These were key factors that influenced the decision to use an existing power plant: the Fiat twin overhead cam, straight-four engine with its alloy head and cast iron block.

[4] At the Beta's launch late in 1972 Fiat chief Gianni Agnelli told journalists that Lancia's output would be about 40,000 units in 1972 at a time when a volume of 100,000 was needed to cover the fixed costs involved in developing and building the cars.

[3] Lancia's lack of profitability was also evidenced by the absence of replacement models under development at the time of the Fiat take-over.

The Lancia Fulvia, though much loved, had been developed with little concern for making it cost-effective to manufacture; it had therefore been sold at a high price in correspondingly low volumes.

[3] The company's new owner's objective with the new Beta was to retain the quality image and price premium of existing Lancias, while minimising development time and production costs, using in-house Fiat group technology and parts where possible.

[3] Above all, and in contrast with the Fulvia, the Beta design was relatively inexpensive to produce in volumes significantly higher than those achieved by predecessor Lancia saloons.

[3] All versions of the car came with DOHC engines, five-speed gearboxes, rack and pinion steering, fully independent suspension using MacPherson struts, both front and rear, with disc brakes on all four wheels.

Breathing was provided by a single Weber carburettor until fuel injection was introduced on late two litre HPE and Coupe models.

[5] As with a number of previous front-wheel drive-Lancia models, the engine and gearbox were mounted on a subframe that bolted to the underside of the body.

The rear-wheel drive Lancia Montecarlo employed a similar layout except the subframe was mounted at the rear.

On the front-wheel drive Betas, Lancia designed a particularly original independent rear suspension with MacPherson struts attached to parallel transverse links that pivoted on a centrally mounted cross member bolted to the underside of the floorpan.

At the 1975 Geneva Motor Show Lancia launched the HPE (High Performance Estate), styled in a similar vein to the Reliant Scimitar and Volvo 1800ES while utilizing the wheelbase of the Berlina.

Power steering specially produced by the German company ZF became available on certain Left Hand Drive models and was also used on the Gamma.

The Coupé and HPE underwent a facelift in June 1983 (at the same time that the supercharged VX versions were introduced) and remained available for a little while longer than the other bodystyles.

These three variants were known as Volumex models and had the highest performance of all the road-going production Betas, with 135 bhp (101 kW) and substantially increased torque over the normal two-litre 200 N⋅m (148 lb⋅ft).

The bodywork was developed inhouse by Centro Stile Lancia led by Aldo Castagno, with Piero Castagnero acting as styling consultant.

[17] The final car to carry the Beta badge was the Pininfarina-designed and built two-door Lancia Montecarlo, announced in March 1974.

Montecarlos were available as fixed head "Coupés" and also as "Spiders" with solid A and B pillars, but a large flat folding canvas roof between them.

They were named "Montecarlo", written as one word, not Monte Carlo, one of Monaco's administrative areas, although the rear badge reads "MONTE-CARLO".

In the United States, the First Series cars were marketed as the Scorpion alongside the rest of the Beta range, as General Motors was already using the name Monte Carlo for a Chevrolet model.

The main reason for the Fiat label was that despite its unique Lancia chassis, suspension, interior and bodywork, the Beta used a Fiat-based engine.

[4] It continued in production well into the 1990s and, in highly developed form, was used in performance road cars such as the Lancia Delta Integrale and Fiat Coupé.

The Beta was competitively priced in export markets and managed to become the highest ever selling Lancia model up to that point.

A widely circulated rumor states that the cars used Soviet steel supplied to Fiat in return for building the Lada factory.

The steel problems are more likely due to poor rustproofing techniques as well as the prolonged strikes that plagued Italy at that time rather than the metal's origin.

In the UK (Lancia's largest export market at the time),[22] the company listened to the complaints from its dealers and customers and commenced a campaign to buy back vehicles affected by the subframe problem.

If their vehicle was affected by the subframe problem, the customer was offered a part exchange deal to buy another Lancia or Fiat car.

There were claims that the problem persisted in later cars by showing photographs of scrapped 1st Series saloons, referring to them as being newer than five and six years old.

[28] Three years later Beta production by SEAT indeed commenced at the company's recently acquired Pamplona plant, though only the Coupé and HPE lift-back versions were included.

The arrangement was short lived from 1979 up to 1980 because of a falling out in the early 1980s between Fiat, Lancia's parent company, and the Spanish government over the increasingly urgent need for investment to upgrade the SEAT range.