As a former very happy Lancia owner I am pleased that they are returning to the UK. But hearing they will be sold from Alfa sites makes my heart sink before the show even gets on the road.
In France the Ypsilon is, for some strange reason, also called the 'elefantino' - presumably 'baby elephant'?
Pleeeeeeease Lancia, don't do that in the UK - 15 years ago I pleaded with you not to use the name 'Dedra' and you wouldn't listen...
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As far as I recall (I used to have an Ypsilon brochure knocking about), the elephant thing is used in Italy as well.. it denotes trim level or something. Or used to, anyway.
Huge knowledge, there, a worthwhile addition to this thread...
I am pleased that Lancia are coming back, although I still haven't forgiven them for not making the new Fulvia. I know it's retro, blah blah etc. but it's gorgeous. And they won't make it. And that makes me cry.
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Lancia Ypsilon, both old and new is, without a doubt, the ugliest small car on the continent. It's looks like pregnant Fiat 500 violated by SsangYong Radius. Awful interior as well, centre speedo, cheap, silver painted plastics mixed with black trim, fake velour slapped randomly around dashboard and gear lever panel overhanging from messy centre console like urinal with toilet brush stuck in the middle. Just awful. And then there is engine range, the slow, slower and diesel slow (16 seconds to 62mph or thereabout from Fiat's MultiJet?).
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[Nissan 2.2 dCi are NOT Renault engines. Grrr...]
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Its a Fiat punto with a different body.
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v0n,
I disagree entirely.
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07 Kia Ceed LS
05 Citroën C4 VT
04 Mazda MX5
85 Mini Mayfair
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Its built on the same platform and has the same engines and geargox as do certain small Alfas.
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An all-new version was launched in 2003, still only with a three-door body, and now based on the second Fiat Punto. The Ypsilon is Lancia's best-selling model, in spite of the fact Fiat Auto is trying to market the Lancia brand as luxury. The engine range goes from 1.2 to 1.4-litre petrols alongside the 1.3 MultiJet Diesel, with power going from 44 kW (60 PS) to 70 kW (95 PS). The second generation has increased interior room and more equipment, including standard ABS, air conditioning and optional CD player, cruise control, alloy wheels and a sequential manual gearbox. A five-door mini MPV version of the Ypsilon is sold as the Musa.
[edit] Engines
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In France the Ypsilon is for some strange reason also called the 'elefantino' - presumably 'baby elephant'?
Mike, it's Lancia history as detailed below nowt to do with trim levels.
There are contrasting stories and legends regarding the origin of this elephant, including the simple "the elephant never forgets". We do know that in 1953 the then Managing Director of Lancia, Gianni Lancia, chose it as a good luck token for the Company's first racing appearances. The symbol of the galloping elephant apparently originates in Eastern mythology as an auspicious emblem or symbol of victory, providing the trunk is stretched forward. This is how the elephant chosen by Gianni Lancia was drawn, first in light blue and later as now in bright red.
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.....A five-door mini MPV version of the Ypsilon is sold as the Musa.....
It´s a Fiat Idea with a nose job. Looks pretty good actually.
We were whisked up to Riva from Bergamo in the big Lancia saloon this summer - funny looking thing. Think it´s called the Thesis. Air conditioned luxury, bla bla bla, but rubbish headroom in the back.
They also do a rebodied Alfa 156, the Lybra, which looks OK as an estate but the saloon has been whacked with the ugly stick, big time. No sign of a replacement for that either.
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>Mike, it's Lancia history as detailed below nowt to do with trim levels.
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Thanks for that, very interesting. I've heard the Eastern explanation before.
Just seems a shame that they picked it to use on what does look like an overweight small car! Most of the Ypsilons I see are actually white, with a weird contrasting browny two-tone scheme. Bit of an elephant colour really...
All the Lancias are on sale in France but to no great effect, mainly because they have indeed been hit hard with the ugly stick. Somebody once said Fiat sets its best designers to work on Alfas, then stamps on their fingers and lets them design Fiats, then chops their hands off and sets them to work on Lancias. Sad.
In my unceasing search for something different I took out a Kappa a few years ago - a nice-driving biggish motor not unrelated to the earlier Thema and with the Fiat 5-cylinder 2.4 diesel. It was quite satisfactory but I kept asking myself what it was actually for. I was also afraid that if the badge fell of somebody might think I'd bought a Fiat Croma - horrors.
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>also called the 'elefantino'
Just hope they don't do it in white...
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