Friday 3rd October 2014

Shed Of The Week: Alfa 145 Cloverleaf

Alfa Romeo at its idiosyncratic best or just a Fiat in a party dress? Shed decides

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This week we heard that the beaches around Tokyo were deserted. Not because the weather is bad: oh no, far from it. It's been lovely and warm over there recently. No, Japan's beaches are empty in September because September is not the correct month for being on the beach.

Well it's a distinctive profile

That's how they roll over there. You could never imagine that sort of thing happening in Europe. We're a bit more freewheeling by nature. There is beach etiquette in Italy, though. Last year, having driven down there in a ratty old MX-5, Shed and his lovely wife were asked to move off an Abruzzo beach following a complaint from local sun-worshippers, something about the shadows being too big or some such.

Anyway, the point being, Italians are a conflicted bunch. One minute they're gibbing on about all the artistic wonders they've brought to the world - opera, stuffed crust pizzas, spag bol, delicious ice cream, Michael Angelo, that bird what's her name oh yeah Mona Lisa, Leonardo de Caprio, Robert de Nerio, and rust - the next, they're invoking some ancient local by-law to forcibly eject two perfectly peaceable people from what should surely be a public resource.

The Alfa Romeo 145 is similarly conflicted. From the front, it's got all the classic '90s Alfa cues: iconic heart-shaped grille, narrow-eye headlights, archetypal vee bonnet. Then you move slowly round to the side past the seductive teledial wheel to take in the sexual curvature of its flanks and OH MY GOD WHAT JUST HAPPENED.

Speedo at 10mph when stationary?

Depending on how jaundiced you are, the 145 is either one of the last proper old school hot hatches or the nearest Alfa ever got to a van. When it was launched in 1994, Fiat's excellent Tipo had been raking in the plaudits for a good six years, courtesy of a new and much-needed Italian focus on quality (galvanised panels, whoo!) and styling that somehow managed to be both usefully boxy and rather stylish at the same time.

Built on the Tipo platform, the 145 had a bogglingly large (by today's standards) range of engines: no less than seven petrol units from 1.4 to 2.0 litres, and one 1.9 diesel. Five of the petrols were twin-cammers, and four of them were Twin Sparks. The bottom three - 1.4, 1.6 and 1.7 - were flat-fours, as per the late, great Alfasud. The rest were conventional inline fours fizzing out between 103hp and 155hp (in the post-March '98 2.0 litre cars).

Weighing in at between 1,140kg and 1,275kg, all 145s promised - and delivered, to a greater or lesser extent - sharp handling. The 2000MY 2.0 litre specimen on offer here will have that later 155hp motor (up from 150hp) plus the quicker steering rack reserved for the 1.8 and 2.0 TS models. Better yet, our Shed is the Cloverleaf or Quadrifoglio Verde, which means it gets all the leather, the Momo wheel and the swanky paintjob.

If a 145 is for you this one seems great

At this point it may be worth listening to the views of the boys over at Autocoat, just after Colin Goodwin's 2010 lashout of £1,100 on a 165,000-mile '96 Cloverleaf for a thrashathon feature. "At the time of our road test we went as far as to say that the Cloverleaf 'handles as engagingly as any front-drive car in existence'," said AC's Jamie Corstorphine. "That might have been a bit strong, but even with a rather embarrassing amount of body roll, the Cloverleaf is still fun to drive. Why? Because you feel part of the action.

"Col's purchase still revs cleanly, with more rasp and zing than many of today's hot hatches. But will it withstand a full-on standing start? Actually, it took several in its stride without too much protestation. One of which was good enough for a 0-60mph run of 8.5sec - just 0.5sec off the time a brand new Cloverleaf achieved in 1996. Better still, 165,000 miles have added just 1.1sec to the 0-100mph time.

"The engine may or may not be original, but I reckon the gearbox must be. At the time we said the Cloverleaf's 'box was 'terrific', praising it for 'a crisp action and short throws'. Fourteen years later, "dreadful" and "baggy" are more appropriate. If anything, it's the gearbox's sluggishness and imprecision that are to blame for the loss of performance.

155hp at 6,400rpm. New cambelt. Sweet

"The brakes lasted okay... but the fuel filler decided to spew fuel everywhere the moment we went for a lap time on our dry circuit.

"So, great engine, peachy chassis, let down by everything else. Classic Alfa, then. Still, despite Col's predictions, I enjoyed it. I'm just glad I didn't have to drive it home."

For his part, Goodwin loved it. "It's fun to drive. It can't weigh much and has fabulous throttle response. Hot hatches are about spirit, not power. You don't need the 250bhp plus that is the norm today; this 145 proves that. With new bushes and probably dampers it would be even more fun to drive, and it would have a few more miles left in it if you immediately changed the cambelt and the cam variator."

Which the owner of this Shed has done. He sounds from the ad like a usefully pernickety sort of owner. Corrosion is not that big an issue, but obviously check the floorpans and also that the airbag, ABS and injection warning lights don't stay on, as any of those will be an expensive fix. If the lights don't come on at all, check that the pigging bulbs haven't been removed. Lower front wishbone arms get worn: excessive wear on the tyre inners will reveal that. Interiors are pretty tough.

Cloverleaf means full Momo leather. Nice

So then it just boils down to the looks. You're either a fan or you're not. If you like the idea of a whiff of Marmite in a sawn-off ciabatta sub, bear in mind that they didn't build many 145s, and that the accompanying 146 hatch was even more hideous looking.

Here's the ad.

Phase 2 145 cloverleaf in the rarest colour!
MOMO full leather interior in in excellent condition with a little bit of wear on the drivers seat which can be seen in photos.
the exterior of the car remains completely standard with the fantastic teledial wheels, granted with the age of the car it has a few marks here and there the most prominent is on the rear bumper on the right hand side other than that the usual car park dings / stonechips.
ive taken a photo of the engine bay without cleaning it as when i am buying a vehicle i always want to see an "honest" engine bay.
the car has a full service history but to answer some of your questions....;
Timing belt and variator replaced along with balance shaft belt and tensioner @ 72K then another timing kit at 88k miles last may along with the clutch and both front wishbones and bushings as they needed changing, the clutch felt fine but i replaced it as i could see no record of it being changed.
last november the engine had a refresh and oil + filter and new antifreeze as well as a full check over(in excess of £700).

the car is on 93115 miles but will go up as i use it on weekends, the reason for selling is i have a new company car arriving soon and no place to store the alfa, this is my second 145 cloverleaf and is such a wonderful drivers car with a very strong engine that pulls in all gears and handles superbly.
The car has been re-listed as the person who was meant to view it didn't show
sensible offers only please

[luckystrike]

Good shed.

That's the thing that gets me with alfas - you say the 146 is ugly, and clearly it is, but it didn't stop me looking on eBay and if a mate rocked up in one he'd get a friendly pisstake rather than a proper one.

I actually have to get to work and back though so not for me yet

[luckystrike]

Looking at the cars in this thread's making me think that actually the 145's on the brink of pushing through 'ugly' right into retro good looking. that red one above is superb - the wheels really suit it.