Forbidden Fruit Fridays

We're kicking off a new recurring post here at CICFS: Forbidden Fruit Fridays. These shorter posts will feature cars unavailable in the United States - especially those that would make Europeans shake their head in disapproval. The grass is not always greener on the other side, after all. To kick off this feature, we've selected a Lancia Dedra Station wagon. These are nothing to lust after in their native Italy, but the novelty of a manual station wagon Lancia is too strong for an American website such as CICFS to ignore!

The Dedra sits on the Fiat Type Three platform shared with the Alfa Romeo 155 and Fiat Tempra. From the looks of the cam covers, the 16V version's 102hp 16V engine is an evolution of the classic Fiat Lampredi twin cam engine. And, unlike in the BMW e30 wagon, lifting the rear hatch gains you access to the entire load floor - no taillights in the way here.