Time and time again on here I read people oohing and aahing over Alfas - what is the attraction?
Since I became interested in cars in late 70s, Alfas were mostly rust buckets which broke down a lot and you needed a bottomless pocket to keep them on the road. In my book, they were up there with Fiats and Lancias but then Fiat introduced rustproofing on the Unos I think and gradually improved from there
Yes I know there are classics like in Mrs Robinson, but more recent ones have had diesel Fiat engines if I remember correctly and , well, I guess I am saying, I just don't see the attraction?
One of my pals has a lovingly cared for Alfasud and , well, its just a car! I would long after an Escort or Capri of the same age before I would the Alfa! A colleague has a Mito but it doesn't float my boat as it were!
Does this make me a bad person? What am I missing about Alfas? (and yes, I have sat in a few and driven a 159)
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>> Time and time again on here I read people oohing and aahing over Alfas -
>> what is the attraction?
Looks mainly, although they are also supposed to offer a great driving experience for the enthusiast, perhaps less so now.
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No, Bobby, you're not a bad person. I've never driven an Alfa - and probably never will if my experience of trying to fit as a front passenger into a 159 is anything to go by. Given the paucity of opportunities in modern Southeast traffic to really drive a car, I tend to look for a rounded, comfortable, pleasingly designed package rather than an out-and-out driving machine, hence my fondness for the cars that come out of Sweden.
That said, the 159 (metallic red, tan leather) is a beautiful object, even if I don't fit inside. But I think it's a shame we can't get Lancia here any more. (It's not even in the iPhone dictionary.) 20 years ago, as a single Beest, I tried to make a case for a Dedra saloon to replace my Escort. It seemed stylish and romantic, with its check seats and its general Latinity, even if it was mainly Fiat Tipo and you had to choose your angle of view carefully. Don't think I ever even drove one, but I spent a lot of time with the brochure and planning the trips I could do in one. Bought an Astra instead; there's a lesson for me.
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I don't think it matters Bobby... cars get us in a whole load of different ways from indifference to obsession. And those at the obsession end can be poles apart in choices.
I'm interested you've driven a 159 and not been captivated. Over the past week or so I've been enquiring what I might get out of a move from a 156 to 159 in the Alfa world and the answer isn't straightforward. Most say the 156 is a far sharper and involving drive but the 159 is more roomy in the loadspace area and perhaps more of a motorway cruiser where the 156 is a little busy.
But to try and address the appeal...
Since we've been together Mrs F and I have owned over 70 cars and this 156 of mine is up there with the best for being rewarding to own. Of course we are talking average to luxury cars here and nothing special like a Porsche.
This 156 is a hoot to drive with very quick steering and a nice roadholding balance which added to your Fiat diesel engine in the 2.4 5cyl form hauls the car along with ease and a very non-diesel grown from 2-4000rpm. Add to that total reliability and almost 50mpg in brisk driving from a £1000 car... well what's not to like.
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I'd like a Brera. It would be more or less useless for my real life purposes and apparently they are nothing special to drive. What's more I sat in one once and the headroom was rubbish despite me being 6.0 ft standing up straight.
But, I'd still like one. Mainly just to look at and stroke dust off with a soft cloth...
;-)
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...the 159 is more roomy in the loadspace area...
More roomy? Maybe. Roomy enough for a car that size? It would barely take a medium-sized suitcase. Beautiful, undoubtedly; a practical family car? Not even close.
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Yes well have look in a 156 estate... just room for Mrs F's handbag. The 159 is about the same loadspace area as a Peugeot 407SW.... still small but better.
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I think you needed to be driving the dirge that passed for cars in the early 70's, and then step into an AlfaSud. Suddenly you knew.
Ok you got appalling rust and terrible reliability even by the standards of the day, but it was a different world.
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Agreed. A lovely handling car light years ahead of anything else of that era. 1.5ti was perfect. Yes, pity about the rust .. was it cheap Russian steel? That was one theory....
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Funnily enough.....I had a lift home from the pub in one last Friday....an older one - It was definitely just like any other car....the driver told me it was her husband's car and she hated the miserable, moody, damned thing, costing thousands to run since they owned it. She yearned for a Golf....
First time I'd been in one since a colleague had a Sud many years ago. He loved the horrible shed.
Last edited by: R.P. on Thu 20 Mar 14 at 20:24
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Been in quite a few Alfas over the years from fifties to the present and loved them all. Only ever owned one, the weird Alfasud/Nissan hybrid Arna. Although it was weird and a rough example I loved it, unburstable zippy engine and the only oversteering fwd car I've ever driven, just terrific.
Automotive bigots are like other bigots: they make their own lives unnecessarily dreary.
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If I recall (and it is a while ago now) I think Ford and Vauxhall developed the Mk 3 Escort (first FWD one) and the Mk 1 Astra/Kadett hatch by benchmarking against the Alfasud's handling. Both were sweet handling cars for their time - remember the original XR3?
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I've never owned an Alfa, and having briefly driven a work colleague's 33 in the late 1980s have no particular desire to have to drive one regularly, however pretty they are. The 33 had an awkward clutch/accelerator relationship, which meant you could only make progress by slipping the clutch. Not fun in Central London stop-start traffic.
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This car was on Autotrader the other day but seems to have sold. The images don't display as well from this ad but if you have any feeling for an interesting older car what a motor. Low miles, V6 engine, looks mint outside and near Bentley quality cream leather... even a wood rim steering wheel for you AC.
motoring.friday-ad.co.uk/banstead-/used-cars-for-sale/alfa-romeo-156/alfa-romeo-156-SN7530314
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I bought an Alfasud 1.5ti new in 1982. It was simply in a different league in handling, ride and driving enjoyment from anything else in the same price range. At the time there were few cars that could better it cross country on B roads. Unfortunately I eventually put it through a hedge, proving that it actually did obey the laws of physics. Mine was also reliable, no warranty work, started first time every time, no electrical problems but it was starting to rust when I looked under the banana shaped body shell at the end.
alfalfa
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That could have been written by me (except for the hedge-trimming incident).
I bought a new Alfasud 1.5 in the early '80s and have never enjoyed a car as much, before or since. It was also 100 per cent reliable mechanically and electrically - but rusted away around me.
Along with some pretty small cars I think Alfa has made some hideous ones, too but it isn't about looks - it's about the driving experience and you either get it or you don't.
To demonstrate how bad a virus this Alfa thing can be, I'm currently shopping around to replace a Honda - a magnificent example of Japanese engineering and manufacturing integrity, which has justified everything Honda fans say about them. Am I considering another Honda for yet more bomb-proof reliability?
Well I was.... and I do need a reliable car (I know my last Alfa was an exception) but every time I see a Giulietta my heart races a little.
Like malaria, once you get it, Alfaitis is a recurring problem.
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>> I think you needed to be driving the dirge that passed for cars in the
>> early 70's, and then step into an AlfaSud. Suddenly you knew.
This is it. I learnt in Escorts. First thing I drove after those was a 1.5ti Sud belonging to my Italian girlfriend's mother. What a revelation. I'd always loved cars, was enjoying driving, but this was a whole new feeling. I've loved Alfas ever since and I've owned 2 33s, which I loved utterly but they fell to bits. I've been sensible ever since my last 33 snapped its cambelt and destroyed the engine (on its way to the garage for its new cambelt to be fitted (yes, Laguna excepted).
The Sud I drove was up for sale shortly after as girlfriend's Dad had bought Mum a new, ironically, Escort 1.6L. He wanted £600 for it, I only had £400 in the world and offered that. Begged him to take it. He wouldn't. Then the girlfriend crashed it and wrote it off before they could sell it. TPFT, they got no money for it. Guh.
My sister owned a 156 wagon for a few years, and it went wrong all the time. She's been driving Mondeos and XC70s ever since and still says she'd rather have the Alfa back.
Can't believe the posting above which says they'd prefer an old Escort to a Sud, much as I like an old Escort I just can't understand that. It's kind of a pipe dream to one day own my own Sud, Maybe it'll happen but of course they're hen's teeth now.
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I've owned about 45 vehicles over the decades, but not one has been Italian - I've even owned 2 Citroens, a Renault, and a Peugeot along the way.
I've road tested c10,000 cars too, many proper Alfa Romeos and Lancias - perhaps that's why I've never considered buying one ;)
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I like the cheeky nature of italian cars but some how in an Alfa some of that is lost, as you expect an Alfa to drive brilliantly. I must admit I have often fancied a 156 myself but they are too big for my needs. Like big FIATs I think Alfas are not a good everyday proposition.
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>>> you expect an Alfa to drive brilliantly
How have you found them lacking when you've driven them?
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I have not driven one, my point is I would expect an Alfa to drive brilliantly, but then that is where the element of surprise is lost. Where as tiny FIATs you don't expect to drive well but always surprise me. I have had my Panda four years now and it still often surprises me just how well it can perform considering it has as much power as a lawn power engine.
An Alfa is a car I would buy as a second or third car, however the Mito is a car I would consider, I would be worried that it would loose its value too quickly but second hand they may make a good buy.
I don't think I have ever seen an Alfasud in the flesh, I am 32 this year but I think even as a kid all of them had rotted away!
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The trouble these days is that most drivers wouldn't know what a 'driver's car' was even if they experienced one. I've had Alfas and a Lancia and I reckon I know.
Even now, I am tempted to buy the 159SW I should have bought years ago, albeit as a diesel. Just lately I seem to have walked past a lot of 166s and thought every time what nice looking motors they are. A Brera would be brilliant if I could find one among the Dacias over here.
My pal in England still has the 156SW he had new in 2000 - he has worn it out but he just can't bear to part with it (his wife told me the other day). Mind you, he also has a 1965 Bertone Guilia Sprint GT. Disability means he can't drive much now but he still feels better for looking at them.
Of course, my parameters are somewhat different from the usual. I don't care much about practicality or protecting my nuclear family - although I managed to do that perfectly well when I had to in the days before all-round airbags and all the other NCAP gizmos, by driving as carefully and intelligently as I could - but I do still care about an enjoyable driving experience.
I guess all this means that I am saying either you get the Alfa experience or you don't. If you do, no explanation is needed. If you don't - well stick with the Focus.
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>>the Mito is a car I would consider
Here's one that would pull the byrds, maybe: www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201403152536080/
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Well yes... but there's also a chance when he gets them out of the club they're going to say "Oh Rattle I thought it would be bigger"!
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Are they THAT small then Fl, never seen on in Cornwall (must get out more) I'll have a look around the Eden car park over Easter when all the emmetts come down ;)
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My City-Worker nephew has some sort of limited edition Alfa on order. Knowing him - previous cars have been Audi TT & Lotus sort of stuff - it will be a sporty and expensive lump. (He has a serious wodge of cash in the bank from flogging a fully paid for house in Sevenoaks and is renting at present while house hunting in Tunbridge Wells)
I think he only plans to keep it a short while before selling it, with either a profit or limited depreciation being in his mind.
We shall see!
Last edited by: Illegitimi non carborundum on Fri 21 Mar 14 at 12:50
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My mate had a 145 Cloverleaf from new in 1996 - chopped it in in 2001 when he moved to Alnwick, and his mileage increased. It was remarkably swift considering it was 'only' 150 BHP - and went round corners like it was on rails. He still pines after 'his Alfa' nearly 15 years later....!
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Well known here that I always wanted one...in fact a Milo was on my list quite recently.....
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>> Well known here that I always wanted one...in fact a Milo was on my list
>> quite recently.....
>>
Yes we know you are getting old, and sport a dressing gown, slippers and malty chocolate drink at bedtime, but what car do you want?
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Pretty much every time I drive a small Italian car I hate it for a day, then love it for two days, then realise that I was right in the first place. Fine ( in fact can be great fun ) as renters. Tough to live with longer term.
A bit like Latin women...
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Alfas - Focusless
