Lancia Thema

Lancia Thema at a glance: maker, production years (1984-1994), purpose

The Thema replaced the Lancia Gamma as the brand's flagship. It is one of the most important Lancias of the 1980s, alongside the Delta, and you can find its stablemates in our Lancia catalogue.

Development and production history

Lancia announced the Thema in May 1984, presented it to the press in Vienna in October 1984 and showed it to the public at the Turin Motor Show in November 1984. The car came from the Type Four programme, in which Fiat and Saab developed a common floorpan for large front-wheel-drive cars. Each brand gave its version its own body and its own engines.

Production ended late in 1994, when the Lancia Kappa took over. The Pininfarina estate was introduced in 1986 and built at Grugliasco; 21,074 were made between 1986 and 1994.

Design and engineering

Giugiaro gave the saloon a clean three-box shape with a drag coefficient of 0.32. Pininfarina designed and built the Station Wagon, which kept the saloon's front and added a long, square roof.

Under the skin the Thema used transverse front engines and front-wheel drive, like its Type Four relatives. The twin-cam four-cylinder engines descended from the design of former Ferrari engineer Aurelio Lampredi, while the original V6 was the 2.8-litre PRV unit also used by Peugeot, Renault and Volvo. According to the Italian Wikipedia, an automatic gearbox, a three-speed unit, was offered only on the first-series 2.8 V6.

Engine and drivetrain

The years in the table are the engine years listed by Wikipedia and run slightly beyond the end of saloon production. Wikipedia also lists lower-output versions: a 2.0 8V with 85 kW (116 PS) for 1987-1989 and a 2.0 Turbo 8V with 110 kW (150 PS) for 1988-1989. The original turbodiesel had 2,445 cc, the later one 2,499 cc. The 2.0 Turbo 16V of the third series, with 151 kW (205 PS) and 304 Nm, was as quick to 100 km/h as the catalysed 8.32. Use our power converter to compare these outputs with modern cars.

Lancia Thema specifications

The sources do not give a complete set of standard saloon dimensions. The figures below come from the Limousine data (a wheelbase stretched by 300 mm to 2,960 mm and an overall length of 4,890 mm), from which the standard car's values follow.

Variants and derivatives

Thema 8.32

Lancia unveiled the Thema 8.32 in 1986. The name stands for eight cylinders and 32 valves. Its 2,927 cc Ferrari F105L V8 with a cross-plane crankshaft was derived from the engine of the Ferrari 308 GTB and Mondial. According to the Italian Wikipedia, it was detuned from 240 to 215 CV for front-wheel drive, which gave 158 kW (215 PS), 0-100 km/h in 6.8 seconds and a top speed of 240 km/h. The catalysed version from 1989 had 151 kW (205 PS).

The 8.32 had only a five-speed manual gearbox, 294 mm front and 251 mm rear brake discs and a retractable rear spoiler. Lancia built 2,370 first-series cars from 1986 to 1988. For the second series (1989-1992), the English Wikipedia gives 1,601 cars and the Italian edition 1,150. The car was dropped when the third series arrived in 1992.

Station Wagon

The estate, introduced in 1986, was designed and built by Pininfarina. With 21,074 made over eight years, it was a rare body style; the Italian Wikipedia records a special estate built for Gianni Agnelli.

Limousine

Built only to order for wealthy customers and Fiat group executives, the Limousine had a wheelbase stretched by 30 cm to 2,960 mm, weighed about 1,400 kg and cost nearly 60 percent more than a comparable standard V6. Most used the 2.8 PRV V6, the last ones the Alfa Romeo 3.0 V6. Only 24 were built.

Thema 2011-2014

Lancia revived the name for a rebadged Chrysler 300 sold in left-hand-drive European markets from 2011 to 2014, while the UK and Ireland kept the Chrysler name. It was rear-wheel drive and offered a 3.6-litre Pentastar V6 petrol with 210 kW (286 PS) and a 3.0-litre VM Motori V6 diesel with 140 kW (190 PS) or 176 kW (239 PS). It has nothing in common with the original Thema except the badge.

In service: operation, reliability and legacy

More than 336,000 saloons were built over ten years, a large number for an Italian executive car. The Type Four engineering was shared with three other makers, and its engines came from the Fiat group, PRV and Alfa Romeo, so mechanical parts for the four-cylinder and V6 cars have a broad base. The Ferrari V8 of the 8.32 is a specialist engine and should be maintained by people who know it. The sources consulted give no quantified data on corrosion or common faults, so buyers should rely on an inspection by a marque specialist.

Preservation and collecting today

Today the 8.32 is the most sought-after Thema, because of its Ferrari engine and its low production of roughly 3,500 to 4,000 cars. The 2.0 Turbo 16V, especially in 151 kW (205 PS) third-series form, offers similar performance at lower cost, and the Station Wagon is rare in any version. Lancia Thema prices change quickly in the classic market, so check current auction results. Our classic cars section covers other Italian cars of the period.

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