If you like Alpha Romeo's

[FlashDrive]

Spent the day at the Glass House Mountains Cafe for Lunch...!!

This was in the Car Park ...!!

Nice Car if you like Alpha's

[glend]

It is a recent 4C Spider I believe. Like all Alfas lovely when new, but requires extensive maintenance to keep nice. The paint does not hold up well in the Australian sun, but hopefully it will always be garaged. I have been looking for an old (20 year) Alfa project car on Gumtree and Carsales. The bargains are on Gumtree, a few nice Spiders and GTVs, but they need alot of work. Alfa auto transmissions of the last 20 years are junk, always buy a manual if your looking. Auto usually are very cheap. They also need cam timing belts changed more frequently than other cars, and that is expensive.

[xelasnave]

I had an Alpha once, great car, but the power band was like a two stroke race bike...when it came on it went from pussy cat to mountain lion...
Nice looking car there Flash thank you for sharing your experience here.
Alex

[julianh72]

Has any single car brand made as many desirable cars as Alfa Romeo? The 4C may just be the 2nd most gorgeous car of all time. (And no, I'm not thinking of the Ferrari 250 GTO or the E-Type Jaguar - the Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 Stradale wins this poll for me! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfa_Romeo_33_Stradale )

I've always believed that every car enthusiast should own one Alfa Romeo in their life; indeed - is it possible to call yourself a car enthusiast if you've never owned an Alfa?

Having owned one Alfa (my first car, Roxanne - "You don't have to put on the red light"), I'll add that owning one Alfa is generally enough for any sane person in one lifetime. (Borrowing a mate's Alfetta for the occasional weekend run is a much better proposition - a bit like how the best swimming pool is your neighbour's, to avoid all the grief and cost of owning one.)

It was the car that I loved more than any car I've owned since - and it was the least realiable and most frustrating car that I've ever owned. When it was "on song", it was an absolute delight to drive; but before the drive, there was always that moment of trepidation: "Please, Roxanne - please start for me today!"

Like all Alfas of the 70s era, Roxanne had that gearbox quirk that a downshift from 3rd to 2nd gear was impossible to achieve until you mastered the "Alfa Figure-4 shift" - a smooth U-turn sweep from 3rd to ALMOST engage 1st, before sliding smoothly down into 2nd, in one smooth continuous motion. (Only other Alfistas will understand!)

[vlazg]

Had an Alfetta GTV late 70’s still miss it. :sadeyes:

[The_bluester]

I have driven a 4C on track for a couple of laps, great little thing even if the "Not my car" effect led to me driving it pretty quietly.

[julianh72]

This weekend's Weekend Australian has an actual car review by Jeremy Clarkson - the Alfaholics GTA-R, a modern-day rebuild of the 1960s Alfa GTA. How does 830 kg / 179 kW, with classic Alfa looks and handling sound?

Yes, it's absurdly expensive (over $500,000!), but it's got me wondering: do I REALLY need a house to live in? If I owned a GTA-R, I would spend so much time on the road that owning a house would seem like an extravagance!

Pay-walled article here:
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/life/motoring/alfaholics-gtar-290-review-is-this-how-well-resurrect-the-supercar/news-story/989f150d351d3de785387381a48ef0e3
(Or buy a copy at the newsagency.)