| Author | Message | ||
     Mr_grumpy |
Had a little trip to Bremen this week to pick up my new (to me) set of wheels. It's an '04 Alfa Romeo 156 Sportwagon. Got the 2.4 5cyl diesel, 20v head common rail multi-jet injection. 175 horses & bucketfuls of torque. 6 sp manual box means it's well lively but economical cruising. I ran the autobahn all the way down through Germany running between 75 & 100 mph most of the time, 38 mpg. It's an ex company car dealer maintained, so doesn't need much doing, just a good clean & some front wheel bearings (one's a little rumbly). Due to the weird & wonderful convoluted taxation systems in Europe & it's member states, I paid less than half it's book value in France, as it was being sold for export only. I'm a happy bunny, now just got to do the French paperwork.     | ||
| Greg_e |
Maybe we should go with a wide and short plate like that in the USA, sure would be a lot closer to aerodynamic on the front bumpers of just about ever modern car. | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
That's a german export one, temporary registration, the date of expiration is in the yellow box. Rear plates are to a Euro spec these days so they can be "read" by number recognition systems. Big Brother is watching you! | ||
| Tbolt98 |
"Company car"... is that where the MV sticker came from or did you put it on? | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
Apparently the guy that had it rode one. I'll either have to buy one myself or get the hair-dryer out to warm it up & peel it off. As I'm pretty sure Madame G won't sanction an MV as yet another toy, the hair-dryer will probably be coming out. It's a pretty sticker though. | ||
| Britchri10 |
Don't leave it out in the rain..... Chris C | ||
| Kcfirebolt |
Gorgeous car. According to Top Gear, you're not a proper petrol head til you've owned one. In high school, my best friend had a '73 Spider Veloce, and we drove that think all over Kansas for two years. Needed some fiddling from time to time, and it was expensive to fix, but my God, how that car stirred the soul. I'm on my second Miata thanks to the memories of that Alfa. Last year, my friend sold his 2 1/2 Alfa Berlinas, because all three didn't add up to one good one. He promptly ran out and bought another Spider. He's a maschocist, and I love him for it. Great car. | ||
| Crusty |
Leave the sticker on it. It adds a touch more class to a vehicle that's oozing class. Nice car. I'm almost jealous. | ||
| Court |
I like that ! | ||
| Etennuly |
It looks like the kind of bullet that needs to be fired through a cross bow.  Smooth like butta! | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
THAT is a sexy beast. To bad we don't get any of the good cars in the US.  I want a pantheon of diesel cars to choose from. We get VW and Mercedes. | ||
| Xl1200r |
I wish we'd tell Italy to keep those new Fiat 500s they're shipping over here and hook us up with some Alphas instead. | ||
| Danger_dave |
Oh. A station wagon. | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
The new Dodge Dart is based on an enlarged Alfa Giulietta platform. Another benefit you may see in the US is in the handling department. All the Chrysler models that have been rebadged FIAT or Lancia, have had their suspension reworked to bring them up to What you'd expect from the Italians. So you may get some cross pollination. As for the 500s get hold of an Abarth version if you can, with a stick shift. It's a pocket rocket! But bang for the buck, go for the sport version & get it tuned, it'll be 95% as good as the Abarth but way cheaper, & more of a sleeper. Be great fun to run the Dragon with one if you could get a clear shot at it. My Alfa would be good too, but would be much better suited to howling the Cherahola. | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
Dave, this is one of those rare cases where the wagon is better than the sedan. Volvo T5 was the same, it was so much better that they used the wagon shell for the touring car racer back in the 80s. | ||
| Danger_dave |
Oh - a station wagon. :-P | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
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| Torquehd |
now Dave... we have to be nice. people these days get offended by such simple things as words. that's why i won't mention cars imitating mini-vans or anything of the like. | ||
| Danger_dave |
A friend of a friend is a Volvo T5 enthusiast. I said 'Oh - a station wagon'. | ||
| Danger_dave |
You know when my mrs came home with one of those four wheel contraptions:  I said 'Oh...a car.' | ||
| Guell |
I want a pantheon of diesel cars to choose from. We get VW and Mercedes. or porsche, or bmw, jeep had diesels for a short period. I too wish we had more of a selection of diesel cars though. | ||
| Aesquire |
Sweet! Personally, I prefer the wagon/estate version to the "regular car". Aerodynamically, there is an advantage, and it's way better for the "sleeper" aspects. Having a '09 Sportwagen TDI, and liking it, I'm envious of that Alfa. Getting 40mpg at 70mph, and being able to carry a lot of camping gear, including an entire medieval pavillion, in a car that is really a Mk5 GTI underneath..... is nice. However, the Mk5 VW looks like a shoe. That Alfa........ |
