Lancia Delta: Delta forces an entrance

The Delta's arrival on the Geneva show stand presaged by a full orchestra with rock-band additions plus a bevy of voices. Then three white Deltas loomed towards us, standing on their noses the better to show off the glass roof, then gradually their sections of stand lowered themselves to horizontal as two more Deltas in darker hue, with solid satin-grey roofs, arrived via the gaps between them. Worth the razzamatazz? Well, the Delta does look a striking machine if a slightly overstyled one. It has the look of an Ypsilon or a Thesis but exaggerated in almost concept-car fashion, with a rounded roof, a trad-look front grille, a wedged waistline and wrapover rear lights. It disguises its Fiat Bravo origins well, helped by a longer wheelbase. It's Lancia's Audi A3 to Fiat's Volkswagen Golf. Inside, it's soft and plush and well-equipped, but the cock-eyed centre console is troubling from some angles. It's meant to look right from the driver's perspective. The engine range is usual Fiat, UK sales will start some time in 2009 via 'selected' Alfa Romeo dealers.