76 Beta from Canada & its 10000km trip to Mexico and back.

[NoEsUnDatsun]

Hi everyone. I'm from Alberta, Canada and I own a 1976 Lancia Beta Coupe 1800 North America Spec. I purchased it in August 2015 for $600CAD (~$450usd). It had 2 flats, wasn't running and hadn't been road registered since 2000. The body was rusting in a few places and bits of the interior were disassembled. All it needed to run was a fuel pump, carburetor rebuild, new fuel lines, and some new gas. I also removed the North America-Spec bumper because it was hideous and heavy. Over winter I went through every part of the car and serviced or replaced everything that needed to be.

This summer I took it on a 10000km road trip from Edmonton to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico and back again. The headgasket went a few days after I arrived in Cabo San Lucas but the repair was made possible thanks to the internet and FedEx. I had the repair done at a family garage for $200US and it was back on the road in a week. I wasn't particularly bothered by an extra week in Cabo San Lucas on an open ended vacation. Baja California is a great place to drive a Beta. The roads are narrow, curvy, scenic, and have very light traffic. I did not encounter a single traffic Jam in any part of Mexico.

Happy to share info about my car or Mexico.


August 2014. 94,000miles.



Winter

Some of the roads may be flooded in Baja



Not a Bad spot to break down

San Javier

Flipped bug on the way to Coco's Corner.



Camping in Moab

Here is a link to a high-res imgur alblum:

http://imgur.com/a/kXzw9

My Youtube video of one of the Roads in Baja:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FR4tEw5l9HQ

[HFStuart]

I'm lost for words! That's a pretty amazing first post!

I have a suspicion that (with your permission) some of those pics may well go on the photo wall at the NEC show.

Welcome !

[simplydelboy]

A legend already!

[RichB]

A bit like top gear, but for real. Respect.

[lukasdeopalenica]

Just fabulous beta adventure! I am really jealous
great pictures. Thanks for sharing.

[frankxhv773t]

Are you tempted by the recently unearthed 2000 Sedan that has just come up on ebay.uk? Reputedly it just needs a wash and a change of belts and it would be ready for an epic trip from St Johns, Newfoundland to Wales, Alaska! What could possibly go wrong?

[NoEsUnDatsun]

Not really. I was planning on driving the Lancia down to Mexico again and getting it restored by the shop who helped me with the headgasket. He quoted me between $5000 and $7000. A similar restoration here would cost $100,000.