Re: [DML] lancia + uploading files...

[paulf52093@xxxx]

As I've owned both a DMC-12 (1982 model, owned since new) and a Lancia 
Montecarlo ... all one word (or more accurately in my case the U.S. version, 
the Scorpion; bought new in 1977 and later sold to a friend who still has it) 
I feel I can comment on the similarities and differences between the two. 
Yes, both had the same general shape, but there were lots of differences. 
The D is stainless; the Lancia conventional steel-and-paint; the D has 
gullwings; the Lancia had a very wide folding ragtop (more like a canvas 
moonroof), but the windows and door frame remained in place; the D has a 
reasonably sized engine, the Lancia had a rejected Fiat 4-cylinder motor; and 
... perhaps the biggest difference: the Delorean refuses to rust, while the 
Lancia rapidly turned to reddish powder. (Although it may be that MY Lancia 
was built on a Friday in Turin!)

Still, the "flavor" of the two is similar ... feeling close to the road, 
feeling the road in the seat of your pants, and enjoying the stares of people 
who have never seen one of whichever vehicle is in question.

Both are thoroughly enjoyable to drive ... it's a shame that Fiat ruined a 
company that had produced a proud string of championship cars (including the 
Stratos with a Ferrari Dino V-6 engine, of which only a handful -- 4, I 
believe, one of which I've seen and driven -- ever made it to the U.S.). And 
it's a shame that the DeLorean fell on evil times. But such is the lot of 
those of us who like cars that resemble the Lancia Scorpion and the DeLorean. 
Perhaps someday we'll have a new automobile to drool over!

By the way, those front fascias were alike ... both in plastic that tended to 
ripple and discolor with age.

Glad to provide some additional details.

Paul Feine
# 10944