Italian cars I have owned & what happened to some of them.
Discussion
I should start by saying that I have enjoyed owning all of these vehicles. I didn't always treat them nicely though. (Not it chronological order).
S-Reg Alfa Sud 1350 Ti. Bought it dirt cheap, spun it, plastic wheel arches fell of on the M4, noticed how the front of the car was only attached to the rest of it by the radiator hoses & cables for the lights, spotted the Give Way sign that had been welded into the passenger footwell, got a new MOT on it, drove it about some more & sold it to a guy who resprayed it metallic blue using spray cans. I think at that point the paint was worth more than the car.
W-Reg Alfa Sud 1500 Sprint. Was my most expensive car to date. Girlfriend commented 'That's nice & practical, a hatchback'. The car lasted longer than she did. Sold to fund some more ambitious project.
V-Reg Alfa Sud 1500 Sprint. Bought for 100 quid as a stop-gap when the GTV had given up. Outlasted the GTV as it was less trouble. Factor in that less trouble included the wing mirrors dropping off, a leaking sunroof & electronics that seldom did what they were supposed to do & you will understand how cack the GTV was.
V-Reg Alfa Romeo GTV 2000. Required the purchase of the ^^^ Sprint. Have had worse cars but not by much. Sold for spares. Nice on the rare occasions it could be bothered to work.
Y-Reg Alfa Romeo GTV6. Glorious noise & I liked the way it handled. And now the rest of the story. Gear change appalling, no chance of a quick change as, assuming you'd driven the 5 miles required to get the oil warmed up, the linkage was still so wobbly & worn getting the right gear took ages. It leaked. Comedy electrics. Whilst applying the brakes vigorously the engine stopped. Cause beyond me so asked tame mechanic who went straight to the emergency cut out fuel switch ( a steel ball in a cup ) & bi-passed it. Sold when I looked at the invoices it came with (finally) & realised that headgasket change the previous owner had spent a grand on was only to 1 side & that the other side was leaking oil.
S-Reg Fiat X-19 1300. Bought without an MOT, mucked about with it & sold it on without really having given myself the chance to thrash it properly. Which is a shame 'cos it was loads of fun. It goes without saying that it leaked, the electrics had a mind of their own & bits fell off if you sneezed violently.
V-Reg Strada 105TC. My 1st hot hatch. Bought cheaply, run for a bit & sold when I'd spotted something better. Not actually a bad car. Watertight (ish) & the electrics mostly did what they were supposed to do.
B-Reg Abarth 130TC. My 2nd hot hatch. Brilliant at times but mostly frustrating. Climbing into & out of the Recaros. Sitting in the Recaros. The driving position afforded by the Recaros. The fact that, like the GTV6, you had to drive it 5 miles before the gearbox warmed up enough to get 2nd & 4th. Sold as I wound up with it & a Mk2 Golf GTI at the same time & 1 had to go. Yes the Abarth was the faster car (when the gearbox was warm) but the Golf had a heater that got the car warm inside 2 mins. May not sound like much but it was a revelation after years in Italian cars. Golf bought with 80,000 on the clock & sold 5 years late with 200,000. It was, for the most part, boringly reliable. Sold (for 200 quid less than I'd paid for it) to fund the purchase of a Golf 2 G60 Ralleye which was the worst car I have ever had the misfortune to own. Utter pants. Of the 2 years I owned it was off the road for a combined total of 6 months & that includes the fortnight it was stuck in 3rd car & I drove it to work anyway.
V-Reg Lancia Beta Coupe 1600. Cheap summer runabout. Not fast but it worked. Sold to an East German mechanic who had moved to Britain & wanted to get out of the 70's Lada he'd bought. Yes I took the Lada in PX. Well, it's sort of Italian isn't it?
R-Reg Lancia Beta Coupe 1600. Another cheap runabout. Sold to a former Formula Renault driver.
T-Reg Lancia Beta Spyder 2000. Bought it, played around with it & sold it. Not noticably faster than the 1600 Coupes.
Other Italian stuff in the immediate family. Fiat 131 Miafiori x 2, Lancia Trevi x 2, Alfa Romeo 33 Sportwagen, Lancia Beta HPE Volumex another Beta Spyder and 2 Beta Saloons.
So, what happened to yours?
S-Reg Alfa Sud 1350 Ti. Bought it dirt cheap, spun it, plastic wheel arches fell of on the M4, noticed how the front of the car was only attached to the rest of it by the radiator hoses & cables for the lights, spotted the Give Way sign that had been welded into the passenger footwell, got a new MOT on it, drove it about some more & sold it to a guy who resprayed it metallic blue using spray cans. I think at that point the paint was worth more than the car.
W-Reg Alfa Sud 1500 Sprint. Was my most expensive car to date. Girlfriend commented 'That's nice & practical, a hatchback'. The car lasted longer than she did. Sold to fund some more ambitious project.
V-Reg Alfa Sud 1500 Sprint. Bought for 100 quid as a stop-gap when the GTV had given up. Outlasted the GTV as it was less trouble. Factor in that less trouble included the wing mirrors dropping off, a leaking sunroof & electronics that seldom did what they were supposed to do & you will understand how cack the GTV was.
V-Reg Alfa Romeo GTV 2000. Required the purchase of the ^^^ Sprint. Have had worse cars but not by much. Sold for spares. Nice on the rare occasions it could be bothered to work.
Y-Reg Alfa Romeo GTV6. Glorious noise & I liked the way it handled. And now the rest of the story. Gear change appalling, no chance of a quick change as, assuming you'd driven the 5 miles required to get the oil warmed up, the linkage was still so wobbly & worn getting the right gear took ages. It leaked. Comedy electrics. Whilst applying the brakes vigorously the engine stopped. Cause beyond me so asked tame mechanic who went straight to the emergency cut out fuel switch ( a steel ball in a cup ) & bi-passed it. Sold when I looked at the invoices it came with (finally) & realised that headgasket change the previous owner had spent a grand on was only to 1 side & that the other side was leaking oil.
S-Reg Fiat X-19 1300. Bought without an MOT, mucked about with it & sold it on without really having given myself the chance to thrash it properly. Which is a shame 'cos it was loads of fun. It goes without saying that it leaked, the electrics had a mind of their own & bits fell off if you sneezed violently.
V-Reg Strada 105TC. My 1st hot hatch. Bought cheaply, run for a bit & sold when I'd spotted something better. Not actually a bad car. Watertight (ish) & the electrics mostly did what they were supposed to do.
B-Reg Abarth 130TC. My 2nd hot hatch. Brilliant at times but mostly frustrating. Climbing into & out of the Recaros. Sitting in the Recaros. The driving position afforded by the Recaros. The fact that, like the GTV6, you had to drive it 5 miles before the gearbox warmed up enough to get 2nd & 4th. Sold as I wound up with it & a Mk2 Golf GTI at the same time & 1 had to go. Yes the Abarth was the faster car (when the gearbox was warm) but the Golf had a heater that got the car warm inside 2 mins. May not sound like much but it was a revelation after years in Italian cars. Golf bought with 80,000 on the clock & sold 5 years late with 200,000. It was, for the most part, boringly reliable. Sold (for 200 quid less than I'd paid for it) to fund the purchase of a Golf 2 G60 Ralleye which was the worst car I have ever had the misfortune to own. Utter pants. Of the 2 years I owned it was off the road for a combined total of 6 months & that includes the fortnight it was stuck in 3rd car & I drove it to work anyway.
V-Reg Lancia Beta Coupe 1600. Cheap summer runabout. Not fast but it worked. Sold to an East German mechanic who had moved to Britain & wanted to get out of the 70's Lada he'd bought. Yes I took the Lada in PX. Well, it's sort of Italian isn't it?
R-Reg Lancia Beta Coupe 1600. Another cheap runabout. Sold to a former Formula Renault driver.
T-Reg Lancia Beta Spyder 2000. Bought it, played around with it & sold it. Not noticably faster than the 1600 Coupes.
Other Italian stuff in the immediate family. Fiat 131 Miafiori x 2, Lancia Trevi x 2, Alfa Romeo 33 Sportwagen, Lancia Beta HPE Volumex another Beta Spyder and 2 Beta Saloons.
So, what happened to yours?
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