It Was Supposed To Save Lancia But Helped Kill It - Dedra Turbo 1994

Added: 2026-05-12

[00:00:09]This is a Dra Turbo, a car that was supposed to invigorate Lancha's fortunes in the UK and instead ended up finishing it off, which is strange because the Dra isn't a bad car and it sold well in Italy. And this particular version even gets the engine from the legendary Delta Integral.

[00:00:40]Oh, and it really does pull well. And yet, it seems to attract an extraordinary amount of hate. In 2013, Top Gear listed it as one of the worst cars of the last 20 years. And when it was new, Car magazine dismissed it as a joke 3 series competitor, which all seems a bit unfair to me. But even I can't argue with the numbers. In over 10 years of production, less than half a million were sold. So, what went wrong?

[00:01:10]Let's take a closer look.

[00:01:20]When the Dedra arrived in the UK, it wasn't just another model. It was supposed to save the brand. By the late 80s, Lancher was on life support here.

[00:01:29]The beta rust scandal had really shaken buyer confidence. And once that kind of reputation sets in, it's almost impossible to shake. Lancha knew this and they really tried to improve quality and the body was completely galvanized to try and banish those memories of rust. Internally, it was known as the type 835. It was launched in 1989 and stayed in production for 10 years. It was supposed to replace the Prisma and it was the basis for the second generation Delta that followed 2 years later. But much more importantly, it was part of a bigger Fiat plan. Efficiency was key. So the DRA was based on a platform called the toot or to 3. This underpinned three cars. The Tempra was supposed to be the budget sensible choice. The Alpha 155, the sporty one, and this the refined premium choice. In theory, that made perfect sense. In reality, the temper just looked like a melted Uno. And the first series of 155s really weren't that good to drive. Which means that out of the box, the Dedra was probably the best of the three.

[00:02:44]Like its siblings, it had rack and pinion steering and McFersonen struts all round. But this one had an extra trick up its sleeve. Electronically adjustable suspension, which in the early '9s was properly high tech. The interior is also pretty attractive and does a good job of making you feel like you're in something a little bit special.

[00:03:07]And then there's the styling which was handled by Errol Espada and did a great job of making this look like a proper small executive saloon. He even managed to hide the fact that the doors came from the tip and temper which was no small feat. And aerodynamically it was excellent. It had a coefficient of drag of just 0.29 29 which was seriously slippery at the time and not bad even today. Engines were the 1.6 and 1.8 4-cylinder twin cams which are extensively used by FIA and were amongst the best in their class. This though the top of the range car got an 8 valve 2 L turbocharged engine from the Delta with 165 horsepower. So on paper at least that should make it a bit of a hidden gem. In Europe, they also got a 4x4 version badged as an integral that got a bump in power to 185 horsepower.

[00:04:02]Contemporary reports though said that the drive was a little bit disappointing considering its links to the legendary Delta. Sadly, we never got to see the elegant estate version here because by 1994, sales had dried up to almost a dribble. Fat decided to pull the plug and killed Lancher in the UK. In total, they built just 488 of these in its 10-year run. And in 1999, they released the successor, the Libra, which was even more of a dud, selling just 188 in its whole career.

[00:04:39]Now, the Libra really did look a little bit ungainainely, so I can understand why that didn't do very well, but I'm still a bit mystified as to why this didn't do better. Maybe taking it out for a drive will give us some more clues.

[00:04:55]Right, let's fire it up.

[00:05:07]This engine has been rebuilt and it has a very slightly higher compression ratio and a flowed head. So, it's probably putting out another 10 horsepower or so.

[00:05:18]Um, this has been a real labor of love uh for Paul who owns it. Believe it or not, this car actually has 247,000 miles on it. You'd never say it to see it. It looks really clean.

[00:05:32]Also, this is one of the later ones. I can't remember what year this one is exactly. I'll put it up now. I think it's uh 93 or something like that or 94 even when they pulled the plug. And it has a leather interior. So, it's got some extra luxury to it. Now, the reason why they did that, we think, is again, you know, sales were floundering and they were trying to bring it up. The normal cars would actually have had Alcantara, even the top level ones. I think leather was just an option. And I have to say, I love Alcantara. For me, my dad had a series of tamers. They all had Alcantara interiors. And for me, it signifies a lancho of this era. And at the time it felt even more luxurious because the material is so soft and was used in so few cars. The thing is though, if my dad's car had ever made it, I don't think it did, to 250,000 miles, that Alcantara interior would have been torn to shreds. I think they used to last 70 or 80,000 mi before showing serious wear. So, I guess it's no bad thing. I still can't get over that these seats have lasted so long. I asked Paul and they haven't been reupholstered or anything. They are the genuine seats from before. So, they really were trying to do something about quality. The only thing I'd say is it doesn't feel particularly nice this leather. Um, but then maybe that's why it's so tough. Now, I do like the interior and I really like the instrument panel there which is sort of extra wide I suppose and it just moves into the central binnacle of the car.

[00:07:05]Also, the heating controls I remember from the original Tamers. They're quite nice. They look like they're quite sort of good quality things. They They look good. Now, the wood finish on this I do like. It's different from the usual stuff that you used to get cuz it's quite dark and it has a little bit of a red vein to it. I think at the time, if I remember correctly, they mentioned it was some sort of South American wood. I think it does look great and it really helps differentiate it from the other stuff that was around. Now, although I do really like the interior, I have to say there are a couple of things that really let it down and uh mainly it's the stalks. Now, these are the same that you would find on a depot. They're not particularly bad, but if you're going to try and compete with a sort of upper end German cars, you can't really get away with using the same switch gear that you'd find in a cheap low-level feat.

[00:08:01]The gear change feels quite meaty. I like it actually. First to second, it's got a bit of weight to it as well. It's got very positive engagement and you've got quite a big gear knob.

[00:08:13]And um I don't know, it feels pretty good.

[00:08:16]Let's take it through the gears.

[00:08:36]Yeah, very nice. I'd say that that power feels about right. I think um 170 180 horsepower. Uh I'm not sure how much these weigh. Again, I'll put that up here. But, you know, it definitely has more than enough go. It is an old style installation. So if you put your foot down at 2,000 revs, God, it takes a while to get going. It's only really when it hits 3, three and a half that it properly picks up. The chassis feels reasonably well tied down.

[00:09:14]There's a little bit of lean in the corners. It's not excessive, but certainly it's not scalpel sharp either.

[00:09:20]So, handling feels reasonably tidy, if perhaps not class leading. I'll try and put my foot down more in the corners, and we'll see how it handles the torque steer, which I think was one of the bug bears people complained about at the time.

[00:09:36]It's quite refined. This one's a little bit noisier because it's got a different bat box, so you can hear the engine a little bit more, but wind noise is largely absent, and suspension isolation isn't bad either. The steering has a bit of a strange feel to it, as if it's got artificial weighing in the middle. So, the Verdict is still open on that. One thing which I don't particularly like, and you can see my head just brushed the ceiling there. The seat is on its lowest height here, and you're sitting really perched high up. And for me, that really does detract from the experience. I'm quite tall. I'm 6'2. If you were shorter than me, maybe it wouldn't bother you as much. You can still get a pretty comfortable driving position, but for me, it just doesn't gel with the sort of with the marketing positioning that this had. I associated most cars where you're perched up like this with cheaper cars like the to. And I think that's why you've got this weird driving position.

[00:10:37]Um, it's just sort of tilted a bit too high. Not a deal breaker, but certainly I don't love it.

[00:10:45]Okay, the tighter corners now and uh we'll see how it fares here.

[00:11:06]Okay, I'm going to try a little bit harder next time. I don't think I went through with enough gusto, but to be honest, it's not encouraging it. I know it's supposed to be more about refinement than sportiness. Um, but the steering's just a little bit led, so it doesn't particularly I don't know. It doesn't tell you to really go for it.

[00:11:27]Let's take it through the gears again.

[00:11:38]I've just realized I hadn't put it in sport. So, that's the next thing we're going to do. See how it handles now.

[00:11:56]I tell you what I do really like about this turbo installation and that is that it keeps pulling all the way to 6,000.

[00:12:04]So, no 6 and a half th000 which is quite unusual. Again, my dad's tamer at the time. big wedge of torque and then it would tail off after five and a half. So if you want to, you can almost drive this like a normal naturally aspirated lump.

[00:12:28]Yeah. So in sport it does firm up and I think it is noticeably better there.

[00:12:33]Yeah. The steering does feel a little bit weward, but I don't think it's actually I don't think it's what the standard cars would have been like. I think it's a setting on this. Maybe it needs the geometry to be tweaked. I think there's the basis for a good chassis there because it really does respond well in the corners. There's plenty of grip on the front. There's only ever a little bit of a hint of torque steer that does come through occasionally, but most of the time it's absent. One great thing about this era of turbocharged engines is they really give you a lot of overtaking shove. They don't try and disguise the turbo coming in like they do sometimes on the more modern stuff. And when you put your foot down in the right place, they really do take off. Brilliant for overtaking.

[00:13:23]So, having had a little bit of time in it now, I'm starting to reach a conclusion. and it is that unfortunately it just wasn't quite good enough to compete with the Germans. Uh I think a lot of people expected that. But I thought well look you know I think it's a clean nice looking design. It's got a nice interior which does a good job of making it feel like it's an upper end car. It's got a great engine. The chassis. It's independent suspension all around. Rack and pinion steering. The Italians know how to make a car handle.

[00:13:56]So really it should do well, but I think it's just hampered by the fact that it was based on that common platform. You can have common platforms, but the fact that it was originally made for a too and I think when you're trying to reach this level of car, the 3 series, the Mercedes 190, those were made specifically for the space that they were supposed to be in. The 190 had a sophisticated multi-link rear suspension. The 3 series handled better.

[00:14:26]The Merc was, to be quite honest, built better and used a little bit better materials. Materials, there isn't as much of a difference as you'd think. But the Merc was just developed better. It was screwed together better than this.

[00:14:41]And ultimately, although this was cheaper, I think that just wasn't enough. Going to put it back into auto for comfort. And you can really feel the difference. It um it loosens up considerably.

[00:14:57]you wanted to get one. Obviously in the UK there's none. There's only three for sale currently that I could find.

[00:15:03]They're all in Italy and they're between the€10,000 to6,000 space. Most expensive one at €16,000 is the Integra. If you found this interesting, you need to see my video on the 155 Q4. An incredible car based on the Lancha Delta. Basically a delta in drag, but with alpha knowhow added to it should have made for an incredible car.

[00:15:29]And yet they're totally unknown. Check it out here. Huge thanks to Paul for bringing this down today and to all of you for watching. See you for the next one.