Like the Mini, the N360 was a product of privation. If you’re looking at the tiny Honda here and thinking ‘Well, that’s very clearly a Japanese take on the Mini’, you might actually be closer than you think. Then again, when the engineering is good enough to turn a sedate saloon into a BMW-beating sports car in the 99 Turbo. Of course, with a 0–60 time of 17 seconds or so, you could probably catch up to them anyway. Needless to say, runaway Saab 99s were rarely a problem. Which makes it much less of a surprise to find disc brakes all round – on dual circuits for redundancy, and with a separate pair of drums for the hand brake. When handling is described as ‘secure’, that’s a fair indication of what to expect. In any case, the 99 looks like nothing else on the road (possibly because so few are actually on the road) and is more focused on safety than your average air traffic controller. So, you’re getting the traditional Saab stubbornness – it actually managed to make something out of Triumph’s Slant-4 engine, for instance – and superlative Scandinavian. And no, neither is a reason to wear a turtleneck. Hot tip: a Saab 90 is basically a late-stage Saab 99. But like its proper luxury cars, the Appia was named for a Roman road, chock-full of innovation and ingenuity, and engineered and built to be the absolute best, not the most profitable.Īlso, where else can you find pillarless suicide doors, a V4 engine and rear-wheel drive in one car? Oh, right – other Lancias, of course The Appia has all the proper pre-Fiat Lancia credentials – just carried in a smaller package than something like the Flaminia or Aurelia. Well, it probably did end then, but it certainly didn’t begin.

Helpfully enough, Lancia’s engineering prowess didn’t begin and end with its involvement in the World Rally Championship. Not that he’s bitter about it to this day or anything. Until, of course, the classic car boom ‘unearthed’ what the tragics had been banging on about for years and put owning a nice little Fulvia Zagato right out of a certain Top Gear writer’s reach just before he was able to afford the pre-boom prices. Of course, as the years went by, and Lancia retreated into Italy, the storied brand receded from pretty much everyone’s memories. oh, about a minute after the Delta Integrale went off sale, from memory. For years, it’s been the manufacturer of choice for misty-eyed tragics and budding Saint Judes since.

The city we became amazon