This is what I had before my Z4
- Thread starter Brad_B
- Start date
Before the Z4 I had a whole string of Alfa’s over a period of 7 years. I was particularly taken by the 159…
First was a 1.9 diesel as I did around 1200km per week. Comfortable cruiser which never let me down, contrary to the reputation many Alfa’s still endure…
Second was another 159, this time with the 1750 Turbo engine. Quick, comfortable, and not quite right for me somehow. So on to something different…
The MiTo QV 101 edition. Specifically, number 100/101 made. 1050kg, carbon sabelt bucket seats, tuned to 205bhp, active dampers; now this was special. Very quick, extremely agile and a hoot around the brandnew Zandvoort circuit 8)
Still, after a year I came to the conclusion I was in need of more space and comfort, so I started looking for one last hurrah of the 159, an ultimate version…
Rosso competizione. An option at the time selected by very few owners. It involved removing the partially built car from the line at Alfa Romeo, shipping it to Maserati for paintwork, and then moving it back to Alfa. It comprises of a metallic silver covered by a blend of clearcoat and metallic red paint. The depth of colour is insane and, as a detailer, one of my all time favourites.
The interior matched the exterior: leather-alcantara sports seats, carbon trim, Bose soundsystem. It really was a fantastic cruiser. So why get rid? Well, it did like its premium unleaded in large quantities. Shortly after getting it, my GF found a new job that involved a weekly total 800km commute. So she got a 118D, and I got carte blanche to get something a little different. And the rest, as they say, is history!
First was a 1.9 diesel as I did around 1200km per week. Comfortable cruiser which never let me down, contrary to the reputation many Alfa’s still endure…
Second was another 159, this time with the 1750 Turbo engine. Quick, comfortable, and not quite right for me somehow. So on to something different…
The MiTo QV 101 edition. Specifically, number 100/101 made. 1050kg, carbon sabelt bucket seats, tuned to 205bhp, active dampers; now this was special. Very quick, extremely agile and a hoot around the brandnew Zandvoort circuit 8)
Still, after a year I came to the conclusion I was in need of more space and comfort, so I started looking for one last hurrah of the 159, an ultimate version…
Rosso competizione. An option at the time selected by very few owners. It involved removing the partially built car from the line at Alfa Romeo, shipping it to Maserati for paintwork, and then moving it back to Alfa. It comprises of a metallic silver covered by a blend of clearcoat and metallic red paint. The depth of colour is insane and, as a detailer, one of my all time favourites.
The interior matched the exterior: leather-alcantara sports seats, carbon trim, Bose soundsystem. It really was a fantastic cruiser. So why get rid? Well, it did like its premium unleaded in large quantities. Shortly after getting it, my GF found a new job that involved a weekly total 800km commute. So she got a 118D, and I got carte blanche to get something a little different. And the rest, as they say, is history!
My previous car, Audi S5. Solid as a rock and decent fuel economy too. Actually reasonable fun to drive as well.
Changed to the Z4 as I now work from home full time, and I was sick of having £35k sat on my drive not being used (I was doing 25k miles a year, I now do circa 1k miles a year).
Before that, I had this beautiful XFS sportbrake, still think its the best looking car I ever owned...
Before that, a 235i
Before that, a Golf mk7 GTD (awful, awful car)
Before that, this lovely Alpina D3 for many years...
And that's as far back as my photos go! Before that it was a Saab 93T, Ford Mondeo Mk2, 306 Turbo, 306 bog standard.
My wife had a beautiful Alfa 156 GTA as well in the mid 2000s, that was nice.
Changed to the Z4 as I now work from home full time, and I was sick of having £35k sat on my drive not being used (I was doing 25k miles a year, I now do circa 1k miles a year).
Before that, I had this beautiful XFS sportbrake, still think its the best looking car I ever owned...
Before that, a 235i
Before that, a Golf mk7 GTD (awful, awful car)
Before that, this lovely Alpina D3 for many years...
And that's as far back as my photos go! Before that it was a Saab 93T, Ford Mondeo Mk2, 306 Turbo, 306 bog standard.
My wife had a beautiful Alfa 156 GTA as well in the mid 2000s, that was nice.
Barty said:
In the mid eighties I bought a 1966 Alfa Spider (the boat tail one) with a 1750 engine. The previous owner had blown up the engine and couldn't afford to repair it so he sold it to a main dealer who did a ground up rebuild and I bought it from them.
Amazing car which gave me several years of summer fun before i sold it for twice what i paid.
I was looking for some photographs but unfortunately can't find them
Barty said:
Speaking from experience, more often than not you don't get to choose whether you get rid of an Alfa or not, you just have to accept that it's dead and move on. Buying a 90's/00's Alfa is like adopting a 14 year old dog - you'll fall in love with it, but it won't be with you for long. Your heart tells you to keep it on life support, but common sense dictates that eventually you just have to put it down...
tiglon said:
Certainly my experience, we had 3 156's and a friend had a GTV. The problem mainly comes down to depreciation though. Eventually something expensive breaks, and its generally going to cost you 30-50% of the value of the car, so it's a tougher decision than if something fails on a Audi or similar which retains a higher resale value. For our GTA, it was a clutch, for my friend with the GTV, it was a head gasket. Just too expensive to justify against the car's value, so we chopped them in.
Barty said:
I would recommend an Alpina to anybody, they are just fantastic cars and feel quite special too.
Fixing stuff can be expensive though! Also they start out as standard BMW's destined for the UK with BMW VINs, Alpina then add new ones so insurance / tax can sometime be a bit interesting.
Plastic said:
Can’t disagree; to own and run an (older) Alfa you have to put common sense to one side and just go for it because you want to. The 159’s I had were designed under a team of German engineers with a different attitude to quality than their previous Italian counterparts. As such, they’ve all proven very reliable, though they too -like any car- had their foibles. No rust or electronic gremlins though!
Plastic said:
Tax and insurance isn’t as much of an issue here in the Netherlands. Tax is based on fuel type and vehicle weight, coming in at around €800/year for a B3. Insurance isn’t up for yearly renewal like in the UK but rather based on you as a driver as well as where you live. So no yearly price hikes or surprises; what you get is what you get :wink:
I’ve had the pleasure of being a passenger in a fettled D3 once, and it just felt special. A B3 is high on my list as a daily, but that’s a little while off still…
E12 M535i. First of the M cars if you exclude the M1 Supercar. Great fun, but a handful in the wet even with its LSD.
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