first examples had steel panels to the rear wings above the engine bay, but this limited version made reversing difficult and it was replaced by glass panels. This gave a flying buttress appearance to the rear, similar to the Maserati Merak. First Series cars (1975–1978) were badged Lancia Beta Montecarlo. They were named "Montecarlo", written as one word, not Monte Carlo, one of Monaco's administrative areas, although the rear badge reads "MONTE-CARLO". There was then a 2-year gap in production in order to revise a brake issue where the brakes had a tendency to lock up. Lancia solved this problem by removing the brake servo. The revised Second Series cars (1980–1981) were simply badged as Lancia Montecarlo. In the United States, the First Series cars were marketed as the Scorpion alongside the rest of the Beta range, as General Motors was already using the name Monte Carlo for a Chevrolet model. The Scorpion name was a reference to Abarth. 7,798 Montecarlos were built between 1975-81. Lancia with Fiat elements For some the Beta was not a Lancia but rather a Fiat. However Lancia had some autonomy from Fiat in the development of the Beta. The main reason for the Fiat label was that despite its unique Lancia chassis, suspension, interior and bodywork, the Beta used a Fiat-based engine. The Fiat Twin Cam engine, originally designed by Aurelio Lampredi, who built engines for Ferrari until Fiat employed him, was one of the most advanced 4-cylinder engines in Europe at that time. It continued in production well into the 1990s and, in highly developed form, was used in performance road cars such as the Lancia Delta Integrale and Fiat Coupé. The Lancia engineers made minor changes to the engines fitted to the Beta range. These included new inlet and exhaust manifolds as well as different carburation. In addition the mounting points on the engine block were different so as to allow for the transverse installation as opposed to the longitudinal installation utilised by the rear-wheel-drive Fiats. For these reasons the engines are not interchangeable between Betas and contemporary Fiats such as the Fiat 132. Engines Legacy The Beta was very well received by the motoring press and public when launched. The various models were praised for their performance and their good handling and roadholding. They were widely regarded as a "driver's car" with plenty of character. The Beta was competitively priced in