BMW Z3 vs Alfa Spider

[Liquid Knight]

I'm looking for some topless fun and am torn between these...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/232038226700?_trksid=p20...

...two...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/201625745708?_trksid=p20...

...potential bargains.



What do we think?

[Liquid Knight]

My old GTV was glorious. Needed a little more headroom but I made the fatal mistake of driving mostly to work and I fell out of love with her. Commuting is a criminal waste of a car.

I may be out of the job soon and need something I can turn up to a job interview in and not look like a complete tool.

The Z3 is slower, more cumbersome, expensive parts, crap in Winter and for the money a bit "like drifta innit".

I think I've talked myself out of it.

[Liquid Knight]

Crud!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/331921100318?_trksid=p20...

Portofino blue is my favorite Coupe colour. I have an original set of wheels in my shed, a mate who lives in Glasgow (who can pick me up if I fly from Norwich) and it won't be a silly car like the 20V turbo to insure.

[Liquid Knight]

Vitorio said:

Wait a sec, i didnt notice it was you LK, go get that alfa! you arent afraid of italian cars, go get it bought!

Vitorio said:

Or find a cheapo barchetta if you want to stick closer to the Fiat heritage

Ah, the Bachetta. You know those Head vs Heart battles.

Heart - lovely looking, reliable, handles well etc.

Head - It's a Punto HGT in a frock, the (GM) electric power steering is a time bomb and the steering wheel is on the wrong side (not an issue if you have something with enough poke to get round stuff the long way, Lancia Delta etc but a nightmare if you only have 120hp to play with and a tool in front of you).

I've just been offered a Punto GT for bargain money. That Punto and the Spider would be a bloody good two car driveway.

Just need to shift my Bravo and Coupe Turbo.



This cam up on a retro page on Facebook for £150!!!

I called the guy five minutes after it sold.

My 155 Was P666RUU and with my Fiat Coupe I could have made a Q2 Turbo.

[Liquid Knight]

I'm the winning bidder of the Spider. Collecting the Punto Tuesday. If I win the Alfa I'll have to get the train ooop North as there are no flights from Norwich to Leeds Bradford.

[Liquid Knight]

zz55 said:

Jumping off the fence here...

I prefer the way the Barchetta looks compared with the new 124

If the Barchetta had the SuperFIRE 1.4 engine (and later 120 or 150 turbo SuperFIRE) instead of the Lamperalli headed genIII 128/Alfa lump it would have been unbeatable.

[Liquid Knight]

I thought the Bravo 150 and Punto 120 t-jets were SuperFIRE units.

Anyway I'm not a fan of the newer Fiat 500's either. Too much like the "Modtro" modern-retro Micra of the period and just like the BMW MINI now available throughout the entire range from a 1.2 to a Multipla sized JTD powered shoe box with rounded edges.

But I wouldn't mind a twin-air engine in a proper Panda for laugh.

[Liquid Knight]

k-ink said:

OP, both of those are famous for bad scuttle shake.

MX5

I've had a few...



...



...starting to warm to the non-pop up head light models (especially that metallic orange colour) and in a European sports car way I spent as much time welding them as I did driving them.

For every decent MX5 there are a thousand crap boxes that have either been on/off track, drifted into a hedge or Wheeler Dealer'd (a few basic repairs and run over with a polishing mop so it can be sold "fully restored". Imports with untraceable history and an arse to insure compared to the UK models that hold a premium price. Don't get me wrong they are great cars and good fun but a bit of a risk.

[Liquid Knight]

P.S Sorry everyone. This is going on a tangent. I'm just waiting for an auction to end.

[Liquid Knight]

Punto 60 1242 block with a 75 had and most important cam'. It's the set up I had in my Panda 4x4...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCSk5XzGbYY

...oh yeah and TDM850 carb's.

[Liquid Knight]

75 manifold into an adapted down pipe. Two into one so it would fit the pre-cat' 4x4 exhaust. Still have the engine, exhaust and inlet manifold in my shed.

[Liquid Knight]

A bit of bidding activity and I'm close to budget.

I'll leave this...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1984-FIAT-STRADA-CABRIO-...

...here just in case.

A damn sight closer than Leeds and my Bravo engine should drop straight in.

[Liquid Knight]

MGF?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiKSX0RL0sQ

My first venture into the world of YouTube.

I always fancied dropping a k18 turbo from a ZR in one but time, money, space, life, etc...

[Liquid Knight]

Oh, the mobile man cave. My mate took it for his fishing gear. Welded up and straight through the MOT as it was.

I've never been able to get the seat right in a 147. I think the subframe is too high off the floor. The Seicento is in Bristol. That's worse than Leeds to get to this time of year. All the caravanists headed to Weston bottle necking.

Besides the Punto GT will take care of track day duties I reckon.

[Liquid Knight]

zz55 said:

Liquid Knight said:

A bit of bidding activity and I'm close to budget.

I'll leave this...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1984-FIAT-STRADA-CABRIO-...

...here just in case.

A damn sight closer than Leeds and my Bravo engine should drop straight in.

are you serious?
that car has fallen apart already several times..

Trying to tell an Italian car guy rust is a bad idea...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAn-mdS-otE

[Liquid Knight]

k-ink said:

Liquid Knight said:

For every decent MX5 there are a thousand crap boxes

The solid straight cars are getting harder to find. I had to pay pretty good money to get mine. It will only get increasingly harder as more time passes, so I expect prices will be moving upwards for the cleanest examples.

As prices go up the number of Wheeler Dealer'd ones will as well so you need to be even more diligent to the point it won't be worth the effort and you get an MX5 powered MG Midget or B roadster.

[Liquid Knight]

I thought my Coupe was a find. 77,000 miles and a 16V Turbo plus. I prefer the 16V turbo to the 20V. I paid £500 for the car, got it home for £150 and noticed it had 78,000 miles in 2009. Damn clockers!

With a full history file and properly repaired/restored the car could be worth £5,000+ but with the mileage maker there's no way of verifying the history so the £1,000 or so I was planning to spend on parts I'm looking at alternatives instead.

[Liquid Knight]

wal 45 said:

I'd go with the Alfa on this, bidding seems strong especially for a Cat C so who knows?

I think these...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2000-W-reg-Alfa-Romeo-Sp...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ALFA-ROMEO-SPIDER-2-0-T-...

...have put a rose tint on the cat' C car. I'm the aggressive bidder.

I get a notification on my phone and bid again within seconds but I'm up to budget now and if some tosspot is using a bidding app' then I could lose it with seconds to go.

In conversation with the seller he's comes across as a top chap and wants me to win.

[Liquid Knight]

I've found that if you place a bid early and contact the seller this shows intention and will. Also an opportunity to find out if the seller is genuine, knows what they are talking about, a trader or a waster of Oxygen. I have waited for auctions to end before placing a bid in the past and listings have been removed due to lack of activity.

So an early bid and few messages and this chap is a fellow Italian car nut.

[Liquid Knight]

Vitorio said:

Good, establish contact, if you get sniped and the winner backs out, the seller will come find you

That's the idea.

Well I'm outbid but will wait until close to the end as I'm collecting the GT tomorrow.

If I don't win the Spider I have already decided to finish my Coupe.