinia, last year. Not impressed. Especially as I saw a few Mehari about! Now THAT would have added a smile to (at least my!) face there!

[MTXM]

That's a Lancia Delta, I suspect part of the D has fallen off.

You are quite correct Ray and it is just the weird type face in the badge that made me think Jetta! There is indeed reference to Lancias badged as Chryslers but I do not recall seeing any here! Regards, Matthew T.

[russ92xmsed]

Fiat bought out Chrysler and did infact make a large range of Lancias out of Chyrslers product range. We didn't get any Lancias as such, only Chryslers. The Delta and the Ypsilon are proper Lancias, rebadged as Chryslers for the Uk market.

They tried to bring back the Thema, which was a 300C. The Flavia convertible, which was a Sebring. All very badge engineered. And it all failed. All Lancia makes now is the Ypsilon. A Fiat 500 in an odd looking body. Infact looking at their website, they don't acknowledge any previous Lancia except the small cars from the Y10 to the current model. Very odd. They seem to have brushed their history under the carpet! Shame, as if Fiat would actually give Lancia a chance, it could be a really interesting brand again.

[Ocellia]

How apposite! I can recall a period (80s?) when CITROEN began to ignore thir history! Now they do the opposite!

[Dieselman]

Fiat bought out Chrysler and did infact make a large range of Lancias out of Chyrslers product range. We didn't get any Lancias as such, only Chryslers. The Delta and the Ypsilon are proper Lancias, rebadged as Chryslers for the Uk market.

They tried to bring back the Thema, which was a 300C. The Flavia convertible, which was a Sebring. All very badge engineered. And it all failed. All Lancia makes now is the Ypsilon. A Fiat 500 in an odd looking body. Infact looking at their website, they don't acknowledge any previous Lancia except the small cars from the Y10 to the current model. Very odd. They seem to have brushed their history under the carpet! Shame, as if Fiat would actually give Lancia a chance, it could be a really interesting brand again.

The Chrysler Sebring isn't a Fiat car at all, it's a joint venture with the Mitsubishi Gallant, but is a Chrysler platform.

The Chrysler 300C is from the era when Daimler-Benz owned Chrysler and is a W210 E class in drag...and minus any handling capability. D-B managed to get rid of Chrysler to FIAT in a masterstroke of genius.

The Lancia Thema body was shared with the Alfa 164, Saab 9000 and Fiat Croma.

[russ92xmsed]

The Chrysler 200 was badged briefly as a Lancia Flavia. My mistake, thought it was the Sebring!...probably still the same thing actually. The new Thema, nothing to do with the old Alfa 164 based one, introduced in 2011, was a rebadged Chrysler 300C. Europe got the Lancia, Ireland and the UK got the 300C. But now all gone. The Lancia only lasted a few years if that.

The old 2003-2010 300C was absolutely a Merc in drag, also meant to look like a Rover P5B. Not too sure about the newer one, I think they reused the platform.
Certainly was a clever little manoeuvre off loading Chrysler to Fiat like that.