Best smoker barges 1-5 large [vol11]

[Parisien]

W00DY said:

CharlesdeGaulle said:

I'm not sure I 'get' Alfas. I don't think they're notably pretty, high quality, reliable, practical or cheap are they? What gives?

Should one be considering them over Merc, BMW, Jag, Volvo etc? They're not even large enough to be especially barge-y.

And that noise.

Absolutely, just cos they aint as "barge like" in appearance to the Germanic/Nordic styling model, the 166 fits the bill!

P

[golfer19]

Riley Blue said:

W00DY said:

Sir Snaz said:

What do we think of the 166 chaps?.....deserving of being here?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2005-Alfa-Romeo-166-2-0-...

It's really nice, but I just don't think I want one without the V6 at any money.

Me neither. I could happily live with (or in) this:

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/a...

Picture of the pistonheads car.




Beautiful and worthy of this thread.

[Jimmy Recard]

I've had a nice drive around the East and West Midlands today. In the entire journey, I didn't see one 17 reg car



And I had a watch-related casualty - a spring bar let go. The NATO strap did its job

Edited by Jimmy Recard on Wednesday 1st March 17:53

[Jimmy Recard]

phil_cardiff said:

The 166 is as worthy of inclusion here as the E39 or W124 for me.

Yep, without a doubt. The 166 is not (to me) a lesser car than either of them. It's admittedly also (to me) not a greater car than either of those.

[sparks_E39]

golfer19 said:

Picture of the pistonheads car.




Beautiful and worthy of this thread.

Beautiful until you get to the headlights. Facelift was much improved.

[SpeckledJim]

W00DY said:

CharlesdeGaulle said:

I'm not sure I 'get' Alfas. I don't think they're notably pretty, high quality, reliable, practical or cheap are they? What gives?

Should one be considering them over Merc, BMW, Jag, Volvo etc? They're not even large enough to be especially barge-y.

And that noise.

I think I do 'get' the 166, and periodically think about getting one. I don't think there's any doubt that they aren't empirically as good as a BMW or Mercedes.

Styling wise, some proportions are a bit gawky, but there's some great jewellery and the scallop down the side is terrific. Interior boasts lovely seats (especially the rear) and nice door cards, but some distinctly 'shopping car' flavours to the dash, and a manual gearstick that makes me want to scream. (in a bad way).

Low and be-skirted like the red one above, I think they look pretty fabulous, but I'd feel a bit of a Charlie sat at lights in a car like that. The more restrained specs are lovely. But overall, it's not a great car, is it?

Though I'd like a mate to buy one.

[CharlesdeGaulle]

0a said:

Thanks all. It's a lovely city, and there are plenty of old mercs about.

I don't see most of the pictures whilst viewing at work, so I missed the one which allegedly shows an old merc but which, in fact, is a sneaky photo of a leggy Polish girl in a short skirt. Loving your work. Enjoy the trip!

[E24man]

Ahh, eastern european girls

Before Warsaw I was in a poverty-stricken Kiev for 18 months where catching a western boyfriend was de-rigueur for any pretty/leggy/fit/all-three Ukrainian beauty. Then I moved to Warsaw, help set-up a satellite office for a UK company and had to conduct interviews for a secretary; I had in fact seen wider belts than some of the mini-skirts that were worn and after a few see-through blouses the girl who wore one and forgot her bra was almost a shoe-in for the post.

[cat220]

Hammerhead said:

W00DY said:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ONE-OWNER-RARE1999-VOLVO...

Pipe and slippers minty Volvo. Or a classic race car apparently.

Like. My old man had one of those (but FWD form) in CD spec back in the day. Very wafty but would rip up the road when prodded. I'm sure the stereo system was by Dynaudio, not Bose as stated in this add.

I have one in estate form, been a great do everything car. That's quite a rare car, don't think I've ever seen an awd p1 saloon.

[0a]

CharlesdeGaulle said:

0a said:

Thanks all. It's a lovely city, and there are plenty of old mercs about.

I don't see most of the pictures whilst viewing at work, so I missed the one which allegedly shows an old merc but which, in fact, is a sneaky photo of a leggy Polish girl in a short skirt. Loving your work. Enjoy the trip!

How dare you?

Completely right, but there is a w124 passcard in that picture if you look hard enough

[BigBen]

bmthnick1981 said:

0a said:

bmthnick1981 said:

Chaps, we have had this;

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MERCEDES-S600-BITURBO-50...

But I can't remember what the collective wisdom was on it?

83 watchers but no offers yet.... I may be tempted to make an offer just wish it had black leather interior.

Jimmy R commented on me posting it: http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Great, thanks. Enquiry sent.

Enquiry? or offer

[dbdb]

The old beast passed its MOT today without any advisories, which was nice. The man at the garage commented on how good it is underneath.

[Pothole]

Jimmy Recard said:

I've had a nice drive around the East and West Midlands today. In the entire journey, I didn't see one 17 reg car

The West Midlands, especially, is the home of the vanity plate. Every second car in my village has one. Might be part of the reason.

[carinaman]

A previous Alfa 166 owner uploaded Autocar launch review to page two this thread:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

They have some appeal to me, but an appeal that's quite different to that of a 164, E34, 827Si or E39. Possibly the least troublesome way of owning a Busso powered Alfa? Or that would be an early 12 valve 164 with a solid rear subframe?

[ian316]

dbdb said:

The old beast passed its MOT today without any advisories, which was nice. The man at the garage commented on how good it is underneath.

wow very nice

[tobinen]

I'm another 166 fan though I've never owned one. I had a 2.5 156 for a bit and that was pretty good, never went wrong and sounded superb. Seats were not comfortable for me unfortunately.

Good news dbdb, very handsome motor car you have

[0a]

dbdb said:

The old beast passed its MOT today without any advisories, which was nice. The man at the garage commented on how good it is underneath.

Delightful

[BigBen]

We have had this one before perhaps one year ago

http://www.te.com/commerce/DocumentDelivery/DDECon...

It was at £7999 then but in the intervening period the climate control has stopped working and it has gone up by £2k. I spoke to the vendor at the time hoping to buy it for sub £4k which I think remains too much especially in absentia climate control.

Ben

[CharlesdeGaulle]

Wrong link Ben.

[Krikkit]

But still interesting!