Special Lancia Thema with a 3.2L, 8-cylinder in very good, clean condition. An infamous car to most but a collectors item for those who know.

Exterior:

Paint is in very good condition, no major signs of any chips or scratches, was maintained very well throughout the years. Wheels look untouched and tires were not used a lot.

Interior:

The leather seats have a few ageing signs but still look very good without any rips, tears, etc. Carpets are clean, no major stains.

Mechanics:

This Lancia Ferrari Thema is equipped with a 3.2L, V8 that was based 32-valve 3.0-liter used in the Ferrari 308 Quattrovalvole. The engine produced a stunning 215 horsepower.

History:

To make the ultimate Thema, Lancia called upon Ferrari, its Fiat stable mate, for help. So, that's how the Thema 8.32 ended up with a Ferrari engine, though, this isn't quite the same V8 you'd find in a 308. It was based on the 32-valve 3.0-liter used in the 308 Quattrovalvole, but its flat-plane crankshaft was replaced with a more-traditional cross-plane crank. This changes the firing order, and gave the 8.32 a distinct audio signature from the 308. The engine was built by Ducati, too.

While the Thema 8.32 offered a respectable 215 horsepower—enough to match a contemporary BMW 535i—stuffing a V8 up front made it very nose heavy. Metcalfe says the weight distribution is like that of a Porsche 911, but backwards. And it was expensive, at around double the cost of a four-cylinder Thema.

As you might expect, Lancia didn't sell many—just under 4000, and according to Metcalfe, only nine in the UK. That's kind of a shame, because as Metcalfe finds, the 8.32 is a genuinely entertaining car. It's more of a relaxed, powerful cruiser than an all-out sports-sedan in the mold of the BMW M5.