2004 Alfa Romeo

For sale is my beautiful and much loved 156 GTA.

This is a metallic blue Sportwagon, fitted with Q2 diff, stainless Scorpion exhaust system, and metallic anthracite teledials. I cannot describe how beautiful this car is. I may well use the b-word a lot, by the way, so apologies in advance. This is a long and detailed description, but if you love these cars then I'm sure you won't mind. I've tried to take pictures that do it justice, but it really needs to be seen in person to be fully appreciated. I know this gets flung around a lot these days, especially once a car gets down to a few thousand on howmanyleft, but this is an incredibly rare car! Jamie at Alfa Workshop reckoned it was one of 2, maybe 3, in the country!

I want to get this out of the way up front, as I feel it is critical to be honest: the original service book is missing. I bought the car from a very lovely and slightly eccentric woman who had managed to lose it in the turmoil of moving house. I'm an engineer for a major OEM and have a tonne of practical experience, but I know it could concern someone who isn't as confident. The car needed a cam belt change, so I arranged with the seller to take it to an independent Alfa specialist (Alltechnique in Salisbury) who checked it over for a second opinion, then I bought the car and they did the belt & water pump. It has been checked over by two other Alfa specialists since (Autolusso and Alfa Workshop) who both commented on how tight the car felt, so I have no reason to doubt the mileage or service history; a few stamp marks in a book is all that is missing - I have a bunch of MOT's that walk the mileage back and lots of service reciepts, just no manual.

In my ownership it has had the following:

Cam belt & water pump changed at 44k, as well as full service - Alltechnique

Oil, plug & filter service at 50k - Me

Refurbished metallic anthracite teledials with 4 x new PS3's at 50k - Autolusso

Scorpion stainless exhaust fitted at 50k - Autolusso

New battery at 54k - Me

New radiator (old one had started to weep) at 54k - Alfa Workshop

New driver's front wing, bumper and side skirts painted at 54k - Stocks Coachworks

Mechanically and structurally very sound - it sailed through the last MOT with zero advisories. Plenty of life in the brake discs & pads, and all the known mechanical nasties have been taken care of. The only negatives I can think of is that the front upper wishbone bushes are squeaky when it's really cold, but soon shut up once you've driven a short distance; the starter motor squeaks slightly when winding down if you don't use the car very much, but I'm told the low mileage vehicles tend to do this - it quietens down in the summer / when warm or if you use it regularly; and finally the front ARB bushes are getting on a bit so knock when you reverse off a driveway or hit a pothole (which you shouldn't really do, anyway) but are not even at MOT advisory stage yet, so not a worry. Good GTA's are getting thin on the ground now, and a lot of them are either high mileage, due a hell of a lot of expensive maintenance, or just plain knackered. This one is none of those things. A touch over 54k on the clock, and no reason to doubt it; all the major GTA worries have recently been taken care of.

The engine.. I don't know how to describe. These things make the most incredible sound even at part throttle, but when you open it up it's *tiring clichés about sonorous V6 wail deleted*. The Scorpion system is a cat-back, and has a great sound without being loud or intrusive. It doesn't drone like an early 00's Saxo on the motorways or pop / bang / fart or any other NVH nasties, it just sounds good. The Q2 kit makes all the difference. If you don't think a FWD car can handle well, then you haven't driven a good one with an LSD: applying the throttle mid-corner doesn't push the front end wide in a scream of tyre-punishing disappointment, nor does it try to swap ends like a RWD car will - instead, it tugs the front end tightly towards the apex and goes exactly where you point it.

The interior is all black leather - the way it should be. It has the Bose premium sound system with subwoofer and a million speakers, and I've kept the original head unit rather than fit something tacky that doesn't suit it. It has slight scuffing on the driver's seat bolster, but try finding a GTA that doesn't. I had toyed with getting it touched up, but I treat the seats regularly and am careful getting in and out, so it never really *needed* it. Everything else inside is pristine.. the only other thing I can think of is signs of use on the steering wheel buttons, but that's about it!

The exterior is immaculate, there really is no other word for it. Both front wings are new, undersealed, and the inner arch liners have been protected to stop this common problem from reoccurring. The wheels are new and I take them off to clean inside and out, as are the four tyres, which are all Michelin Pilot Sport 3. The bodywork gets washed, clayed and waxed regularly so is spotless. It has nice clear headlamp lenses and brand new badges all round. There are (annoyingly) a couple of very fine scratches below the right hand rear light from where a neighbour's kid put his mucky paws on it, and one or two tiny dings here and there, but you have to be super anal to detect these things.. the kind of stuff you spot when you wax a car and tut at, but forget about when you take a few steps back. Anyway.. I'm babbling.. but it's important to be honest. The biggest issue with it is the front left brake calliper has got some lacquer peel, so at some point will need powder coating - Autolusso do a full set front and rear for £400 fitted, which I would have done, but I just can't justify the expense right now.

Which brings me on to the question of WHY THE HELL AM I SELLING THIS?

Well.. in short, I need the money. The full TL;DR version is twofold: 1 - I have a bad back from an adolescence spent digging holes, crashing BMX / mountain bikes, and working on cars; and the seats in this car are absolutely terrible for it. That means I rarely get to to drive it, and instead pootle around in a Clio Cup with nice comfy French sofas; 2 - I'm building a race car, which has been an incredibly intense financial and personal commitment, and I need all the money and time I have to get it finished! So there it is.. I cannot justify keeping this car on my driveway just so I can gaze longingly at it through the window of my 172 as I drive off to work.. wash it, clean it, and occasionally take it for a quick drive - someone else will get much more out of it than I currently am!

Which brings me on to YOU:

I don't want to be an idiot and shoot myself in the foot here, but I LOVE THIS CAR. Furthermore, I made a promise to the lady I bought it off - who made a very emotional plea for me to to take care of it - that I would do just that. So I will not sell it to someone who I think is going to ruin it! YOU WILL TREAT HER RIGHT, OR I WILL FIND YOU AND DESTROY YOU.

I have tried to be as honest as I can, so I expect you to be honest with me. Nobody will be test driving unless they can prove to me that they are fully insured to drive this vehicle, and I will check! If you are legit on the legal front, do not think that entitles you to hop in and rag the s**t out it - this is my car until money has changed hands and papers have been scribbled on, so please be respectful of that. If you want to hear that glorious engine note then I will be more than happy to demonstrate in an area I know is safe.