RE: Shed of the Week: Alfa Romeo 166
Discussion
Love these. 166 tick, v6 tick, manual tick, black tick. Only thing that lets it down is lack of leather. My dad had a 156 ts sport wagon with black leather and it was a lovely place to be with a lovely smell, so anything less I feel would be a let down. However I'm sure somebody so inclined could retrofit an interior.
I wondered when another 166 Shed of the Week would appear.
I bought my 3 Litre Super Manual for £600 a few weeks ago. Long MOT, runs like a dream!
I made a thread about it here..
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=156...
I bought my 3 Litre Super Manual for £600 a few weeks ago. Long MOT, runs like a dream!
I made a thread about it here..
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=156...
iSore said:
Not really. Alfa seemed to stop undersealing cars around 2004 - 156's can be just the same. Mind you, I've seen 2003 E39's needing loads of welding underneath and 166's are not expensive cars.
Most E39 5-Series I know of have had a lot of welding over the last few years.Quite a few other models of BMW too.
iSore said:
Got a couple of 166 Twin Sparks on Ebay watch list for beer money - could be pulling the trigger in a few days. I don't need one, but I quite fancy one.
Do it, just keep an eye on oil levels if you want to keep that TS engine running well. (oh, and belt interval is 3 years or 36K, snapped belt means engine borked)Vitorio said:
Do it, just keep an eye on oil levels if you want to keep that TS engine running well. (oh, and belt interval is 3 years or 36K, snapped belt means engine borked)
We shall see. Ideally it wants to be a 2.5 or 3.0 V6 manual, but they're not 3-400 quid. Not that I've ever found!rtz62 said:
Alfa Really mei 90; wasn't that the one they actually built less than 60,000 of and caused Alfa financial problems?
I'm not saying the car wasn't half-decent, and I'm sure it had a sort of handbag (??) integrated into it somehow, but to met the only engine worth talking about was the one you have, 156bhp back then wasn't to be sniffed at.
Shame it had to push the aerodynamic equivalent of a brick through the air though..l!
Still, I wouldn't mind one at all
I'm not too sure that the 90 cause Alfa financial problems simply because they had been struggling financially for a long time by then, it is one of the last pre-Fiat Alfas made though.I'm not saying the car wasn't half-decent, and I'm sure it had a sort of handbag (??) integrated into it somehow, but to met the only engine worth talking about was the one you have, 156bhp back then wasn't to be sniffed at.
Shame it had to push the aerodynamic equivalent of a brick through the air though..l!
Still, I wouldn't mind one at all
Indeed it did come with a briefcase as the glovebox which is still a crazy idea, even now. Sadly mine don't have it
Truth be told though, the car handles like a typical 80s car so nothing to write home about but it is fun and the engine is just sublime
The 90 wasn't a bad car. It was just unfortunate that it arrived at a time when Alfa Romeo were really struggling, particularly in the UK. The factory were in charge of UK marketing and didn't have a clue. 'Why launch a range of 90's from 1.8 to 2.5 including a half decent diesel when we can import only the most expensive V6 version with stupid instruments for BMW 5 Series money - what could go wrong?'.
That point was made when the 75 arrived - the 1.8 and latterly the 2.0 Twin Sparks sold pretty well. As least they learnt!
That point was made when the 75 arrived - the 1.8 and latterly the 2.0 Twin Sparks sold pretty well. As least they learnt!
iSore said:
The 90 wasn't a bad car. It was just unfortunate that it arrived at a time when Alfa Romeo were really struggling, particularly in the UK. The factory were in charge of UK marketing and didn't have a clue. 'Why launch a range of 90's from 1.8 to 2.5 including a half decent diesel when we can import only the most expensive V6 version with stupid instruments for BMW 5 Series money - what could go wrong?'.
That point was made when the 75 arrived - the 1.8 and latterly the 2.0 Twin Sparks sold pretty well. As least they learnt!
This is all very true, your knowledge of the older Alfa Romeo is much better than mine...probably because I was born in 86 That point was made when the 75 arrived - the 1.8 and latterly the 2.0 Twin Sparks sold pretty well. As least they learnt!
beautifulbusso said:
This is all very true, your knowledge of the older Alfa Romeo is much better than mine...probably because I was born in 86
I was doing an apprenticeship at an AR dealer in '84! Remember it all very well, the rusty 1980 W reg Giulietta 1.8 loan car. Just four years old. It was absolutely epic. Even then there just weren't any 1974 cars left. Still great cars through. I had a 1.8 Giulietta ten years later, used it to go to a certain country pub on a night, coming back 'refreshed' with the air filter lid removed for maximum intake noise. BRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP! Alfasud Sprints with the twin IDF's were equally good.I had a 156 3.2 V6 a while ago.
Before buying it, and a few times after a friend told me that it'd drink a litre of oil every 1000 miles.
It drank no oil at all. Never had to top it up between services.
Made me laugh that said friend refused point blank to believe me when I said this, insisting they "all did it".
Might have been one that was very well looked after, but the engine was standard, never been rebuilt and had IIRC about 25K miles on it when I bought it.
Before buying it, and a few times after a friend told me that it'd drink a litre of oil every 1000 miles.
It drank no oil at all. Never had to top it up between services.
Made me laugh that said friend refused point blank to believe me when I said this, insisting they "all did it".
Might have been one that was very well looked after, but the engine was standard, never been rebuilt and had IIRC about 25K miles on it when I bought it.
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