- A neglected Lancia Thesis served as a base for a wild camper project.
- Owner resolved electrical and mechanical faults using 3D-printed parts.
- Flagship sedan was fitted with a custom roof rack and a hard-shell tent.
Few executive saloons of the early 2000s divided a room like the Lancia Thesis. Retro-futuristic on the outside, properly plush on the inside, and aimed at the BMW 5 Series. Which is where the trouble starts, because a car built to ferry Italian politicians between meetings is not where you go looking for a camper. Allar, an Estonian, went looking anyway. He found a neglected one and built exactly that.
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The story of this quirky build began on Allar’s daily commute. For about a year, he drove past a dark green Lancia Thesis that looked abandoned. Then he came across a classified ad listing that exact car for spares, with the scrapyard as the only other option.
Feeling sorry for the Italian sedan, Allar went to inspect it. Unfortunately, the old Lancia was in bad shape, carrying dents, scratches, mismatched wheels, and underbody rust. It refused to start, the gear lever mechanism was broken, several vital electronic modules had gone missing, and various trim pieces were shattered.
3D-Printed Parts And Italian Electrics
While most people would be discouraged, Allar bought the car anyway and began the painstaking process of resurrection. After swapping out numerous engine parts, he found the 2.4-liter JTD five-cylinder turbodiesel in surprisingly good condition. The gear lever was a bigger hurdle, because replacement parts for the rare sedan are close to impossible to find.
Undeterred, Allar utilized 3D-printing to manufacture the necessary gear selector components himself. He then tackled the notoriously complex Italian electrical system, sourcing used modules to clear the dashboard faults until every system worked properly. He also massaged out the body dents as best as he could.
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Once the Lancia was roadworthy, registered, and inspected, Allar realized he had no practical daily use for it, given his existing fleet. The collection includes a BMW 760Li, a Volvo 960, a Porsche 944, and an Opel Corsa OPC alongside two Honda CBR motorcycles.
From Executive Sedan To Camper
Rather than sell the Thesis, Allar decided to fulfill a long-held dream of owning a camper. He ordered a hard-shell roof tent that expands to 4 square meters (43 square feet) when opened. To support its weight, he designed and fabricated a low-profile roof rack that follows the lines of the Thesis’s roofline and rear deck.
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The sedan also received rear spring height adjusters to cope with the extra load. Allar also fitted a new set of 19-inch multi-spoke wheels sourced from a Jaguar XF, using spacers and custom-machined wheel nut adapters. A dual-battery system was installed to power all auxiliary equipment and the electronics inside the rooftop tent. Inside, the old ashtray gave way to a custom phone charger.
Enthusiasts Get It, Everyone Else Doesn’t
What is probably the only Thesis camper in the world is not a garage queen, as Allar has been using it for road trips in Europe. He reports that the flagship remains a remarkably comfortable cruiser, and that despite the rooftop tent and the custom rack, it holds 140 km/h (87 mph) without wind noise.
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There are downsides. Allar told us the 2.4-liter turbodiesel feels old-school at low speeds, which he suspects comes down to a sticky variable geometry turbo and a struggling boost solenoid that delays power delivery.
As for reactions, Allar admits that untrained eyes might still dismiss his Thesis as a neglected car. Enthusiasts, on the other hand, love the project, and this rough-around-the-edges machine commands respect wherever it goes. It proves that with enough determination and work, even a forgotten Italian flagship can find a second life in the great outdoors.
We would like to thank Allar for sharing his project with us. You can follow his adventures on Instagram and YouTube where he goes under the name Sats Motors.
