Once again, this is a car for our Interesting Project Car Weekend, inspired by the article written by Jim Yu about cruising around in Classic Cars around Marin and Sonoma Counties in Cali. We explored a very rare Bitter, and looked Smart in a Rootes Sunbeam Alpine, and now its time to look to Italy for this 1976 Lancia Beta Coupe. The Lancia Beta is the car that was the foundation for the relaunching of the brand here in the US after Fiat purchased the beleaguered company in 1969. Many enthusiasts simply stated that this was nothing but a Fiat, which may be true, but there were distinct differences between the brands. All Lancia Betas came equipped with Fiat DOHC engines, five speed gearboxes, rack and pinion steering, fully independent suspension using MacPherson struts in both front and rear with disc brakes on all four wheels. This was not something you could say about every Fiat offered. This particular Lancia is the front wheel drive 2+2 two-door coupe version of the Beta, and features the Fiat derived 1800cc DOHC four cylinder, with twin Webber carburetors that produced 118HP. This car also has the 5-speed manual gearbox, and a recently redone interior. This car is a presentable driver with paint that is paint is faded and needs refreshing. According to the listing, this light weight sports coupe really scoots along. It is quick and very fun to drive. The side draft carbs are worth half the asking price. There is no appreciable rust anywhere and this is a really decent driver. Great panel fit and no evidence of a wreck, this car is a lot of bang for the buck. Speaking of price, the starting bid for this Italian built coupe is $2,000, with a Buy-it-Now price of $2,750. This is not a lot of money for an increasingly rare 2-door Sports Coupe with an interesting history. See the eBay listing here, or take a look at the Cosmopolitan Motors listing here. I love the Cosmopolitan Motors slogan: “We covet the rare and unusual, whether pedigreed or proletarian”