1986 Lancia Thema 2.8 V6 review from UK and Ireland

There are numerous electrical faults, mainly warning lights switching themselves on even if there is nothing wrong really.

The brakes have never been that good, we had a seized rear caliper once which required half the braking system to be replaced.

The battery has often run down completely flat for no apparent reason.

Windscreen wipers are really poor.

The rear window broke once for no reason at all.

Starter motor failed (got overhauled by dealer).

Needed a new water pump.

There are a few rust points showing up, mainly at the bottom of the rear screen, the inside of the front doors and on one wheelarch.

The engine is quite hard to work on (most parts are hidden underneath other parts).

I am sure there have been many other faults, but I can't recall them all off the top of my head (we've had the car for 16 years now).

We bought the car new, back in 1986 when it was still was quite a novelty. Through the years we've seen it go from luxury new car to old banger (although ours is still very nice and fresh looking, it won't have anyones pulse racing).

Its the rare 2.6 V6 Manual version, so it has always performed well and taken us through many trips across the whole of Europe. I would still jump into it today and drive more than 1000 kms with no problems.

The car is nice, rare, comfortable and very spacious with an enormous boot. Our main regret has always been not specifying air-conditioning as an option.

Its getting to be quite difficult to find and buy spares for it now. Have recently joined the Lancia club so hopefully they should help on that aspect.

If there are any other 2.8 owners out there please contact me at rgubbioli@yahoo.com.