Clarkson reckons all car enthusiasts should own an Alfa - have you?

[@Lee]

Mike still has a load of Alfas all around his bungalow in Boarhunt, along with a few masaratis as well.

I currently have a Giulietta, and my wife has a 2008 spider. Both cracking cars.

The name Mike sounds familiar.

[stever750]

Yes, yes, and treble yes! Had 2 suds first two cars, most fun I've very had, and the most financially demanding and unreliable. Like a good woman, I loved them enormously, unlike the anodyne experience of today's cars.

Sent from my ME301T using Tapatalk

Edited 15 January, 2014 by stever750

[Clunkclick]

Yes. Alfa Sud strangely - I used to work in the 1970s immediately opposite the Lancia HQ in Alperton.

 

Only car I ever owned which had a complimentary drivers footwell  bidet.

 

It was particularly well rusted. A fact I only started discovering when the copious amounts of filler started falling out.

 

I made futile efforts at repair, only to have the thing written-off a year later when I ran it into a heavy piece of street furniture.

 

Flat four engine was good, aprt from the carburettor which was knackered.

 

Nick

Edited 15 January, 2014 by Clunkclick

[Zlin]

I've never owned one but would love to at some time. I was close to buying a 145 a few years ago but 'woosed' out. Had a few trips in a 147 in more recent years and thought it was a lovely car.

[TeflonTom]

The name Mike sounds familiar.

yeah that's him, I know mike.

[gallego1968]

I had an 1984 Alfasud

[Huwcymru]

A great set of replies, like many here I'd still love one, maybe, when the Focus CC is due for a change a Spyder could replace it. The local dealer is about 400 yes from us.

[keystonedriving]

it was red ( the colour God meant sporting cars to be), 

 

 

 

No, that would be dark green.  This red thing  is something put about by Italians who just don't know any better.

[sparks03]

 

 

 Just had a look to see if there are many of these left about. Car and classic has one listed and a couple sold so it would appear they are rare. But no less awesome looking

[@Lee]

yeah that's him, I know mike.

bit of an odd bloke I seem to remember.

[M12MKD]

Yes a 145 1.6 twinspark. Was a great car for a month before the engine popped a cylinder!

[Gaz]

The local dealer is about 400 yes from us.

 

Is that one of those greek measurements, like a cubit? 

 

Mrs V6TDI has a 1.2 Sud when I first met her.  As others have sentimented, lovely and horrible at the same time.  Swapped it for a 1980 1.1L Fiesta which all things considered proved to be a little corker.  Rust got to the Sud - serves 'em right for dragging battleships out of the Med. and then making cars out of 'em!

 

Gaz

[Huwcymru]

A boss of mine had one of these http://www.autoevolution.com/cars/alfa-romeo-6-1983.html, it languished in a showroom for about four years before he became the first owner. It had a handbrake like the S Max and the window switches were on the roof. Not sure when or what he changed it for.

[morty]

ive had 2 x 2.4 5 pot diesel 156's ... the 1st served me really well + had it remapped to around 180 bhp and it flew. Did 50k miles in just over 2 years in that. 2nd was a 2.4 20v sportwagon which was lovely as well but had a penchant for eating driveshafts. The diesel 5 pot even sounds good bit like a petrol 5 pot warble.

 

Ive also had a Busso V6 3.0 GTV (petrol) ... boy oh boy did that shift and sounded the mutts !!!!! Would like another one of those if im honest. Needed a petrol tanker in tow tho.

 

Currently got a 159 1.9 diesel saloon which im going to sell as ive ordered an Octy VRS TDi (which will probably be here June time :think: ). The 159 is more of a eurobox really and in my mind hasnt got the Alfa 'feel' ? Luxurious tho!

 

Lee

[Soot1e]

No, that would be dark green.  This red thing  is something put about by Italians who just don't know any better.

This colour thing stems from the birth of GP Racing

British cars were Green, red cars were Italian, Blue cars were French, German cars were silver.

This system was in place until the days of sponsorship when the corporate sponsors demanded the cars were painted how they liked.

Remember when Marlboro insisted the Ferrari team changed from dark Ferrari red to the lighter Marlboro red.

[Huwcymru]

I've not seen it but I'm told the red is actually pink as it looks more like the traditional Italian bright red on TV.

[Penpusher]

The only Alfa In owned was a 1981 Sud 1.5Ti.  As mentioned by others who owned one, rust was the big problem.  I tried to have it patched up, but it was money down the drain as it was unstoppable!

 

I had a scary moment one day when I had to brake hard after a car pulled out in front of me.  There was a bang as the pedal went to the floor as a brake line had rusted through.  Luckily, with the dual circuit I had enough brakes to avoid an accident and limp home.  It may have saved me money if I'd hit him and written the car off at his insurance company's expense!

 

I got rid of it when it was 7 years old and I turned a sharp corner in town, which was followed by a bang and a scraping noise.  The offside suspension had collapsed where it had rotted through on the chassis.

[ColinD]

I put a deposit down on a used brera 2.4. I then booked an extended test drive a few weeks later; hence the need for a deposit.

 

Turned up, they had at least 7 working days to sort the car. It had passed all it's inspections and was a brilliant example.

 

Turn key. This cabin is nice. I know it's a diesel, is it cold? No we tested it this morning. But my thats a rough engine, I thought. A few miles later, no this is seriously flawed. Definitely missing a cylinder fire... Just a sensor, give it some to clear the maf/dpf thing... 40 miles later no joy, no warning lights, just fear of what I was about to commit to.

 

Deposit eventually returned. 

[ChrisRs]

They were not very good for corrosion resistance either

[@Lee]

and that ^^^ was before it left the factory

[Clunkclick]

No, they didn't do body shells well, but I don't think I've driven a better handling or riding budget mass-produced car. Cornering was a pleasure - once you replaced the Pirellis with Michelins.

 

How could Alfa do that in the 1970's and the design pointers not be adopted by other manufacturers for future output ? So that I find today that my Fab goes round corners like the Mary Rose.

 

 

Nick

Edited 19 January, 2014 by Clunkclick

[Clunkclick]

That's it, apart from the specialist sporty cars, cars are designed today for the "Non-driver" , "Outside -lane" blockers generation, i.e. to be looked at from the outside, rather than be driven.

 

Nick

[Dr Zoidberg]

That's it, apart from the specialist sporty cars, cars are designed today for the "Non-driver" , "Outside -lane" blockers generation, i.e. to be looked at from the outside, rather than be driven.

 

Nick

Is that really true though. An Alfa may have felt great to drive 30 odd years ago but that was being compared to some truly dire vehicles back then. There are some very tidy handling standard cars now, and if you drove them back to back with the stars of the 80s you might be surprised.

[Huwcymru]

I agree, things have moved on so far, but someone used the word anodyne earlier in the thread and it's true, many euro boxes are just that. The company I worked for insisted I used a rental car for anything beyond a short journey so I regularly made fast runs from south to north roads wherever possible on fast B roads.

Interestingly in my opinion the ones which were memorable ( for the right reasons) were VAG products, particularly with DSG boxes whether Seat or VW. Vauxhalls were pretty nasty inside and the ones we got gutless, also the case with the Focus. Obviously this is very coloured by the models the hire companies were using - the VAg contingent seemed better specked and more powerful.

Alfas noticeable by their absence :-(

[Skodapants]

I suppose owning an Alfa would be like owning a Fiat and once you had got rid of your Alfa/Fiat you would appreciate your new car more than if you had bought a reliable car in the first place.