Few cars walk such a precarious line between ugly and quirky as the Alfa 75. To some it is an awkward design, the odd black line running from front to back making it look top-heavy and badly proportioned.
To others it is handsome in an unconventional way, a left field design eccentricity that could only have come from Italy. Whatever side of the fence you sit you have to agree that they don’t make ‘em like this anymore.
The 75 was released in 1985 to celebrate, as the name suggested, the 75th anniversary of the carmaker. It was also the last car produced by Alfa Romeo as an independent manufacturer.
The body was designed by head of Alfa Romeo Centro Stile Ermanno Cressoni, and was a novel wedge shape which tapered at the front. At first the car was offered with three engine choices: the 1.8 twin carburettor, twin cam engine or the 2.5 litre V6 12 valve engine.
Later the 2.0-litre ‘Twin Spark’ and 3.0-litre V6 units were introduced. The car had a front/rear layout but had a very sporting gearbox-in-the-rear set-up which gave it good weight distribution.
The 3.0-litre V6 also came with a limited slip diff, which made the car even more controllable on the limit. The 75 had as many quirks inside as it did on the outside, with a seemingly random scattering of all the important buttons and switches.
Alfa tried putting the radio behind the gear stick so that it was near impossible to remove a tape when in 1st, 3rd, or 5th. The electric window switches were on the roof (obviously) and the indicator stalk was in the boot (OK, we made that bit up).
None of this could detract from the fun rear-drive handling and decent engines, which combined to create a very interesting sports saloon. How you define ‘interesting’ is totally up to you.
The 75 we stumbled across on carandclassic.co.uk may seem a bit pricey at £995, but what a fantastic example. It rarely sees the light of day and as such the bodywork is impeccable.
I mean this is a 1992 Alfa and according to the seller there is ‘very little rust’. We just have one thing bugging us here at PH Towers – are there levers to move the front seats forward on a four-door car? Or are we missing something? Answers on a postcard…
Ad reads: 'Alfa 75 Twin Spark LE 1992 For Sale (1992). I've had this car for almost 10 years, and used it as my daily transport for the first three of those. Since then it has been off the road and garaged for most of the last 6. These days it makes the odd trip out to a show. As the images show, it is in good condition, but I've been meaning to go the extra mile and bring it up to showroom condition. Sadly, time and space are preventing this but this car would make an ideal base for someone wanting to restore it to mint condition. It is very good, with very little rust. A bargain at the asking price. Sold as seen. £995.'