ALFASUD /SPRINT
Discussion
Great cars but, never had a car so bad on tyres (mine was a Sud Sprint Cloverleaf about 7-8 years old, lowish miles).
It went through 3 sets and averaged about 3.5k mile on the fronts (had it all checked over - all fine). Just a chassis that could no put the power to the ground.......
It went through 3 sets and averaged about 3.5k mile on the fronts (had it all checked over - all fine). Just a chassis that could no put the power to the ground.......
I had a an Alfasud Ti in the mid 80's which I loved.
Drove it for 3 years (including a return trip to the South of France) until rust took hold with a vengeance. Great car to drive, probably one of the best I have ever driven and reasonably reliable for its era; in my ownership (50k miles) the only major jobs were a blown cylinder head gasket and clutch.
Have been looking for one for some time now and recently managed to find one:
which is in remarkably good condition and drives beautifully, just as I had remembered.
Drove it for 3 years (including a return trip to the South of France) until rust took hold with a vengeance. Great car to drive, probably one of the best I have ever driven and reasonably reliable for its era; in my ownership (50k miles) the only major jobs were a blown cylinder head gasket and clutch.
Have been looking for one for some time now and recently managed to find one:
which is in remarkably good condition and drives beautifully, just as I had remembered.
FrenchSpider said:
I had a an Alfasud Ti in the mid 80's which I loved.
Drove it for 3 years (including a return trip to the South of France) until rust took hold with a vengeance. Great car to drive, probably one of the best I have ever driven and reasonably reliable for its era; in my ownership (50k miles) the only major jobs were a blown cylinder head gasket and clutch.
Have been looking for one for some time now and recently managed to find one:
which is in remarkably good condition and drives beautifully, just as I had remembered.
Great to know that it drives as you remember, was discussing driving a 'Sud again with my Dad yesterday after he had a visit from an ex-colleague who remembered Dad scaring him when taking a roundabout in the one we had when it was relatively new. Drove it for 3 years (including a return trip to the South of France) until rust took hold with a vengeance. Great car to drive, probably one of the best I have ever driven and reasonably reliable for its era; in my ownership (50k miles) the only major jobs were a blown cylinder head gasket and clutch.
Have been looking for one for some time now and recently managed to find one:
which is in remarkably good condition and drives beautifully, just as I had remembered.
Back in 1971, I was a young engineering apprentice,doing my rounds with the machines in the tool room.The guy on the gear cutter who I was assisting was an old school ALFA enthusiast who owned a 750 series Giulietta sprint, a four door TI, and an enormous Pininfarina bodied 2300. His constant talking point was this new ALFA south factory, making a front wheel drive cheap car....All was lost, and I believed him.
In 1976, I was in the motor trade, and had to pick up an Alfsud TI, WOW how wrong we were, by the time I got the car back I HAD to buy it! It became the first of quite a few....Loved them!
In 1976, I was in the motor trade, and had to pick up an Alfsud TI, WOW how wrong we were, by the time I got the car back I HAD to buy it! It became the first of quite a few....Loved them!
I bought a new Sud Ti when they first came out.
The road holding and handling were truly astounding!
At the time, Alfa only gave a six month warranty
and during that time the car went back twice to have
minor rust issues sorted.
Seeing the writing on the wall, I sold it when the warranty expired
(I'd got an enormous discount when purchased and hence suffered zero depreciation
)
but I still have very fond memories of what was my first brand new car.
The road holding and handling were truly astounding!
At the time, Alfa only gave a six month warranty
and during that time the car went back twice to have
minor rust issues sorted.
Seeing the writing on the wall, I sold it when the warranty expired
(I'd got an enormous discount when purchased and hence suffered zero depreciation
)but I still have very fond memories of what was my first brand new car.
Elderly said:
I bought a new Sud Ti when they first came out.
The road holding and handling were truly astounding!
I bought one of those slightly second-hand and (except on ice) the handling was, as you say, superb.The road holding and handling were truly astounding!
Sadly I made the mistake a few years and a couple of cars later of buying a 'Sud Gold Cloverleaf and the extra power resulted in the more normal front-driver's understeer which I never have liked.
Naturally both suffered from rust, as did two others owned by colleagues even though we had 'em Ziebarted - we whose 'Suds were secondhand got our money back and the one who had his treated when new got a lot more money.
Edited by Allan L on Friday 2nd December 09:16
My 1982 Sud 1.5 Ti
Bare metal rebuild over 4 years by the previous (original) owner. I was fortunate enough to be able to buy it last year (had been looking for about 3 years).
More pics here (including some other Alfas) -
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
I had a yellow 1979 Sud in the mid 80s. Fantastic little car to drive but it biodegraded before my eyes. After a year or so I sold it to a mate who really wanted it despite knowing of it's rust issues. He ran it for another year until it suffered a terminal MOT failure. He then parked it on his drive and left it there for a couple of years.
One day he asked me to help him with a repair on the car he replaced the Sud with. We decided we needed a tool, I can't remember what it was now, and he said 'there's one of those in the boot of that old Alfa'. This one being an earlier model did not have a hatch back but a boot lid that when opened laid on the rear screen. It had no struts and just slammed down when you closed it. On opening the boot I found inside an old heavy metal toolbox full of stuff. Having got the tool we needed I let the boot lid slam down and the entire boot floor complete with toolbox fell out in a cloud of rust dust onto the driveway!
It went for scrap shortly after that having been deemed beyond repair.
One day he asked me to help him with a repair on the car he replaced the Sud with. We decided we needed a tool, I can't remember what it was now, and he said 'there's one of those in the boot of that old Alfa'. This one being an earlier model did not have a hatch back but a boot lid that when opened laid on the rear screen. It had no struts and just slammed down when you closed it. On opening the boot I found inside an old heavy metal toolbox full of stuff. Having got the tool we needed I let the boot lid slam down and the entire boot floor complete with toolbox fell out in a cloud of rust dust onto the driveway!
It went for scrap shortly after that having been deemed beyond repair.
Hmmmm, fond memories of these having owned 2 red ti's in the early 80's. Both were 70's cars past their best but were great to drive as I was only a teenager and they were much more stylish than anything my mates were in. But I do remember getting to know a local welder better than I would like as both cars spent many hours in his workshop.
Just spotted this. 30k miles and 3 owners for 8 grand. very tempting although a red one would be better.
http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C774061
Just spotted this. 30k miles and 3 owners for 8 grand. very tempting although a red one would be better.
http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C774061
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