SOTW: Alfa Romeo 164 3.0 V6 Lusso
Not a purist's Alfa, but a thoroughbred Italian nonetheless
British colour, but very Italian lines
That's not a bad pedigree for a large executive saloon. Alfa fanatics may even tell you that the 164 is what a saloon version of a Testarossa would look like. But while the 164's wedgy profile and horizontal styling lines are (vaguely) reminiscent of the wideboy Ferrari, we reckon you'd really have to squint to make the connection.
That's not to say that the Alfa isn't a looker, though, with its understated, elegant Italian style and beautifully balanced proportions.
mmm....Italian wedge...
Although the more fundamentalist Alfisti may be upset at the thought of a front-drive Alfa, the 164 has a reputation as a fine-handling car. It's also less prone to the horrors of rust than some Alfas, being the first car the company made to use galvanised steel for the frame and some body panels. We'd still worry a little about the electrics, though - the 164 had the most complex wiring loom of any Alfa at the time, and up to three on-board computers.
Very eighties, but it still looks cool
The advert doesn't exactly go into great detail, but this is a two-owner car with a long-ish MOT and a reasonably sensible 98,000 miles on the clock. It looks pretty clean, too, and is surely one of the most glorious-sounding Italian creations this side of the Rome Philharmonic. For £650, we think it's definitely worth a look.
Ad is reproduced below.
1991 H Reg ALFA ROMEO 164 3.0 V6 Lusso. £650
4 Doors, Automatic, Saloon, Petrol, 98,000 miles, Metallic Green, MOT-01-2010, 2 Owners. Insurance Group:15, A NICE EXAMPLE OF THESE SOON TO BE CLASSIC PERFORMANCE SALOONS. FABULOUS SOUNDING 3LTR V6. GREAT DRIVING CAR £650
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I got a 3.0 V6 24V new in 1994 and I loved every minute of driving it.
I swapped it in 1999 for a 166 3.0 V6 but the guy who now owns it parks it right outside my office every day and I think it still looks terrific (in silver) and what's more it doesn't have a speck of rust anywhere on it!
It's most definitely a sports car in Q-car clothing!
It's worth £650 of anyone's money (as long as it doesn't go wrong!)
This one looks like it does not have AC which was a common problem for them as the two Bosch stepper motors would go, and to replace a £10 item it would take ~8 hours to disassemble the dash and the same to put it back together again. I'm not mechanically minded so when mine went it stayed that way. Alas for winter driving, mine was stuck in the cold position.
I had the 12v 3.0 V6 - one of the nicest sounding engines ever (even Jeremy 'I am always right' Clarkson agrees on this one), used to drink oil, but was a great power plant. Even at 192 BHP 186 lb/ft torque it was enough to cause torque steer alas (the Alfa front suspension was meant to be stronger and designed to take more power).
If I had one criticism of the 164, it's the fact it is FWD. I'd be tempted again though if I had space for another and could find a mint one.
I have a love of all Alfa's, used to go out with a lass who's dad had one of these, it was the 2.0 version on a 'H' plate that he bought brand new, it had around 200k on the clock when I used to get taken out in it and it was still sweet.
I was pretty impressed by it.
Found it on youtube....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRXxTCIp2_c
said that was my last alfa, and it was till that lovely 155 v6 came up for sale on my road.........
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