A true petrol head has owned.......

[crockers]

Well according to TopGear "you're not a true petrol head unless you've owned an Alfa Romeo"..

Well most of us now are driving a different breed of car in Mercedes, but I still remember my Alfasud 1.3 ti in Alfa red.... loved it ..loved it. Loved it so much I traded it in for a brand new (my first ever new car) Alfa Guiletta 1.6... gearbox in the rear etc .. What a disaster !!! new gearbox after 6 weeks new discs and pads after 4 weeks..sold after 3 months..... never been back to the marque since..

Still look at ALfa's on the road and think...god they are beautiful, if only they were as reliable as................ a Honda...

So the question is Have you ever owned an Alfa and if so what are your experiences..

 

[c955]

I too had an Alfasud 1.3Ti. It was an awesome car, double de-clutching to get the engine speed and gearbox speed to match when changing down into 2nd for the sheer hell of it

An Alfa mechanic once said to me, "You'll very rarely see an Alfa with damage to the rear; it'll almost always be to the front: where the driver was going too fast"

Guess how my Alfa ended up having to visit the bodyshop?...

 

[kjay]

Never owned one.

Poor reputation over the years for rust and reliabillity (sounds familiar)but when it comes to styling they have made some stunning cars.
Does anyone know which one it is that Raulph Lauren ownes - 1930/40's?? - beautiful !!

I love this one (concept)
http://www.desktopextreme.com/photos/Alfa_Romeo_8C_Concept_324200524511PM5.jpg

 

[verytalldave]

A bit like Naomi Campbell.

Nice to look at but do you really want the hassle of owning one?

I owned a 1970 Lotus Elan Sprint and I would think a similar experience to Alfa ownership.

Fabulous when "just so", but hell when not.

I wouldnt want to own another. Not now. I am too used too reliability.

 

[grober]

They never achieved "cult status" with the general public though like Mercedes or Aston Martin. To test this I tried to think of movies where they played an important role but apart from The Graduate where Dustin Hoffman abandoned his one and the Italian Job where the police cars chasing the Minis ended up floating down a river I can't think of any?

 

[chriswt]

I'm currently watching Top Gear on the BBC iplayer and I might be buying one buy the end of the programme.

 

[Doodle]

For one fun filled year, I had a 75 V6 3.0. The sound made the hair stand up on the back of your neck, it handled passably and drifted well (last of the rwd Alfa's, and an LSD), was rusty as hell but miraculously had no electrical faults.

Finally died when the clutch fork pivot broke on the g/box, and I had neither the time or the inclination to fix it. Would still have another...just get it restored beforehand!

 

[stewarthp]

I had an Alfasud 1.3.

It was a fantastic little car. Loved to be rev'd hard and sounded fantastic.
Admittedly the reputation hasn't been good but the flat 4 that was fitted to the Alfasud was a peach.

Having said that they may look good now but I wouldn't buy another.:bannana:

 

[fyonn]

I have to admit I'm giving serious consideration to buying a diesel 159. I suppose that belies the "petrolhead" thing a bit but aving test driven two, they were really nice. I've found a nicely specced and priced one, but with mileage a little higher than I was looking for.. thinking of having a look at it at the weekend, and if they make me a good offer for mine I might well take it.

 

[fyonn]

Never owned one.

Poor reputation over the years for rust and reliabillity (sounds familiar)but when it comes to styling they have made some stunning cars.
Does anyone know which one it is that Raulph Lauren ownes - 1930/40's?? - beautiful !!

I love this one (concept)
http://www.desktopextreme.com/photos/Alfa_Romeo_8C_Concept_324200524511PM5.jpg

and that concept is completely unlike this car:

http://www.alfa8c.co.uk/index2.html

which alfa are taking orders for now.

 

[MBManInKen]

A friend bought a new 164 in the late 80s, despite being advised about Alfa's poor reputation for build quality.

Well, he claimed the 164 was a major improvement in that respect.

Every time I saw him, something else had fallen off the car or had stopped working.

He got rid of it after less than a year.

Unfortunately, he then bought a Lancia .

 

[andy_k]

alfasud sprint 1.3, alfasud sprint 1.5 green cloverleaf, alfasud 1.3ti and my favourite car I have ever owned, an Alfa Montreal.

They may go rusty (but then so do Mercs) but they have something that most other cars don't have

Andy

 

[chriswt]

and that concept is completely unlike this car:

http://www.alfa8c.co.uk/index2.html

which alfa are taking orders for now.

Haven't they sold out already?

In fact I'm sure they sold out almost straight away?

 

[marcos]

When I was a pup my Mum and Dads friends whom we used to go on holiday with always seemed to have a shiny new Alfa, it was always a different one and then one day I found out why. He was a manager at an Alfa garage.
My dad always used to say he had a dream job.
I remember getting an Alfa Romeo jacket out of him once but I have never owned one.

 

[A210AMG]

We almost bought one for our £1000 challenge car but....

We wanted it to work

Pleaty 3.0V6 75's some even track prepared for way less than £1000

 

[gina2201]

Nope never had one, can't say I've ever been in one either!

 

[fyonn]

Haven't they sold out already?

In fact I'm sure they sold out almost straight away?

yeah, probably. they're only making about 500 or so aren't they?

museum pieces probably.

shame as it's a gorgeous looking car, probably goes really well, why not make more of them?

dave

 

[gaz_l]

and my favourite car I have ever owned, an Alfa Montreal

I nearly bought one a couple of years ago, but bottled it at the last minute, on the grounds that it would probably have taken me to the poor house.

In my defence, I did own a step front Giulietta Sprint GT when I was 19.. it was a bit of a ruin, but I wish I could buy it back now and restore it. One of the prettiest cars ever made.

Cheers,

Gaz

 

[RichardM]

Well I'm biased as I picked this up 2 weeks ago! Its the 3rd Alfa we've had in a row with only 1 breakdown so far which was in the 147 we had before when after 4 years of ownership the EGR value needed replacing.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

The Spider is a lovely looking car - I saw one on the road for the first timeon Sunday and it looked great.