The Lancia Trevi (Type 828), initially marketed as the Lancia Beta Trevi, is a saloon car that was produced between 1980 and 1984. It has transversely mounted in-line four-cylinder engines driving the front wheels. Its engines have twin overhead camshafts and electronic ignition. The clutch is a single dry plate with diaphragm and a five-speed gearbox was standard. The suspension consists of MacPherson struts all round with coil springs and anti-roll bar. The wheels are fitted with 185/65 14 inch tyres (Pirelli P6). Steering is rack and pinion. The manufacturer's estimated fuel consumption is 29.4 mpg (9,6l/100 km) at 75 mph for the 1600 manual and 28 mpg (10,1l/100 km) at 75 mph for the 2000 manual. The 2000 fitted with an automatic transmission had an official fuel consumption of 25.4 mpg (11,1l/100 km) at 75 mph.Lancia Trevi (brochure), May 1981, p. 8
The Lancia Beta Trevi was presented at the Turin Auto Show in May 1980. It was presented to the UK market at the Birmingham Motor Show of November 1980.CAR Magazine, November 1980, p. 77 Much of the car was derived from the Lancia Beta. The most powerful version of the Trevi was introduced in 1982 - this Volumex (VX) version had a supercharger. The name stems from the Italian "Tre Volumi" (three-box).
History Developed from the Lancia Beta, the Trevi (or Beta Trevi as it was called until 1983) was introduced in 1980. The chief engineer for the Beta was Sergio Camuffo who was also responsible for the original Beta and the Gamma and numerous other models.Autocar & Motor, March 28, 1990, p. 73 The Beta, which was fitted with the same interior as the Trevi, was sold for two years alongside the Trevi (and sold as the Beta Berlina) Sales literature from Lancia emphasised that the car was both luxurious and sporting in nature.Lancia Trevi (brochure), May 1981, p. 2 Lancia's intention was that the restyled Beta would help to re-establish Lancia's credibility after the debacle of the rusting Betas: "Lancia's position took an unreasonably big knock as a result of the revelation that they were buying back cars with corroded sub-frame mounting points...a new Lancia today - thanks to the over-compensation that was necessary to make their point - promises to be as rust resistant as any of its rivals" wrote UK's Autocar in 1981.Autocar, July 11, 1981 The review continued to say the Trevi was "a conventional three-box saloon...it is a Beta under its skin but most of the body panels and the interior are completely new." The sales literature explained that the designers set out to create a classic three-box notchback saloon. The appearance of the car drew this comment from Autocar: "The Trevi is, to most eyes, a rather curious looking car, an odd combination of curves and angles, that produces an incipient spoiler from the slight upturn at the rear of the roof panel". The introduction of a saloon body-style was part of a general conservative trend in which existing fastback cars or unusually-styled cars were given more conventional appearances. The VW Golf body was given a boot in 1979 to become the VW Jetta, the Citroën Visa gained a grille as did the Fiat Ritmo, and the fastback Simca 1307 was restyled with a boot and sold as a Solara, and the Saab 900 also received a three-box version. "The residents of Staid Lane" wrote Paolo Tumminelli, "preferred conformity...as a courtesy to Reagan, Thatcher and Kohl, the old-fashioned saloon, standard bearer of the bourgeoisie, must be reanimated".Tumminelli, p. 275
The Trevi was available initially with two engines, a 1600 and 2000, both fitted with Weber or Solex carburetors.Autocar, August 1981, p. 20 In the UK automatic transmission was optional only on the larger engined cars. In 1981 Bosch electronic ignition was made available on the 2000IE models. This allowed the engine to produce 122 CV at 6400 rpm (compared to 115 CV at 5500 rpm). The Trevi Volumex was the last version of the car, introduced in 1982 at the Turin motor show Motor, September 25, 1982, page 29 and designed to improve performance without affecting fuel economy. Fitted with a twin scroll Roots-type supercharger (and carburettors, rather than the expected fuel injection), this increased output to . This development meant the Trevi was the first car fitted with a mechanically driven supercharger in nearly five decades if not considering the 131 Volumetrico since it was a limited production run. It had revised front seats, a matt-black chin spoiler and plusher trim,Motor, 25 September 1982. Page 29. with the seats upholstered in Zegna materials.Pirotte (Le Moniteur de l'Automobile), p. 35 As for the 2000IE, the Volumex also received a much-praised power steering from ZF as standard.Pirotte (Le Moniteur de l'Automobile), pp. 30-31 Lancia UK did not import this version of the car to sell in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The carburetted 2000 was discontinued during 1983, and production of the Trevi overall was discontinued in 1984. In total 36,784 examples of the Trevi were produced.Clarke, p. 7
One interesting special model was a single "Trevi Bimotore" built by ex-Abarth engineer Giorgio Pianta in 1984. This car allowed Pirelli to carry out tire testing for the upcoming street version of the Lancia Delta S4. To provide all-wheel drive and equivalent power, this unique car was equipped with a second engine in the rear, necessitating large air intakes on the rear doors. The engines were lightly tuned Volumex units (using smaller pulleys to increase boost pressure), providing 150 CV each for a total of .
Critical appraisal
The Lancia Trevi was not met with a warm reception, drawing criticism from the UK press with few exceptions. The British magazine, CAR, wrote: "Ungainly new Trevi notchback worth a giggle, and the new Swiss cheese Beta dashboard is eye-popping" (this was the same dashboard as in the Trevi). The dashboard was a cause of some controversy. Mario Bellini, the interior's designer, describes the design thus: "A complex architecture of interiors in a small, very restricted space. A challenge tackled by the architect from a structural, and not purely aesthetic, angle ". Contemporary automotive journals described the dashboard as ugly, gimmicky and overstyled,CAR Magazine, November 1981, p. 105 resembling Swiss cheese,Drive and Trail, 1982 or having the appearance of something from the US television drama Star Trek.Motor, August 1, 1981, p. 16 A review of the Volumex model commented that the "´Star Wars' fascia remains a disaster".Motor, September 25, 1982. Page 29. A 2014 review of the Volumex model in Klassik Autobild described the dashboard as "hardly a masterwork" but also as "audacious".
Trevi 2000 The UK's weekly Autocar reviewed the Lancia Trevi 2000 in August 1981.Autocar, August 1, 1981, pp. 16-21 The article was the cover story for that issue. The front cover featured the Bellini-styled interior under the headline "Cutting a new dash...Lancia's Trevi tested."
The car's strong points were described as generally very good handling, good steering in urban areas, generous equipment and a powerful engine. The weak points were the car's poor packaging, confusing dashboard, poor ergonomics, poorly designed seats, tendency to lift-off oversteer and high fuel consumption. The Autocar verdict was that the Lancia Trevi had "the performance and economy to appeal to Lancia enthusiasts."
The article opened with an explanation that the Trevi was designed as a means to restore confidence lost during the Lancia Beta rust debacle where sales fell from 11,000 a year in 1977 to 7,000 in 1980. The car was reviewed under several headings: Performance, Economy, Noise, Road Behaviour, Brakes, Behind the Wheel and Living With the Car.
Under Performance, the car was criticised for torque steer. Though it had a "ponderous, clunky gearchange" the gearbox was spaced to require frequent use to find the balance between maximum power and maximum torque. 72% of the car's weight was over the front wheels. 115 bhp was deemed only adequate to pull what the author viewed as too much weight for a car of its size (1,184 kilos).
Under Testing, the car returned an average of 23 mpg (Imp.) though cautious driving meant 30 mpg was achievable. Autocar viewed the test figures as an improvement over the 24 mpg achieved by the Lancia Beta or the 20.3 mpg of the Lancia HPE of 1977. Fuel filling was "easy and clean." The Trevi's suspension was tuned around the Pirelli P6 radial ply tyre of size 185/65HR 14 inches. Autocar's view was that the result of this was that the Trevi was thus "among the ranks of the best handling saloons." Steering was "pleasantly light around town" but was too light for rapid, cross-country driving. The car's natural tendency was for understeer and predictable behaviour. However, the car was also capable of lift-off oversteer if the throttle was closed suddenly while cornering. Braking during the lift-off oversteer would cause the car to "viciously tighten its line, not something to be tried on a wet surface."
The brakes were described as not being outstandingly large, "soft" and "lacking immediate bite." However, the brakes performed well during fade tests. The handbrake could hold the car on a 1 in 4 slope but not a 1 in 3.
Under the heading of Noise, the twin-cam engine was described as sounding "unobtrusive." Wind noise was low and tyre and suspension noise was "generally low". Autocar addressed the matter of the interior design by calling it "unusual" and gave a full description of the dashboard which was called "confusing" for the driver and "boring" for the passenger". The seats were described as "disappointing, especially when the car's potentially high lateral g forces in cornering a taken into account". The seats did not provide enough sideways bolstering. Legroom in the rear was "limited" as was rear headroom. The lack of interior storage for oddments was described as a "glaring omission".
Autocar viewed the Lancia Trevi 2000 as competing with the following cars: the Alfa Romeo Alfetta 2.0, the Citroën CX Athena, the Fiat Mirafiori Sport, the Renault 20 TX and the Saab 900 GLS saloon. Of these the Trevi had the highest top speed (113 mph max speed), fourth fastest 0-60 mph time (11.1 seconds) and third best average consumption of 25.2 mpg.
Referring to the Volumex model Autocar magazine reported that despite the fitting of a Roots-style positive displacement supercharger "fuel economy is not penalised; an overall consumption of around 28 mpg has been quoted by Lancia".Clarke