RE: SOTW: Alfa Romeo 145 Cloverleaf
Discussion
Brilliant! 
bencollins said:
The bodywork quality of this vintage of Fiat group/Renault/PSA rather show up the equivalently aged mercs/bmws/ford/vaux. Likewise the tedious "ooooo Italian design" cliché also gets a good kicking.
well said, in fact it shows up many recent mercs aswell..................TRUENOSAM said:
Love the 145, just think of what car looked like that back in 1997.
Maybe I'm biased as I did purchase a lovely 156 earlier this week
Ive just had a look at 156's. Think i'd prefer this over the 145 and its still within shed budgetMaybe I'm biased as I did purchase a lovely 156 earlier this week
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3518066.htm
Taras said:
Didn't take long for this sort of word to come up!
The love of alfa's is certainly one of an esoteric nature.
Indeed. I can't claim to know much/anything about most Alfas but some of them just 'do' it for me and this is one of them.The love of alfa's is certainly one of an esoteric nature.
Edited by Taras on Friday 13th January 08:07
Some comments on it's aesthetics are understandable - it's definitely marmite - however I happen to love the way it looks.
Top choice.
Rollcage said:
First car I have ever seen advertised by them for sensible money!
Interesting comment. I bought my 156 SW a few years ago from them & although not cheap it was fairly priced, these days some of the stuff they keep is very expensive so obviously things have changed. As for the SOTW I love this & could be really tempted. I like the 145/146 & could certainly live with this as a run around.
I've had three of them and loved them all. Great engines despite variator issues, nimble and kartish. I also like the shape and think it's about as Zagato you can get in a standard production car. The rear end is purposefull IMO. I'd love to have enough dosh to do a mid engined V6 lightweight version with slightly blown arches.
Nigel_O said:
IIRC, this was built on the Tipo platform, which means that the Fiat Coupe 20vt engine drops straight in.
A few easy tweaks would get it to over 250bhp, by which time you'd have a sleeper with a bit of individuality.
Sounds feasable. Especially when there was a Fiat Tipo 2.0 16V Sedicivalvole which had the lump borrowed from an Intergrale I think. Another chum from Tesco had one of these and that really did fly.A few easy tweaks would get it to over 250bhp, by which time you'd have a sleeper with a bit of individuality.
This looks far better for £790, although I decline to comment on the seller:
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2011...
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2011...
thewheelman said:
Like most Alfas, it looks terrible. I don't buy into all that "passion" & "soul" rubbish that gets mentioned every time an Italian car gets talked about.
yes but its based on the Fiat Tipo. And that has a legendary racing pedigree, so it must be good. I've never bought into the top gear "all Alfas must be great, regardless of how they actually are" thought. And neither did the magazines of the time. Performance car preferred the BMW compact. They are that bad...
Great sotw!
I had a phase one 145 Cloverleaf and 146ti in my early alfa owning years, then more recently another 145 Cloverleaf a cosmos blue phase two with tan Momo leather.
Love the shape of them, wouldn't chose leather seats again in one though as with the odd driving position you slide about abit.
Would love another 145 at some point!
I had a phase one 145 Cloverleaf and 146ti in my early alfa owning years, then more recently another 145 Cloverleaf a cosmos blue phase two with tan Momo leather.
Love the shape of them, wouldn't chose leather seats again in one though as with the odd driving position you slide about abit.
Would love another 145 at some point!
I had one of these, bought it whilst still bathing in the glow of Alfa Love from a 1.7 Sprint I had owned in Spain. The former was beautiful and this bread van was ugly, but what the hell. Massive mistake!
The flat four that had been so wonderful with twin carbs on the Sprint was a real let down on the 147 with emisiion controlling fuel injection.
The 1.7 Sprint was not only beautiful but had a swimming pool in the rear spare tyre well, though no spare tyre. It would fill up to a good three inches deep after a half hour trip in the rain or any visit to the car wash.
On the 145 the water feature was less exciting, but given the right conditions the swamp in the rear footwells would flourish into a proper pond. Not bad for a 3 year old car. After 3 months of running around with duct tape over the window and roof seals (which made no difference at all) I got the hair dryer out sold it quickly for cash to a nice bloke (alfa guys are) and still feel guilty now
The flat four that had been so wonderful with twin carbs on the Sprint was a real let down on the 147 with emisiion controlling fuel injection.
The 1.7 Sprint was not only beautiful but had a swimming pool in the rear spare tyre well, though no spare tyre. It would fill up to a good three inches deep after a half hour trip in the rain or any visit to the car wash.
On the 145 the water feature was less exciting, but given the right conditions the swamp in the rear footwells would flourish into a proper pond. Not bad for a 3 year old car. After 3 months of running around with duct tape over the window and roof seals (which made no difference at all) I got the hair dryer out sold it quickly for cash to a nice bloke (alfa guys are) and still feel guilty now
Alfanatic said:
thewheelman said:
Like most Alfas, it looks terrible. I don't buy into all that "passion" & "soul" rubbish that gets mentioned every time an Italian car gets talked about.
Noone's forcing you to buy into it, but it's not "rubbish".i forked out over £9k for a 145 1.6l (boxer engine) donkeys years ago... it was fantastic... way more fun than a golf, and very quirky. the only criticism i had of it was the high-set seat (with a sunroof, i had next to zero headroom at 6ft).
that was my first alfa. since then, i have owned a GTV 2.0TS and a 166 V6 Super. The GTV still rates as one of the nicest cars I have ever owned (and that list includes 3x Elises, 1x TVR, 1x Boxster S, a 106 Rallye and so on).
if i could find a nice low mileage cheapish 145 GTV in good order, i would glady buy one again to run as a daily driver.
that was my first alfa. since then, i have owned a GTV 2.0TS and a 166 V6 Super. The GTV still rates as one of the nicest cars I have ever owned (and that list includes 3x Elises, 1x TVR, 1x Boxster S, a 106 Rallye and so on).
if i could find a nice low mileage cheapish 145 GTV in good order, i would glady buy one again to run as a daily driver.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff