Alfa Romeo Brera 1750 TBI - Cat N the restoration
Discussion
I originally bought my Brera TBI on a whim when I was at home one Sunday and spotted the car for sale on AT in April 2019. The car was in East London and I struck up a rapport with the owner at the time - Alex. After an exchange of messages and establishing the car had a very, very comprehensive service history including receipts and meticulously detailed spreadsheet, I arranged to go and see the car the following weekend.
I viewed the car as planned and found the car to be exactly as described, with Alex having also provided further pictures and videos as requested. I test drove the car and the deal was struck at £4600. What's the catch I hear you ask as that's very cheap for a Brera TBI (to this day the cheapest Brera 1750 I've seen), miles and lots of them 126,000 of them. Whilst for most cars this isn't a considerable mileage, it is for a Brera TBI, bearing in mind the newest ones are now 11 years old and the majority that come up for sale have less than 100,000 miles.
I ran the car almost every day for the first few months and then put it in for service which included suspension overhaul, tyres, an exhaust flexi amongst other things, £1200 later the car was running like a dream.
I did another 7,000 trouble free months over the following 12 months with few expenses service wise other than tyres etc. The car was used less frequently and in September 21, had a new pads and discs all round as well as rear suspension struts as the originals had become severely corroded.
Fast forward to may this year and unfortunately numb nuts here pulled out a junction misjudging the intentions of a van driver who I thought was turning left and in fact went straight on. No messing about, I admitted liability (well there wasn't much else I could say - I hit his van!) but unfortunately the insurers were not interested in repairing the Brera even though the damage as minor and so the car was declared Cat N.
Following a conversation with the insurers I agreed to buy the salvage back at £750 and this has given me the opportunity to not only repair the accident damage but address the stone chipped paintwork, which was showing all of it's now 142,000 miles.
Fortunately for me, I have a good friend who has restored a number of Alfas of his own and he agreed to carry out the repairs for me. Because it's not a full-time job, it means my mate can only work on the car a couple of days or so a month, however there is no rush to get the car back on the road.
This is how the car looked in the summer of 2021. Pretty much original other than I'd added 19" TI alloys and carbon interior pack for the steering wheel, fascia and console.
This car was originally registered July 2010 in Kent, it's one of 65 1750 TBI Breras that were registered in the UK. The car was lauched late 2009 with the first deliveries in the spring of 2010, production of the Brera ceased in around September 2010, so a very short production life for this model hence the low numbers.
The 1750 is the the early version of the engine which would be used in the 4C, however by the time of the launch of the 4C in 2014 it was now an alloy block saving considerable weight.
The Brera was never a sports car, and it was never going to be at nigh on 2 tonnes!!! However, it's a great GT car provided there is only 2 of you. There are seats in the back but they're virtually useless with no leg room. The Brera does have a generous boot which means it's ideal for road trips.
May 2022, here is a photo of the car immediately after the accident. The damage was contained to the bumper, grille and cross member.
Front end stripped down;
Having stripped the front the focus has then focussed on repairing the bumper and addressing the rust and pitting on the wheel arches;
With the arches cleaned up the car is now being stripped down so that all the scars of 12 years on the road can be addressed;
We knew the car had an impact nearside front, in fact this is documented in the history that came with the car including details of the repairs carried out by the Alfa Romeo dealer when the car was still only around 18 months old. We've also established there have been some smart repairs carried out over the years, this is to be expected to be honest.
The car is structurally sound, the subframes are notoriously porous on these. The door cards have been off a number of times in the past, as has the rear bumper mainly due to faulty parking sensors.
This might seem like a lot of effort for a high-mileage Alfa Brera, however I love this car. It makes no sense, it's not particularly sporty but it's just got under my skin.
I will try to keep this thread up to date as work continues to get her back on the road.
Thanks for reading.
I viewed the car as planned and found the car to be exactly as described, with Alex having also provided further pictures and videos as requested. I test drove the car and the deal was struck at £4600. What's the catch I hear you ask as that's very cheap for a Brera TBI (to this day the cheapest Brera 1750 I've seen), miles and lots of them 126,000 of them. Whilst for most cars this isn't a considerable mileage, it is for a Brera TBI, bearing in mind the newest ones are now 11 years old and the majority that come up for sale have less than 100,000 miles.
I ran the car almost every day for the first few months and then put it in for service which included suspension overhaul, tyres, an exhaust flexi amongst other things, £1200 later the car was running like a dream.
I did another 7,000 trouble free months over the following 12 months with few expenses service wise other than tyres etc. The car was used less frequently and in September 21, had a new pads and discs all round as well as rear suspension struts as the originals had become severely corroded.
Fast forward to may this year and unfortunately numb nuts here pulled out a junction misjudging the intentions of a van driver who I thought was turning left and in fact went straight on. No messing about, I admitted liability (well there wasn't much else I could say - I hit his van!) but unfortunately the insurers were not interested in repairing the Brera even though the damage as minor and so the car was declared Cat N.
Following a conversation with the insurers I agreed to buy the salvage back at £750 and this has given me the opportunity to not only repair the accident damage but address the stone chipped paintwork, which was showing all of it's now 142,000 miles.
Fortunately for me, I have a good friend who has restored a number of Alfas of his own and he agreed to carry out the repairs for me. Because it's not a full-time job, it means my mate can only work on the car a couple of days or so a month, however there is no rush to get the car back on the road.
This is how the car looked in the summer of 2021. Pretty much original other than I'd added 19" TI alloys and carbon interior pack for the steering wheel, fascia and console.
This car was originally registered July 2010 in Kent, it's one of 65 1750 TBI Breras that were registered in the UK. The car was lauched late 2009 with the first deliveries in the spring of 2010, production of the Brera ceased in around September 2010, so a very short production life for this model hence the low numbers.
The 1750 is the the early version of the engine which would be used in the 4C, however by the time of the launch of the 4C in 2014 it was now an alloy block saving considerable weight.
The Brera was never a sports car, and it was never going to be at nigh on 2 tonnes!!! However, it's a great GT car provided there is only 2 of you. There are seats in the back but they're virtually useless with no leg room. The Brera does have a generous boot which means it's ideal for road trips.
May 2022, here is a photo of the car immediately after the accident. The damage was contained to the bumper, grille and cross member.
Front end stripped down;
Having stripped the front the focus has then focussed on repairing the bumper and addressing the rust and pitting on the wheel arches;
With the arches cleaned up the car is now being stripped down so that all the scars of 12 years on the road can be addressed;
We knew the car had an impact nearside front, in fact this is documented in the history that came with the car including details of the repairs carried out by the Alfa Romeo dealer when the car was still only around 18 months old. We've also established there have been some smart repairs carried out over the years, this is to be expected to be honest.
The car is structurally sound, the subframes are notoriously porous on these. The door cards have been off a number of times in the past, as has the rear bumper mainly due to faulty parking sensors.
This might seem like a lot of effort for a high-mileage Alfa Brera, however I love this car. It makes no sense, it's not particularly sporty but it's just got under my skin.
I will try to keep this thread up to date as work continues to get her back on the road.
Thanks for reading.
You've done a very nice job there, car looks great. Interested to hear your thoughts on the 1.75 tbi, I've got the same motor in the family giulietta and while it pulls very nicely to the redline I've been a bit disappointed by the rev hang, shifting at the redline in a hurry is pretty tricky as it feels like it takes a couple of seconds for the revs to drop once you lift off the accelerator. Wondered if you'd noticed the same and They All Do That, Sir.
shalmaneser said:
You've done a very nice job there, car looks great. Interested to hear your thoughts on the 1.75 tbi, I've got the same motor in the family giulietta and while it pulls very nicely to the redline I've been a bit disappointed by the rev hang, shifting at the redline in a hurry is pretty tricky as it feels like it takes a couple of seconds for the revs to drop once you lift off the accelerator. Wondered if you'd noticed the same and They All Do That, Sir.
I've also previously had a Giulietta TBI and can't say I experienced that characteristic or noticed it. 
Alfahorn said:
shalmaneser said:
You've done a very nice job there, car looks great. Interested to hear your thoughts on the 1.75 tbi, I've got the same motor in the family giulietta and while it pulls very nicely to the redline I've been a bit disappointed by the rev hang, shifting at the redline in a hurry is pretty tricky as it feels like it takes a couple of seconds for the revs to drop once you lift off the accelerator. Wondered if you'd noticed the same and They All Do That, Sir.
I've also previously had a Giulietta TBI and can't say I experienced that characteristic or noticed it. 
Much respect to the chap who has been going to the unit after work all week to work on my car after doing a full day at work. He works in a bodyshop (a very good bodyshop) and is doing my car as a private job in the evenings.
So, as you'll see a lot of work has been done on sorting the imperfections in the bodywork and preparing it for paint.
So, as you'll see a lot of work has been done on sorting the imperfections in the bodywork and preparing it for paint.
The car is now in the process of being painted. We're hoping the car will be ready about 10 days. The majority of the car is now painted with the bonnet & bumpers due to be done separately because of space limitations.
The plan is to paint the brake callipers gloss black and now I'm in the process of buying bits to finish the car including new badges, a roof spoiler (original), fog lights etc. Really happy with the progress made.
The plan is to paint the brake callipers gloss black and now I'm in the process of buying bits to finish the car including new badges, a roof spoiler (original), fog lights etc. Really happy with the progress made.
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