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The fiat group took over chrysler and the 300 C became the new lancia thema. To the traditionalists this is an outrage, but the car is a secret tip for connoisseurs.
V incenzo L. He was a keen racing driver on fiat, and he gave his name to the ingenious noble cars of lancia. The brand matured to old nobility, was driven by celebrities and existed with a certain dignity at the progressive edge of the eccentric.
Then lancia stripped off its nostalgic cloak of old values, buried the hot-rodded delta integrale without any great eulogies, invited the upper-class thesis and kappa to a farewell party for the brand, and from then on took care of itself with the narrow-chested ypsilon and the delta of the new design, which always seemed out of place.
Fiat, the great mother of the italian car industry, alimented lancia for many years and now married with chrysler. that’s why the lancia theme is back, and we fondly remember the boxy original.
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it came over us as a test car sometime in the late eighties, with the incredible sensation of having a ferrari v8 under the hood: ferrari and front-wheel drive in a comparatively staid sedan! The thing was called 8.32, growled its way up to 250 km/h without hesitation, and we drove a porsche driver into a severe depression on the A5 towards basel (at that time still without a speed limit). The life of a car is also full of beautiful experiences.
The question of whether this new thema is more lancia or contains too much of the almost ten-year-old chrysler 300 may be debated by feuilletonists. This is about the car, and that’s a good thing.
Engine selection
on the german market, there are three engine and three equipment versions, all with automatic transmission and rear-wheel drive, as befits an old-school sedan. Two of the engines come from the diesel fraction, both V6 units of italian origin with identical displacement but different power output.
The only gasoline engine is a chrysler v6 from the pension-ready pentastar family, the mighty hemi v8s were not adopted for the lancia. You can understand this when you look at the consumption values. The basic version is called "gold" and is available with 41.400 euro an offer, which has only the disadvantage that it will be delivered according to the price list "presumably" only from the second quarter 2013 onwards.
The model we drove came with the more powerful diesel version and the top equipment "executive" which has a small drawback: there are hardly any extras, the glass roof costs 1350 euros, an emergency wheel instead of the repair kit has to be paid for with 90 euros. For 50.900 euros for a limousine exuberantly equipped with all luxury details: this is what a special offer looks like. The only thing that makes us skeptical is the fact that on the internet the lancia theme costs around 10.000 to 15.000 euro below the list price.
Design
the new thema is the most powerful lancia since the 1970 flaminia berlina. the thema dress is of course the suit of the chrysler 300, minor changes to the grille and the nameplates are nevertheless not to be overlooked, and those who know the flaminia will be surprised: the new thema takes up its presidential presence and dignified arrogance as if the chrysler 300 never existed.
The five-meter sedan impresses with its crouched posture, the windows are very low throughout (tank bus cab), and the clarity should be better.
interior
The car offers plenty of space for passengers and luggage, has comfortable seats that can be adjusted in many ways with electric assistance, and the workmanship and choice of materials are at the level of the German luxury class.