Today's bought unseen - last of the boxer Alfas - the 145

[shouldbworking]

There's nothing less advisable than buying unseen off ebay right? I've done that a few times and so far haven't ended up with anything too awful (although the rx7 with an overheating problem and sills crafted of filler was close).

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you.. buying unseen off facebook.

"Very rare flat 4 145 and in amazing condition, I got it from a house clearance where the car was kept in a heated and carpeted garage it's whole life! Full service history from the dealership it was sold at. No rust at all and will happily take pictures of underneath or anywhere to show this"






I'll be travelling to the middle of nowhere on Thursday to collect. It looks alright to my eyes..

MOT history shows it hasn't really done any mileage lately, or had any history of rusty advisories... cambelt is overdue on age if not mileage so that'll be first on the list if it makes it home.

I've had an Alfasud sprint before (along with a variety of cheap italian motors) and loved the boxer noise. Shame I couldn't find a 16v version of the 145 but I'll take condition over the engine spec.

Odds of it making it home? haven't told the wife about it yet

[SVX]

That's awesome - I had a late 33 1.7. i.e. The engine is a peach and loves to be revved. Some subtle period Alfa alloys from a Cloverleaf and that would be perfect.

[MDMA .]

Looks very nice. More pics

[Kitchski]

Very cool. Guessing it needs a new exhaust hanger, first off!

[HorneyMX5]

This is awesome.

[shouldbworking]

Lesson 1 : When explaining to your dearly beloved why you decided to purchase a car without her knowledge, avoid the phrase "because I don't need your permission to spend my money".

And yes, I think a new exhaust hanger is likely too. And some nice alfa teledials. Maybe the interior from a cloverleaf.

Pity I didn't keep the wheels from my last foray into alfa ownership



I wasn't much of a fan of the GTV. The twinspark engine whilst strong and revvy, drank ridiculous amounts of oil.

Taking a step further back to something more relevant from my Alfa history

Rough as badgers. but it was only £400



Anyone looking to build arm muscle just needs to drive one of these. Very heavy steering!


And the link to todays purchase. If memory serves, twin 40 carbs and a slightly antisocial stainless exhaust


I sold the sprint after the clutch slave failed and when the flatbed arrived it pulled the entire towhook assembly from the car whilst winching it on. Chap came down from up north and spent about 8 hours on the driveway trying and failing to replace the clutch slave. Eventually wedged it into position and drove it home - called me up a week later to say how pleased he was with it!

[Mr Tidy]

shouldbworking said:

Odds of it making it home? haven't told the wife about it yet

Based on the 2nd part of your sentence, is taking it home a good idea?

Looks good in the photos though - good luck!

[classicaholic]

Good luck, the last Alfa I bought unseen (72 spider) had newspapers in the Sill’s to give the bog shape, couldn’t get the headlights to work on way home in the dark either but still had fun in it though!

[spreadsheet monkey]

shouldbworking said:

Shame I couldn't find a 16v version of the 145 but I'll take condition over the engine spec.

Looks great in the photos. Agree with prioritising condition/history over spec. Interested to see how you get on with it!

Edited by spreadsheet monkey on Tuesday 6th November 16:23

[Butter Face]

OP, are you travelling to Cornwall to collect this?

[shouldbworking]

Butter Face said:

OP, are you travelling to Cornwall to collect this?

Yep

[Butter Face]

shouldbworking said:

Butter Face said:

OP, are you travelling to Cornwall to collect this?

Yep

Redruth way?

I’ve seen the car and met the owner, nice lad and a nice car, loved the dash arrangement!

[Uncle John]

Good find that man!!!! Looks in fine fettle.

Does it say ‘1.6’ on the back? Can’t make it out, didn’t know there was a 1.6.

[Butter Face]

Uncle John said:

Good find that man!!!! Looks in fine fettle.

Does it say ‘1.6’ on the back? Can’t make it out, didn’t know there was a 1.6.

Yeah it’s a 1.6 flat 4, quirkly little car and sounds ace.

[Spinakerr]

Fantastic. Keep us posted on the collection, I've no doubt it'll get home, just do give you enough false confident to begin pouring money into it.

Do check all the rear glass seals - should be fine if in a garage but given the season it may just start to reveal leaks and the like once out in the open.

[Uncle John]

Butter Face said:

Uncle John said:

Good find that man!!!! Looks in fine fettle.

Does it say ‘1.6’ on the back? Can’t make it out, didn’t know there was a 1.6.

Yeah it’s a 1.6 flat 4, quirkly little car and sounds ace.

Yep, great little engines. Had a 33 1.5ti & a Sportwagon 16v. The 1.5 sounded better than the 16v.

[shouldbworking]

Well, that was a long day!

Caveat - no new photos yet

If you are ever wanting to feel good about buying a car, regardless of what it is, take public transport there. Something about buses and trains seems to attract people with the worst possible personal hygiene.

Total journey time on the way down 5.5 hours. I don't know how I failed to realise this, but Cornwall is a long way away!

The owner met me in the station car park, so I could tick off another on my rules that shouldn't be broken list by not seeing the car start from cold. Plus, it'd been raining so that was another opportunity to tick another shouldn't do.

I looked over the car briefly and went yep. Probably should have actually started it before I handed over the money but hey.

The extensive service history, complete with 2 red keys.


And it was hop into it for the 180 mile return journey. Pulling away for the first time was an immediate grin from the boxer noise being there even at low revs, and also that the clutch felt nearly new (done 20k miles ago having looked at the history).

It got home without missing a beat, although spending 3 hours in the interior of it has definitely picked up a few things on the priority list

• Drivers door seal is shot, as you'd expect really after 148k miles - so much wind noise!
• Sunroof in general. Not sure if it's factory fit or not, but it whistles slightly, and there's evidence of a leak in the past that has left the headlining looking fairly sorry for itself
• All the speakers are blown
• The (factory) radio is awful
• Not sure if it's factory or not, but the indicator noise sounds like one of those penny buzzers you learned electronics with in school

It also brought to life just how much car interiors have improved since the mid 90s. If you were to compare this to a 147, it's light years apart compared to the small gap between this and the 33 interior. In fact, the only real change is that the pedal box is more sensibly located. The steering wheel still does a superb job of obscuring the top half of the dials and the indicator stalks are impossible to see, combined with them being fiendishly complex. Was it really necessary to put the rear screen demister control on the indicator stalks??

Photos to follow, but I think it's a good buy and worthy of some more investment

[shouldbworking]

I had a genuine laugh out loud today upon inspecting the boot contents.. I think it's safe to say it's been enthusiast owned

[Kitchski]

Excellent! I'm quite jealous actually. One of these would have been a decent alternative to my C4 VTS, especially with a boxer!

[was8v]

Brilliant a mate had a rusty one at Uni. Well done for saving this one!

I remember him paying far more for a belt change that for the car, sure it was a couple of metres long.

Make a lovely noise but I wasn't convinced of the driving position ergonomics.

Aren't they closely related to a fiat tipo underneath like the GTV and coupe?