Something different.

[Darrell]

Jeremy Clarkson said that you’re not a true petrol head until you’ve owned an Alfa Romeo. What are these like? I quite fancy one as a little runabout.

2006 06 ALFA ROMEO 147 2.0 T.SPARK 16V LUSSO 3D 148 BHP | eBay

 

[E53AMG]

Jeremy Clarkson said that you’re not a true petrol head until you’ve owned an Alfa Romeo. What are these like? I quite fancy one as a little runabout.

2006 06 ALFA ROMEO 147 2.0 T.SPARK 16V LUSSO 3D 148 BHP | eBay

I owned a 155 twin spark back in 1992, lovely little engine with an exhaust note that had me driving with the window down. It was only 2 years old so reliability was not an issue but be careful, they have a poor record for falling apart but at that price you are not risking much!

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[Deleted member 126969]

I’ve had a few Alfas. A 155 V6, couple of 164 V6s and latterly, a 166....yep, another V6

The 155 was just over 2 years old when I got it, although it was quite high miles. It did have a niggle with the engine management that took me a very long time to sort, but it turned out to be just a cracked fuse. You could arguably blame Alfa for some of the trouble as they had put a cluster of fuses and relays on the engine bulkhead, right above the rear bank exhaust manifold, on a very short bit of loom, so it got cooked and jiggled about a lot. Other than that, and an appetite for front tyres, it was a good car.

The 164s were both bought as engine donors for projects, although I did run one of them for over a year. Great car though.

The 166 I ran for about 8 years I think. Superb car. Sadly, it was rust that did for it, although it ran for another year after I got rid of it.

 

[french]

My wife has a Alfa 2.0 Spider that I've been trundling around in, not particularly fast ( then what is after an E55?) This one holds the road like glue as its had all the suspension fettled & it shows, the engine is a 2.0 Twinspark version, revs like hell & when it gets its skirts up off it goes not to shabbily, but its no racer. Very comfy leather Momo seats , but these have been restuffed & upholstered so ...Steering very direct, nearly as direct as a TVR but not quite , but you still have to concentrate on bumpy B roads . Love driving it & I just cannot explain why...I think its because I have no expectations from it ? Its fun, it looks pretty smart, comfortable etc. There are down sides but apart from some trouble with the folding roof (a cable frayed) this car has had none of them, since we've owned it...Mainly because the P.O. was a bit like Gavin on here. He replaced everything...when i say everything ...a engine replacement due to another owner not replacing the cambelts & variator, a replacement Gearbox as the reverse was a bit pedantic & the 5th! new clutch & master cylinder. New front struts & tops mounts, the rear suspension on these (Not sure about the 147) is a multilink affair with 14 rubber bushes so all bushes were Powerflexed ,rear shocks, new header tank as the other was stained (?)replacement exhaust . 17" Tele dials wheels in place of std 16" wheels. New rear window in fabric roof, Car has an Pioneer CD player fitted and an iPod connector integrated with it.
So I guess its best to buy a car from a real enthusiast...saying that I had a disel156 2.4 JTD Sportswagon that , for a bit of fun decided to fit a home made LPG kit to it went like hell but it ended in tears ..but was great fun...I "Think" the 147 has the same front suspension as the 156 ? If it does its pants, it wears the bushes at the top of front struts for a past time, its harsh & skippy...well my theory is that the suspension was built for the original 1.8 - 2.0 petrol & then Alfa wisdom decides to fit in a Ex- truck engine in a solid , in any ones book , 2.4 ,5 cylinder diesel ..not great for weedy rubber components, engine fantastic!

 

[Deleted member 113659]

Never had an Alfa but if always fancied one of these:

Alfa Romeo Brera 2007 3.2 litre V6 JTS Q4 SV 3 door Coupe with extras and in red | eBay

However, not ideal for a runaround I guess.

 

[Darrell]

T

Never had an Alfa but if always fancied one of these:

Alfa Romeo Brera 2007 3.2 litre V6 JTS Q4 SV 3 door Coupe with extras and in red | eBay

However, not ideal for a runaround I guess.

They do a 3.2 GTA 147 but they are big bucks.

 

[Deleted member 113659]

Yeah. I have looked at those too. But I just love the look of the Brera

 

[french]

My son has one , a 3.2 with the Q thing fitted ...not happy at all with it, he had a Alfa GT with the same engines & box/diff before & the Brera is heavier & does not handle as well as the GT...Looks really good though from most angles.

 

[Deleted member 126969]

The Brera V6 is based on a GM block, not the original Busso design, Italian built engine. That couldn’t achieve CF4 emissions standards apparently so they canned it. A very different engine. Pretty car though. The Q2 is Alfa’s name for an ATB, very similar to the Quaif ATB. Put one in my Stratos replica when I had it, worked well.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

We bought a house from an Alfa nut. He had a new 156 GTA in a beautiful pearly light green/blue colour, and his wife had a new 147 GTA.

I found out why the GTAs weren’t in the garage when we went inside. I didn’t want to ask what was under the covers beyond the initial answer of “some classic Alfas”!

They were obsessed with all things Italian. They had views from their house in Italy hand painted on the tiles in the kitchen. Bonkers! I can understand the attraction though.