Friday 27th May 2011

SOTW: Alfa Romeo 156 Sportwagon

Shed gets in 'estate' over a semi-practical Italian

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With our recent feature on fast estates still fresh in the mind, Shed has also been turning its attention on sporty wagons, albeit of a more humble variety.

Thus when we spotted this Alfa 156 Sportwagon up for just £650 we knew we had found today's Shed of the Week.

Okay, so its 1.8-litre engine means it won't keep up with the RS4 Avants of this world, but nor is 144bhp and 0-62mph in 9.6secs too shabby. Especially for £650.

Another significant plus is the fact that this 156 is actually a runner. Too often when on a trawl for a Shed you'll find a sub-£1k Alfa Romeo 156, get all excited and then discover, upon opening the advert, that it needs a replacement engine.

The boot is hardly what you would call capacious, but that is the price you pay for such sensuously flowing lines, and if you need lots of boot space, well, buy a Volvo. But if you can compromise on cargo capacity, then you'll be treated to one of nature's most characterful four-pot engines, lovely looks (including the 'proper' telephone-dial alloys), a curvy, evocative interior and - er - the fact that it's not a Volvo...

Heck, it's even got tax until September and MOT until November, and hopefully those key lines will polish out. For £650 it is mighty tempting. If it wasn't in Wrexham, it would quite likely have found its way into the car park at PH Towers. Even as it is there are a more than a couple of wallets twitching in the PH office...

Advert is reproduced below

Alfa 156 Sportswagon 1.8 taxed and tested cheap (2001)
118 miles £650

Selling my Alfa Sportswagen, its a 2001 Y plate and has covered 116k. The car runs and drives great and comes with alloys, remote locking electric windows etc.

Some numpty has keyed down both sides it may polish out hence mega cheap price. This will make a reliable second car or workhorse for someone.

Taxed until September and Mot'd until November so she's ready to go.

First with £650.00 drives it away

 

[sklar]

Great SOTW, esp now you can get a cambelt and variator change for less than £400 nowadays.

ETA: Shame its not a couple of months older so it comes in under the non-emissions based car tax system.

Edited by sklar on Friday 27th May 11:02

[sjg]

Has the Recaro seats too, albeit cloth versions.

[Rollcage]

Gone by the end of the day at that price.

[G524]

Lovely, lovely shed. And it would hold a drum kit. It's a winner. Would the owner like to swap for a 328i Touring, and exactly no money I wonder...

[theturbs]

Can't go wrong at that price, given tax and MoT too - great shed!

[p4cks]

Lovely looking cars. My Dad had one as a company car when they were new. Silver, with red leather and as a 18/19 year old I absolutely loved driving it. Although it was temperamental at times (electrics used to cut out whilst driving, like when I was approaching a roundabout at some knots and the car packed in, steering lock came on, no ABS and no PAS! I had to bump start it in 3rd) it was a joy to drive.

[Ray Singh]

Reminds me of the time i went to the local Alfa dealer after my Audi A4 1.9 tdi gave up the ghost at 300k miles.
I asked if many of the JTD versions came in with high mileage. The salesman assured me that they saw several cars with star ship mileage of up to 120k miles.

i walked away quite fast.

[soxboy]

Very tempting, however have just picked up my own SOTW who I've named 'Hildegard'

1993 Merc E280 wagon (W124) for the princely sum of £400. MoT Feb 2012, private plate, leccy sunroof, 1 out of 4 working windows (thankfully driver's one) and only mildly knackered engine.

[pSyCoSiS]

That's alot of car for the money.

Very stylish-looking estate car, even if not the most practical one.

Good SOTW.

And before people slay Alfas - they should own one first! I bought one last year - a 166 in Alfa Red, and it was superb. Looked good, drove well enough, and had a nice interior.

Suppose you have to be lucky enough to have a good one in the first place!

[shouldbworking]

Ray Singh said:

Reminds me of the time i went to the local Alfa dealer after my Audi A4 1.9 tdi gave up the ghost at 300k miles.
I asked if many of the JTD versions came in with high mileage. The salesman assured me that they saw several cars with star ship mileage of up to 120k miles.

i walked away quite fast.

Umm. firstly, this isnt a JTD. Secondly, to a salesman anything over 100k is going to be starship mileage, because the average numpty thinks cars assplode at that mileage.

Anyway, good shed if not much of a risk!

[Mr E]

Run one for years. It just seems to keep going...

[sjg]

How many cars come back to a main dealer after 3 or 4 years? Of those, how many are going to be on 100k or more?

It's hardly surprising that to someone who's given a new car to tool around in every 6 months and never sees many cars over a few years old that 6-figure mileages are going to seem enormous. Wouldn't be surprised to hear the same from an Audi salesman too.

[McAndy]

Just e-mailed The Whiff. Might take a trip this weekend!

[antspants]

My wife used to own a 2.0 JTS version in dark grey with black leather, some kind of sport Veloce? version, and it was lovely.

I've always been a BM fan and there were things I didn't like about it, such as the driving position, the surprisingly impractical boot for an estate, too light steering, bit slow off the mark, the engine management light being almost permanently on even though there was nothing wrong with it, but it kind of got under your skin and was a really fun drive. I also recall one of my mates getting in and declaring that it was nicer than the M3 I owned at the time - gutted!

Oh and the hidden rear door handles were a great piece of design

She wrote it off unfortunately and although I wanted her to get a 159 SW which are the one of the best looking cars available imo, she decided as our little boy was a bit older she didn't need anything as big so bought a Mini.

[dbdb]

The 156 is such a pretty car, particularly as an estate and is worth having for that alone. The lack of leather is a shame, the way their leather seats are styled is one of the Alfa's best features. I'd check the engine over carefully though.
It is an excellent shed this week - there have been a few interesting cars chosen lately.

David

[liquidken]

What kind of fuel consumption would you expect with one of those?

[FWDRacer]

This a better punt than that Montreal

[anything fast]

a cambelt change from a dealer will cost as much as the price of this heap.... avoid!!

[cadoganpier]

something appears to have eaten a chunk out of the dash just to the right of the ignition?! or am I missing something....

[RicksAlfas]

I still think these are one of the most elegant mass produced cars ever. Really lovely looking car.
Great shed.