Keen to own something that he could get his hands dirty with again, for both mechanical fiddling and track day fun, Philip O'Hara bought his Alfa Romeo 145 Cloverleaf a couple of months ago. "The car is not so valuable that I can't truly ruin it," he says, "plus I'm fortunate enough to have other cars I can use if I can't get something fixed in a day."
"I'd been looking for a decent 145 for about 6 months with little joy, when this one turned up just 15 minutes from my doorstep. No rust, full history and only 38,000 miles on the clock so I just had to have it (it has also been owned by another PH'er too in its past). I paid £1,200 for it."
Philip's car is standard apart from the Momo wheel and a pair of Koni shocks on the rear, both of which he's added during his brief ownership.
And what a cracking little car it is. Of all the cars here, it feels most like a traditional hot hatch - lightweight, eager and with a rasping, revvy 2.0-litre motor. It's not super-fast, but it wants to be hustled along, and the Alcantara-covered wheel really suits the hyperactively responsive steering.
So far, so Alfa. It doesn't feel creaky or rattly, though, as conventional wisdom might have it. Perhaps that's a function of a lightweight 38k mileage, or the fact that it has obviously been well looked-after. Whatever, this is a surprisingly solid little cube of fun.
In short, the Alfa is quite a surprise and, thanks to its distinctly un-hot hatch looks, a fine hidden gem for those hankering after traditional hot hatch thrills.