RE: Shed Of The Week: Alfa Romeo 164

RE: Shed Of The Week: Alfa Romeo 164

Author
Discussion

DP33

183 posts

125 months

Friday 24th April 2015
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So over the last few weeks of SoTW we've had two out of the four Type4 cars, let's make it a full house with a Thema and the Croma. Are any of those still left? Didn't they have a version with the Strada Abarth 130TC, 2 Litre Twin Cam? Vaguely remember it from the pages of "Fast Lane"...

rallycross

12,747 posts

236 months

Friday 24th April 2015
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Nice find bit of a gamble buying one of these even when they were 5 years old, never really fancied one of these as having a 75 twin spark back in the early 90's never understood why they made the new big Alfa a front wheel driver - sounded like a daft idea at the time.

Hereward

4,134 posts

229 months

Friday 24th April 2015
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Ahhhh, it was this car (plus the Vauxhall Senator 24V, of course!) that started my love affair with big-engined saloons.

An Alfa really is one of those marques that you have to own at some point in your petrolhead life.

thenomis

19 posts

122 months

Friday 24th April 2015
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There is something about how, over time, an old style really comes into its moment. That time is very much now I reckon for eighties and nineties definitive shapes and the Alfas of that era just look better by the day.

Love the 164.

We had a later Alfa, a 147 for about four years. Great car. Would have an Alfa again in a shot.


Mound Dawg

1,915 posts

173 months

Friday 24th April 2015
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DP33 said:
So over the last few weeks of SoTW we've had two out of the four Type4 cars, let's make it a full house with a Thema and the Croma. Are any of those still left? Didn't they have a version with the Strada Abarth 130TC, 2 Litre Twin Cam? Vaguely remember it from the pages of "Fast Lane"...
You couldn't get them with the twin carbed Abarth engine but the Thema and Croma both came with the injected 120bhp 8v Fiat twincam then later the 148 bhp 16 valver and various versions of the 8v and 16v turbo similar to the Delta Integrale but in milder tune.

And of course, a bona fide Ferrari 308 engine in the Thema 8.32.

Ali_T

3,379 posts

256 months

Friday 24th April 2015
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DP33 said:
So over the last few weeks of SoTW we've had two out of the four Type4 cars, let's make it a full house with a Thema and the Croma. Are any of those still left? Didn't they have a version with the Strada Abarth 130TC, 2 Litre Twin Cam? Vaguely remember it from the pages of "Fast Lane"...
The Thema has been on Shed, just a while ago. Just need a Croma, but I doubt many survived the scrappage genocide.

carinaman

21,222 posts

171 months

Saturday 25th April 2015
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There was this Croma that I mentioned in W00DY's excellent £5K retro thread.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FIAT-CROMA-TURBO-not-fia...

MadDog1962

890 posts

161 months

Saturday 25th April 2015
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DP33 said:
So over the last few weeks of SoTW we've had two out of the four Type4 cars, let's make it a full house with a Thema and the Croma. Are any of those still left? Didn't they have a version with the Strada Abarth 130TC, 2 Litre Twin Cam? Vaguely remember it from the pages of "Fast Lane"...
There was also Thema 8.32 which had a Ferrari V8. I remember seeing one for sale in the South Wales Echo (in 1996) for 1500 quid. Unfortunately it was already sold by the time I called. I bet that there's hardly any of them left now.

s m

23,164 posts

202 months

Saturday 25th April 2015
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Mound Dawg said:
And of course, a bona fide Ferrari 308 engine in the Thema 8.32.
There's been a couple of threads on these cars in the past.

There's also a few owners lurking on here

4rephill

5,040 posts

177 months

Saturday 25th April 2015
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s m said:
Mound Dawg said:
And of course, a bona fide Ferrari 308 engine in the Thema 8.32.
There's been a couple of threads on these cars in the past.

There's also a few owners lurking on here
I think it would be more accurate to say: "a bona fide Ferrari 308 based engine in the Thema 8.32."

wink

thenomis said:
There is something about how, over time, an old style really comes into its moment. That time is very much now I reckon for eighties and nineties definitive shapes and the Alfas of that era just look better by the day.

Love the 164.......
The late 80's/early 90's era is just before everybody in the car industry became obsessed with aero-efficiency and safety.

There was a nod towards better aerodynamics (softer edges to surfaces, less upright frontal areas and such as like), but it was quite a simplistic approach to aerodynamics and the aero-efficiency was not allowed to take precedent over style.

It was the same with safety, the cars weren't weighed down with two hundred airbags, heavy duty door beams and front and rear pillars the size of a tree trunk.

You got ABS, but back then it just meant that during the panic whilst heading for an accident, you stood on the brakes as per usual - completely forgetting that you could actually still steer the car around the oncoming incident, and rolled into the accident rather than locking up and skidding into the accident! (Hence why manufacturers are now designing cars that take over the steering and braking from you in an accident, because the cars no longer trust you to have the skill to deal with the situation).

From the mid 90's onwards, suddenly aero-efficiency was more important than style. Cars had to be shown to be super efficient in the wind tunnel (leading to them all having the same basic jelly mould shape), computers started to dictate the styling rather than the human eye, and cars had to have more equipment on board (including more safety equipment), which made them bigger, heavier, and in many cases, less fun to drive!

Cars with "twitchy rear ends in the wet" were suddenly tamed and became a bit dull to drive, traction control systems started to take some of the control away from the driver meaning you could go round corners faster but with a whole lot less skill involved.

Suddenly you could drive fast on roads without making any real effort and if you started to get out of shape then the car would try to save you from having accident.

Late 80's/early 90's cars were designed with the theory: "If you get into trouble - get yourself out of it!".

I think that is a big part of the charm of cars from this era (and even more so from the era's before the mid 80's/early 90's), they were far more simplistic designs, and they were the last of their breed!





bencollins

3,486 posts

204 months

Saturday 25th April 2015
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ooo thats a really nice neoclassic, practical to own and run and looks great in white.
Might be tempted to swap in some lovely leather from the 156.
Otherwise perfect.

s m

23,164 posts

202 months

Saturday 25th April 2015
quotequote all
bencollins said:
ooo thats a really nice neoclassic, practical to own and run and looks great in white.
Might be tempted to swap in some lovely leather from the 156.
Otherwise perfect.
yes

Which, of course, all the youngsters on here will tell you has only become a "fashionable" colour in the last few years; ignoring the myriads of cars that people chose in white in the 80s, 70s, 60s......etc

bencollins

3,486 posts

204 months

Saturday 25th April 2015
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white has always been classic, but i am biased wink
50's roadsters such as Mercs or jag XK150 spring to mind
doesnt alway suit big cars but suits this 164 biggrin

Happyjap

382 posts

108 months

Saturday 25th April 2015
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bencollins said:
ooo thats a really nice neoclassic, practical to own and run and looks great in white.
Might be tempted to swap in some lovely leather from the 156.
Otherwise perfect.
Their is a Japanese proverb that says "Even if a monkey wears a golden ring, it is and remains an ugly thing" I think this can be said about this horrible car!

coppice

8,562 posts

143 months

Saturday 25th April 2015
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So who remembers the mighty V10 164 Procar? That really was a bella machina .

RoverP6B

4,338 posts

127 months

Saturday 25th April 2015
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Brompty said:
Fro the ridiculous to the sublime. Great car this week.
Last week's Jag was sublime too. This is a bit over my head, I'm afraid, it's not really pretty and it's not a V6. Of the big front-drive Eurobarges, the 166, Peugeot 605 and Citroen XM are all prettier/more interesting... sounds like the 164's chassis wasn't up to much either!

Happyjap said:
Their is a Japanese proverb that says "Even if a monkey wears a golden ring, it is and remains an ugly thing" I think this can be said about this horrible car!
Yet - even though I don't like the 164 - it's a far more stylish thing than any Japanese car ever. Once you've driven an Alfa (I haven't yet had the pleasure!), I'm told you just get it. I can understand the appeal...

GJR68

251 posts

107 months

Saturday 25th April 2015
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Love it ! The Twin Spark is a cracking engine . Uses a bit of oil and has a habit of imploding if you take the cam belt much over 36k, but it just feels and sounds so good. Often overshadowed by its older cousin, the V6 Busso, but it really deserves its own spot in automotive history. The 164 had a great chassis and looked great IMO.

Happyjap

382 posts

108 months

Saturday 25th April 2015
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RoverP6B said:
Yet - even though I don't like the 164 - it's a far more stylish thing than any Japanese car ever. Once you've driven an Alfa (I haven't yet had the pleasure!), I'm told you just get it. I can understand the appeal...
Hello from Japan, BETTER THAN ANY JAPANESE CAR? You are clearly a mental or have suffered from grooming or some such trauma from a young age, for this I cannot dislike you or think ill of you but only pity what you believe because ultimately it will bring shame upon you and all of your family! Yes Japan are not as Great as your Britain but we have contributed to the history of the auto and come a long way from the disgraceful 70's rust buckets we made.

W00DY

15,467 posts

225 months

Saturday 25th April 2015
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Great shed!

Whilst I can see the appeal of the TS, the V6 noise is worth literally any compromise. And whilst I'm not usually a leather fan,it really does seem special in these.

RoverP6B

4,338 posts

127 months

Saturday 25th April 2015
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Happyjap said:
Hello from Japan, BETTER THAN ANY JAPANESE CAR? You are clearly a mental or have suffered from grooming or some such trauma from a young age, for this I cannot dislike you or think ill of you but only pity what you believe because ultimately it will bring shame upon you and all of your family! Yes Japan are not as Great as your Britain but we have contributed to the history of the auto and come a long way from the disgraceful 70's rust buckets we made.
I said more stylish. Japanese cars of the last 20 years are usually superbly engineered, but they have no soul, no style, none of the indefinable charisma which gives Alfa Romeos their intangible greatness.