RE: Shed Of The Week: Alfa Romeo 145 Cloverleaf
Discussion
callahan said:
I had a 146ti (5 door version of the cloverleaf) as my first company car many years ago, it was a great car, you could drive the nuts of it everywhere and, amazingly, it never let me down. I have considered another as a shed and one day I will.
I also had a 146 Ti that let me down whenever it could, the last time spectacularly so since I drove it to it's death with the big ends banging like jackhammers thanks to a random oil pump failure. This was after it had already had, timing belts, variator, tensioners, water pump, head gasket & engine service. When it wasn't shrugging it's shoulders & telling me to f
k off it was a riot though, definitely on my 'please sir may I have another' list. Weird or what?I'm on my third 145 now out of a frankly ridiculous obsessive string of Alfa's including V6 and TS 155's, 164QV, GTV TS, and V6 and TS 75's and out of all that lot the 145 still satisfies.
To me its just such a unique, rare, practical and reliable little car with properly engaging handling, amazing steering and a terrific engine with just the right amount of power. A rewarding car to drive hard!
Mine was treated to a recent respray, running on Bilstein B4 dampers with Eibach springs, strut brace and 155 speedlines (although going back to teledials for a change)
Very useful forum too with a wealth of knowledge: http://forum.alfa145.com/index.php?act=idx
Here's mine:
To me its just such a unique, rare, practical and reliable little car with properly engaging handling, amazing steering and a terrific engine with just the right amount of power. A rewarding car to drive hard!
Mine was treated to a recent respray, running on Bilstein B4 dampers with Eibach springs, strut brace and 155 speedlines (although going back to teledials for a change)
Very useful forum too with a wealth of knowledge: http://forum.alfa145.com/index.php?act=idx
Here's mine:
In 98 I chose one of these as my company car, green outside and green inside. Looked in the engine bay and it had an Italian cigarette stubbed out in the engine bay! The headlining was also damaged and needed to be replaced later, and there was a squeak from the dash for the three years I had it. The driving position wasn't good for me .. short legged and offset. These were the days when alfas were more expensive in the uk than the rest of Europe by a massive amount, a few months after getting it they reduced the price of it by £2.5K which would have meant for me being able to upgrade to a 156 .. bugger. The speedo was strange .. always being at 10 mph. However saying all of that I still loved it.
Davo456gt said:
steel topped = Alfa Engine as fitted in 164TS and earlier (superb!)
plastic topped = Fiat Block, Alfa head with 2nd smaller spark plug to clean emissions I believe
please correct me if I'm wrong
Wrong I'm afraid! I had a '96 steel top, and it was the fiat based engine with rubber belts and "big and small" spark plugs.plastic topped = Fiat Block, Alfa head with 2nd smaller spark plug to clean emissions I believe
please correct me if I'm wrong
Fab car, great engine, loads of fun :-)
Davo456gt said:
RicksAlfas said:
I had two - a 1996 and a 1999. Fond memories of them both, dominated by the revtastic engine. The original 150bhp "metal topped" engine always seemed livelier than the later 155bhp "plastic topped" one as in this car.
steel topped = Alfa Engine as fitted in 164TS and earlier (superb!)plastic topped = Fiat Block, Alfa head with 2nd smaller spark plug to clean emissions I believe
please correct me if I'm wrong
The earlier 8 valve Twin Spark you refer to was indeed an all alloy peach. (75/164/and some 155s).
However the first of the iron block, alloy head 16 valve Twin Sparks had a metal ribbed cam cover like this:
The later ones were plastic:
The 16 valves were called CF1, 2 and 3, but I can't recall when the swap over was.
Oh no my Alfa itch is flaring up again... must... not.... scrat... oh bugger, anyone want to buy a nice mk2 golf GTI?
Maybe last night's few pints of ale are still blurring my judgement, but the 145 does seem to be aging well and I reckon a nice CL would make a nice daily/dog-waggon (that is a car for transporting my dog before anyone manipulates this).
Hmmmmmmmmmm
Maybe last night's few pints of ale are still blurring my judgement, but the 145 does seem to be aging well and I reckon a nice CL would make a nice daily/dog-waggon (that is a car for transporting my dog before anyone manipulates this).
Hmmmmmmmmmm
I'm in Bristol and need a new whizzy car......
I had two 145 cloverleafs and dearly miss them.
1st in some rare dark blue, at 18.
Seeing as the car was only(!) 8 years old at the time it was in superb condition, and at 18 It was the coolest car I could get. 2k on insurance on a 1400 quid car. Massive fun, felt ridiculously rapid compared to the golf that went before and the sound and feel from the driving position was like a mini ferrari. Loved it. Then it did well looking after me in my only accident. Well over 70 through most of oxfordshire, with a 2 foot thick wall bringing me to a halt. Suprisingly solid and completely reliable at over 100k miles.
the 2nd, bought for 400 quid at 13 years old as a bit of a fun shed - needed a themostat and a fuel cap and it was good to go, was AT LEAST 50k since its last service and 70k overdue for a cambelt (it was on over 130k). Went like stink, I kicked its head in every day and it just kept begging for more. Eventually a little end bearing went and I sold it for 350 quid, this was after covering 13k miles. Cheapest + most fun motoring i'll ever do.
The driving position may not be as good and it may roll a bit more but it was a infinitely better car than the clio rs 200 cup I had earlier this year for me. The engine made it really, but they're fantasic all over.
Dammit. I want another.
1st in some rare dark blue, at 18.
Seeing as the car was only(!) 8 years old at the time it was in superb condition, and at 18 It was the coolest car I could get. 2k on insurance on a 1400 quid car. Massive fun, felt ridiculously rapid compared to the golf that went before and the sound and feel from the driving position was like a mini ferrari. Loved it. Then it did well looking after me in my only accident. Well over 70 through most of oxfordshire, with a 2 foot thick wall bringing me to a halt. Suprisingly solid and completely reliable at over 100k miles.
the 2nd, bought for 400 quid at 13 years old as a bit of a fun shed - needed a themostat and a fuel cap and it was good to go, was AT LEAST 50k since its last service and 70k overdue for a cambelt (it was on over 130k). Went like stink, I kicked its head in every day and it just kept begging for more. Eventually a little end bearing went and I sold it for 350 quid, this was after covering 13k miles. Cheapest + most fun motoring i'll ever do.
The driving position may not be as good and it may roll a bit more but it was a infinitely better car than the clio rs 200 cup I had earlier this year for me. The engine made it really, but they're fantasic all over.
Dammit. I want another.
glendon said:
I'm on my third 145 now out of a frankly ridiculous obsessive string of Alfa's including V6 and TS 155's, 164QV, GTV TS, and V6 and TS 75's and out of all that lot the 145 still satisfies.
To me its just such a unique, rare, practical and reliable little car with properly engaging handling, amazing steering and a terrific engine with just the right amount of power. A rewarding car to drive hard!
Mine was treated to a recent respray, running on Bilstein B4 dampers with Eibach springs, strut brace and 155 speedlines (although going back to teledials for a change)
Very useful forum too with a wealth of knowledge: http://forum.alfa145.com/index.php?act=idx
Here's mine:
This just looks fTo me its just such a unique, rare, practical and reliable little car with properly engaging handling, amazing steering and a terrific engine with just the right amount of power. A rewarding car to drive hard!
Mine was treated to a recent respray, running on Bilstein B4 dampers with Eibach springs, strut brace and 155 speedlines (although going back to teledials for a change)
Very useful forum too with a wealth of knowledge: http://forum.alfa145.com/index.php?act=idx
Here's mine:
king lovely. Unfortunately, I don't have a reason to own one. But a very, very cool car.
Didn't the flat 4 get carried over from the 33 (or the ARNA), not the 'Sud?! In any case, this one has the correct engine, and looks sweet. My cousin ran one of these from new, and got a shock how much the value had plummeted when he eventually chopped it in for a 156. His never went wrong though - excellent car. Quirky looks in my opinion, but allegedly 370 left on UK roads, compared to about 250 Tipo's. Strange one that.
Whislt I've never considered one of these before - the fact it's been so long since I've seen one and the sheer novelty of the shape is quite appealing now.
Momo interiors are quite nice places to be - engine should be a lovely thing as long as it's been maintained and continues to be - right wheels - colour a bit iffy - not a bad shed tho!
Momo interiors are quite nice places to be - engine should be a lovely thing as long as it's been maintained and continues to be - right wheels - colour a bit iffy - not a bad shed tho!
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