RE: Shed of the Week: Alfa Romeo 166

[kellyt]

Hell yes. Totally yes. If you think that's a bad thing for a grand, you just don't like cars and you're on the wrong website in the first place. A good spot and a really nice thing to waft about in for a bit. It'll go wrong and it'll break quite a lot, but when it's running, very nice indeed.

Possibly not a winter car as sitting waiting for recovery can be pretty chilly (my Mercedes taught me that one), but even so.

Much prefer the later facelift front end which is truly beautiful, but that's out of budget for a few years and they'e like rocking horse plop anyway. I'd have one of those for certain. But lets look at the basics, how many cars look really special and are cheap? Well it nails that. Pukka Italian beauty for almost no money?

[muppet42]

Interesting that it doesn't show up on the DVLA MOT history check but it does on the status page :/

Anyway, looks a lot of car for the money unless it's hiding a multitude of sins under that sleek exterior. The short MOT isn't a great indicator nor is the lack of description in the ad. I'd pay a few hundred more for one with a longer MOT and decent history personally.

I don't mind the 166's styling though even in pre-facelift form and the sound an Alfa Busso makes is rather nice

[SimonTheSailor]

No leather ?! What is the world coming too ??!!

[shalmaneser]

Theophany said:

The Don of Croy said:

Is it the shortest ad ever? How old is this car (obviously pre 2008)?

I think this person wins 'shortest ad' award.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FOR-SALE-Jaguar-E-Type-4...

You're not getting much information for your 33k are you? And what on earth is up with those pictures?!

[r.g.]

I keep getting tempted by these. I was actually searching them only last night.

What are these like for floor pan rust compared to the 156?

Whilst I like leather, I do like those velour seats. They look warm and comfy!

[Halmyre]

Theophany said:

The Don of Croy said:

Is it the shortest ad ever? How old is this car (obviously pre 2008)?

I think this person wins 'shortest ad' award.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FOR-SALE-Jaguar-E-Type-4...

He certainly wins "Smuggest Face" award (understandable if you own an E-Type).

[Pickled]

I picked one of these up for £350 a few years back - needed a new radiator (£100)



Ran it for around 8 months without any issues, only got rid of it after a cracked windscreen, trade policy didn't cover windscreens and it was going to be around £300 for a new one, so I sold it with cracked screen for £750.

Gear change was a bit vague, but for a fairly big FWD car it drove surprisingly well, and sounded fantastic.

[TooMany2cvs]

muppet42 said:

Interesting that it doesn't show up on the DVLA MOT history check but it does on the status page

That's exactly what you'd expect from a car in Nor'n Iron. The reg systems are sort-of-combined now, hence the checks showing up - but the MOT over there is still very different to here, not least that it's all done from government-run test centres rather than garages. Their histories are totally separate, and there's not (afaia) any way of checking them online.

[Vitorio]

Lovely shed, i'd have one in a heartbeat, needs a leather interior though, but that cant be more then 200 quid right?

[davebem]

I love it when sotw is something Italian. Always had a soft spot for these. I have a 2.5 V6 156 track day car and it never uses any oil between servicing.

[tankplanker]

I watched the Topgear review of the 3.2 166 yesterday, Clarkson said that they lost £50 per day in depreciation for new ones. Lovely car though, just hope they appreciate as they deserve to as they move into classic status so that there are a few properly looked after examples.

[Gorbyrev]

Fabulous Shed! What's wrong with velour, nice cozy stuff. Really, really liked the metallic minty green they came in. Local chip shop owner had one and it was a pleasant distraction from the local crop of white goods.

[Martin 480 Turbo]

Thanks for the piece on sprezzatura.

Good kickoff for the weekend. (Also the Alfa, a (not so) secret gem.)

[rtz62]

Krikkit said:

J4CKO said:

VolvoT5 said:

No, it doesn't even have leather ffs.

I think it is time for SOTW to have a mix up, perhaps increase the budget to £1500 or something...... The last few choices have been incredibly uninspiring.

I dont get the complete fascination with Leather seats, completely ignoring the Alfa and V6 bits.

Budget airlines have leather seats, it isnt the epitome of class these days.

In the case of the Alfa the leather Momo seats are absolutely magnificent things, and worth paying extra for. The cloth ones could be just as good mind!

My Godfather once told me of the a little battle he had with a Mercedes salesman when trying to place an order for a top of the range E series.
He asked for cloth upholstery, only to be told 'But sir, the model has leather as standard, cloth trim isn't available'
Drawing himself up to his full height, he looked the salesman straight in the eye, and said, in a quiet voice, "Listen young man, the Queen of England sits on a throne upholstered in cloth, not leather. If it's good enough for her, then it's good enough for me. Capice?"

[MarJay]

First decent Shed for ages. I'd buy that, drive it and be happy.

[carinaman]

Is that colour changing pearlescent 170,000 mile Twin Spark still on Autotrader in Devon? Shame the bumper graze and dent by the Scudetto detract a little.

[DeltonaS]

"Talking of conductors, alternative funny man Alexei Sayle once described his 166 as having more electrical problems than North Korea"

It's not a Range Rover.

[EddieSteadyGo]

I had one of these back in the day, mine had the V6 and momo interior, but exterior wise it was very similar.

I always thought it looked a cool car vs say a comparable 5 series from the same time. I actually really liked it!

[X5TUU]

The Crack Fox said:

Pickled said:

I picked one of these up for £350 a few years back - needed a new radiator (£100)



Ran it for around 8 months without any issues, only got rid of it after a cracked windscreen, trade policy didn't cover windscreens and it was going to be around £300 for a new one, so I sold it with cracked screen for £750.

Gear change was a bit vague, but for a fairly big FWD car it drove surprisingly well, and sounded fantastic.

My word, that looks like £20k's worth of machine sat there.

I want one. I really want one.

That's because the picture is not raw it's been enhanced with all kind of messy HDR, Ambiance and Saturation interference

[Pickled]

X5TUU said:

That's because the picture is not raw it's been enhanced with all kind of messy HDR, Ambiance and Saturation interference

No HDR on that photo - just a tweak of contrast, and it had just been washed and waxed