‘orrible exotic for sale; 1985 Lancia Thema Gazella Boneschi V6 coupé prototype

There’s something about the Lancia brand that always piques our interest. Throw other glamorous sounding Italian nonsense into the mix, add a suspiciously low EBay price and we’re hooked. But upon further inspection (virtual, not actual) the exotic sounding Lancia Thema Gazella Boneschi V6 Coupe Prototype is actually pretty ’orrible. Here are some pictures of the only one made, now for sale on eBay;

The Thema saloon was closely related to the Alfa 164, Fiat Croma and Saab 9000. All big, boxy four door exec’s. The story goes that the chairman of bodywork company (Carrozzeria, if you’re talking it up) Boneschi, Paola Pezzaglia, was caught in a thunderstorm in Spain with Fiat boss Mr Agnelli and, having a captive audience, talked him into commissioning a prototype coupe based on the same platform, with a view to mass production. The rain subsided, Agnelli escaped, and Boneschi built this thing. It has that dog rough French made PRV6 engine, a manual gearbox and front wheel drive. Only one was made, in 1985, Pezzaglia driving it himself for many years. The car previously sold ten years ago after having undergone some mechanical restoration, particularly to the engine, but it’s in a sorry state now. The wheels would look better on an early Golf Gti and the black and white colour would look better on a badger.

Here’s the sellers description; “The car has subsequently been stored for more than 10 years and the current mileage stands at 126,695km (approx. 78,725 miles). The engine turns but currently does not fire. The bodywork has bubbling in places, e.g. beneath the passenger side door handle and around some of the sills.” If you have £4500 to spend, can weld, rewire electrics and rebuild engines and fancy what we think is a fairly ‘orrible exotic, click here.