By Classic Yorkshire contributor Tony Lofthouse
At Classic Yorkshire we’ve rarely covered Lancia cars but this year marks the 40th birthday of the four-door Thema, a model that would prove crucial to the Italian carmaker.
It was unusual in being the product of a joint development back in 1984.
The Thema was one of the ‘Tipo’ executive models which included the Saab 9000, Alfa Romeo 164 and Fiat Croma. Together, the four cars shared the same platform and parts to reduce costs.
For each the move made sense, not least as a route into the lucrative saloon market in Europe. Lancia bosses saw the collaboration as a way of challenging the likes of Audi, BMW, Mercedes and Volvo.
The Thema was an impressive car in terms of its performance, luxury and ride. Two models came equipped with a 2 litre four-cylinder engine and a further example was fitted with a 2.8 litre six-cylinder unit. In 1992, this unit was replaced with a 3 litre V6 engine.
In 1986, Lancia introduced the Thema 8.32, boasting a 32-valve eight-cylinder 2,927cc made by Ferrari.
As well as a ‘hot’ engine, this luxury car featured a striking stainless steel radiator grille, five-spoke alloy wheels in Ferrari design and a red trim ‘Lancia by Ferrari’ badge across the engine cover. Inside, leather upholstery and burr wood dashboard reflected the Ferrari links.
Sadly, production of the Thema models ended in 1994 but not before Lancia had sold 338,000 saloons and an estate version. Over 3,500 Thema 8.32s were also snapped up, but only a handful made it onto UK roads.
In the UK, Lancia struggled to shake off a reputation for rusting cars and the Thema itself faced an increasingly crowded executive car market. Consequently, sales never really took off.
The model was also constrained, design wise, by its common shape shared with Fiat, Saab and Alfa models. It’s a great shame as the Thema was an appealing car.