For the Alfa Romeo fans

[Solaros1]

I've had a thing for Alfa's since my dad brought home a 1960 Guilietta roadster when I was 14 - I think it was his mid-life crisis car and it was the first car I ever drove.

We call it "Alfa Disease" - you know its bad for you and will cost you money and drive you crazy but you just can't help yourself.

A friend of mine has this very fast Alfa box - it laps Road Atlanta faster than another friend of mine's 914 race car....

[Gummee!]

Originally Posted by doug s.

as a long time alfa driver, i finally gave up using them as a daily driver a coupla years ago - it's simply too hard to now find parts for these lovely cars. i still have one left - an 85.5 gtv6 w/3.0, tweaked ecu/headers/suspension/etc. but, no more daily driving. i put ~130k in 10 years on my last '86 gtv6 as a daily ride (shared w/my bikes), and pretty-much destroyed it - tinworm and too many misc little things wrong w/parts that are basically unobtanium now. this one deserves a better fate - it's basically a straight rust-free donor body w/all the performance goodies from the one i trashed. besides the gtv6's, i had three milano's and two 164's. nice rides. some day, alfa may be back in the usa. hahahaha!

doug s.

Buddy of mine's parents had a 164. Nice looking car. Never got a chance to ride in it tho.

M

[Mr. Vintage]

My daily driver / winter ride:

Yes, I'm a glutton for punishment.

[tenderfoot]

It is a disease.

I've had 2 Giulia Supers, one the exact twin of the pic below, the other a hot, wide wheeled red bullet. (Should have kept the standard brown one)
Also the 2 litre sedan, OK car but to much a sedan.
The wife had a cheeky little Alfasud which was a surprising amount of fun.



The latest Giulietta is my current favourite Alfa.

[LuciferMutt]

Originally Posted by Nailhead

Looks cool, but I doubt I'll ever get to see one domestically.

Actually, we have a pretty decent chance of seeing this one stateside. Thanks the relative success of Fiat in the states and thanks to Fiat's majority control of Chrysler group and Alfa, they have all the dealer network they need. That was how the Fiat 500 was brought over -- through the pre-existing Chrysler network after Fiat VASTLY improved the quality of damn near everything the sell and all their manufacturing plants!

[doug s.]

Originally Posted by Nailhead

Looks cool, but I doubt I'll ever get to see one domestically.

Originally Posted by LuciferMutt

Actually, we have a pretty decent chance of seeing this one stateside. Thanks the relative success of Fiat in the states and thanks to Fiat's majority control of Chrysler group and Alfa, they have all the dealer network they need. That was how the Fiat 500 was brought over -- through the pre-existing Chrysler network after Fiat VASTLY improved the quality of damn near everything the sell and all their manufacturing plants!

actually, if you go to a dodge dealer and look at the dart, what you are looking at is the alfa giulietta hit w/an ugly stick. for about ~$20k, you can get a pretty nicely set-up ride, w/the same turbo engine as what's in the fiat 500 abarth edition. including a 6-speed transmission; the abarth only has a 5-speed. i don't understand why the abarth costs ~$8k more than the the dart turbo. too bad, really; if fiat had lowered the prices of the standard 500's and the abarths ~$6k or so, they'd have sold like hotcakes...

doug s.

[doug s.]

Originally Posted by Mr. Vintage

My daily driver / winter ride:

Yes, I'm a glutton for punishment.

not sure where the punishment is. i bought mine w/115k on it; drove it until i totaled it at 230k. it was actually quite reliable, w/only a couple minor problems. new clutch, new heater core, new stepper motor gear replacement. only maintenance issue is that timing belts need replacement every 30k. i got by w/40k replacements....

i thought of it as a camry with soul. i was sad when i totaled it...

doug s.

[Thinc2]

This site is guessing $60K as a price for the 4c in the US.

[Nailhead]

Originally Posted by LuciferMutt

Actually, we have a pretty decent chance of seeing this one stateside.

If I'm not mistaken, the Brera is no longer in production.

[Mr. Vintage]

Originally Posted by doug s.

not sure where the punishment is. i bought mine w/115k on it; drove it until i totaled it at 230k. it was actually quite reliable, w/only a couple minor problems. new clutch, new heater core, new stepper motor gear replacement. only maintenance issue is that timing belts need replacement every 30k. i got by w/40k replacements....

i thought of it as a camry with soul. i was sad when i totaled it...

doug s.

Don't get me wrong (I'm not complaining), but you do have to stay on top of it and it is a 21 year old car. The 164 has been very reliable, but it does require periodic stroking.... I have been plugging away at the issues, mostly age-related: rebuilt the whole front end, did the heater core, and the clear coat is starting to peel so paint is in the cards someday. I love the thing - life is too short to drive an appliance!

[doug s.]

Originally Posted by Mr. Vintage

Don't get me wrong (I'm not complaining), but you do have to stay on top of it and it is a 21 year old car. The 164 has been very reliable, but it does require periodic stroking.... I have been plugging away at the issues, mostly age-related: rebuilt the whole front end, did the heater core, and the clear coat is starting to peel so paint is in the cards someday. I love the thing - life is too short to drive an appliance!

agreed, the issues w/driving a 164 these days are simply the fact that it is now an old car. and yes, mine started peeling its clear-coat as well.

enjoy!

doug s.,

hippo gnu ears to all!

[Hog Rider]

Originally Posted by doug s.

agreed, the issues w/driving a 164 these days are simply the fact that it is now an old car. And yes, mine started peeling its clear-coat as well.

enjoy!

doug s.,

hippo gnu ears to all!

Wow how time flies !!!

When those 164's came out, my shop was contacted by ALFA to do service and warranty work back in 1993 or so, I still have the training videos they sent me on the timing belts and tensioners. I liked them and one of my clients with an 164s lives near by and her car just sits in the garage, has for many years.

I always liked that car.

[LuciferMutt]

Originally Posted by doug s.

i don't understand why the abarth costs ~$8k more than the the dart turbo.

Because the Abarth is genuinely race tuned and handles and performs like it. Cast steel control arms. Forged wheels. Special hi frequency shocks and appropriate springs, etc. Plus a lot of track time development. Can't say that for the Dart. I think they're cool, but I can definitely see why the Abarth is more expensive. It's $8k the performance car the Dart is.

[doug s.]

Originally Posted by LuciferMutt

Because the Abarth is genuinely race tuned and handles and performs like it. Cast steel control arms. Forged wheels. Special hi frequency shocks and appropriate springs, etc. Plus a lot of track time development. Can't say that for the Dart. I think they're cool, but I can definitely see why the Abarth is more expensive. It's $8k the performance car the Dart is.

the dart is no slouch performance-wise, as it is an alfa giulietta underneath. you can get it w/18" wheels, for a list price of $21k, which includes the turbo engine and a 6 speed trans. same price as a well equipped non-abarth 500. for the prices they are asking for the 500's, they all should come w/a 6 speed transmission, imo...

doug s.