Car number seven was the Lancia Y10 Fire which I bought from J.D.Barclay's in Oxford for something around the five thousand pound mark in late '85 or early '86 and was only six months old when I first owned it. It was something of a revelation to me as Italian cars went because this one was quiet, very economical and ever so comfortable, all the cars I'd owned before this were devoid of one or more of these points and at first the Y10 seemed very nice indeed.

The main criticism I had of this vehicle as I remember was the way all the trim fell to bits all the time. In particular the back seat came apart so I got the garage to fix it (new parts etc) and three weeks later it came apart again so they had it back and yes you've guessed it, it did it again !!!! the only other thing that failed was the plastic radiator which the garage
had to replace under warranty as the end had split. One thing that was good (in true Lancia tradition) was the handling, not much straight line performance but boy did it go around corners well !.

My main reason for selling it ? probably the lack of power and weird image the car had in peoples minds most suggested that the manufacturer had 'left the back off', as the advanced styling of the car was too far ahead of its time for most.

Click here to view info on the eighth car I owned.
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