These days, it’s rare for me to spot a 164 in my part of the Midwest, but when I do, I smile. Those Italians may not be able to make a car last like a Camry, but Toyota can’t make a Camry drive like an Alfa, and I think that’s just fine. The world is a better place for interesting cars like the 164.
If you’ve driven one, you know that the 164 has a certain athleticism to its movement. The engine revs freely, and power builds progressively in a way that feels far more natural than today’s engines with variable valve timing, variable intake manifolds, and other electronic aides. Steering is light but communicative. The ride is smooth, yet the 164 never wallows. And if the instrument cluster hadn’t burned up 10 years ago, you could verify you were doubling the caution speed through most curves. Ah, but I digress. The Alfa Romeo 164 urges you to drive, not think.
The Pininfarina styling, in a word, is unique. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone call a 164 beautiful, but I wouldn’t argue if someone said they were handsome in a way that many cars with a chiseled (if boxy) physique are. There’s as much scattered about the 164’s body to keep your eyes entertained as you’ll find this side of a late-’90s Grand Am, but it comes across better executed and more mature on the 164.
I myself have always been partial to the slim rear lights, which to my eye are very similar to the Subaru SVX’s. (So similar, in fact, that I had to look up who penned the Subie, and it was another Italian designer, Giugiaro.)
Driving an old beater of a car is nothing to fear, though I do have my limits. It takes a certain kind of person to own an aging Italian sedan of questionable build and materials quality. I’m not that guy, but I’m glad he exists, and he probably enjoys his drive to work more than me.
(Many thanks to Bryce, one of the Cohort’s most prolific photo posters, for the shots of this lovely 164. Visit the Cohort and see what’s going on!)
I had a 92 saab 9000, and I agree, the body was wonderful. Engine, without a turbo, not so much. The only good thing is I see a lot more 9000s on the road. Alfas are pretty rare.
For some reason I do not remember seeing one of these. Living in the country has it’s drawbacks.
With due respect to the enjoyable post, I must be a smart alec and point out that the 164’s styling was far from “unique,” since Pininfarina pretty much provided a Xerox for the Peugeot 605 (and to a lesser degree, the 405 — equally as rare in the Midwest, one can be sure).
I had the same thought when I wrote it, and almost didn’t, but I mostly meant unique compared to the bland stuff sold today, not unique as in entirely unlike any other car.
I remember the (slight) controversy when the Peugoet came out (I guess limited to the few who knew about these cars and the Euro mags) about the similarity. I really loved the looks of the Alfa back then, but today it looks more dated than the 605 – which still looks quite good.
I see a pretty decent red 164 driving around my town every once in a while. Still turns my head.
Yep, I -would- call the 605 beautiful.
Its funny that you mentioned the Camry, I always though this vintage Alfa and the late 1990-something Camry had more than a passing resemblance…..
It’s all in the taillights…
Ironically, that generation of Camry is probably the most conservative, but I think the best looking since that time. It was simple and honest, while each successive redesign has added weird bulges and awkward shapes to nearly every facet of the car.
I would agree except to update your statement to include only the 2000-2001 models. They’re essentially the same as the 1997-1999s, but with just enough added fluff look decidedly less austere than the 1997-1999 version.
They’re also the last Camry that is what I consider to be the “good” Toyota stuff.
I’ll bet he does have a fun commute…..
The hot version of one of these, was it a 164S?, used to me one of my morning commute nemesis, we would often duel for spaces in traffic, coming within inches of contact, that, combined with some full on foot to the floor 50mph to 120mph impromptu drag races made for exciting commute when the Alfa was around….
Definitely not beautiful, but striking indeed. I love the character line that continues all the way around the car – including the slimline taillights. I remember picking up an Alfa brochure at the Kansas City auto show in about ’89 or ’90 and catching flack about it from my high school buddy I was with. He liked the Camaros and those types, while I drooled over GTIs and weird Italians.
Rather than beautiful I would call it handsome
The midwest? Where were these photos taken? It appears to be Australia, judging by the RHD, unavailable-to-US Twin Spark engine, and other S. Pacific spec automobiles in the photos.
Shot in Napier New Zealand which had the most crowded car market anywhere there many cars in NZ that Australia didnt have plus all the used JDM imports that are still alive many of those used imports were of european origin, BMWs are particularly common. I try to shoot what I find unusual though just street scenes or used car lots would be full of exotica for some readers.
I like the looks of these, and remember seeing them and the Spyders at the Chicago Auto Show in the early ’90s. We would go up the day before and stay at a hotel. I seem to remember an Alfa dealer in LaGrange, where we usually stayed. I still have the ’92 and ’93 Alfa brochures I snagged at the show.
Same here, still have every pamphlet from every car show I’ve been to. I would have been about 10, but I can distinctly recall being blown away the first time I saw a pair of Alfa’s at the new car show in Oklahoma City, a Spider and a 164. Sitting in the spider with its Nardi wood wheel and shifter I thought it was more exotic than any other car I’d ever seen.
In terms of uniqueness… The 164 was part of the “Tipo Quattro” project, which included the Fiat Croma, Lancia Thema, and Saab 9000. Giugiaro did the Croma, Pininfarina the Thema and 164, and the Saab designed the 9000 in-house. The Peugeot 605 was done afterward by Pininfarina, on the Citroën XM platform, and while it looked similar, it wasn’t structurally related.
I really like the 164’s exterior styling, and it certainly sounds glorious.
I happen to know a guy who owns a 164 V6 that is in fairly decent nick (i.e. nothing major is broken)… He comes across as surprisingly normal until he starts talking about that Alfa! Logic, sense and reason have long since deserted the man when it comes to that car and he’s happy to keep pouring money in to it. Of course its still worth the equivalent of about 12,000 Dollars over here but that’s more a reflection of the state of our car market.
He’s enough of a good friend to let me drive it from time to time and I fully agree about the driving experience, it just feels more ALIVE in a way that only Alfa’s can seem to manage.
I’m still not quite brave (or is it foolhardy?) enough to take the plunge, but one day……
I took the sister car, a Peugeot 405, through several years of free beater commuting.
I wanted one of these Alfas for so damn long. But I could never find a good one. That old Peugeot was so easy to find parts for it was almost laughable. A friend of mine had 3 of them in his junkyard and I was his only customer for them.
Another fellow a few miles down the road had one with fewer than 50k miles. Unfortunately, he thought the car had gold bricks in the trunk. I think he ended up having it crushed after about 6 years of no takers.
Great cars for their time… it would be hard for me to choose between the 164S and the 405 M16.
drove a 91 164L for 5 years and 90k miles, and a rebuilt tranny was the only major item it needed. as reliable as any Ive owned, but watch that timing belt!
My father used to have a 164 V6 TB ’91. He kept it for 3-4 years, we went family trips, did a lot of stuff with this car. As a kid I was impressed by the ride (205 bhp in ’91 was like 400 bhp today) but the heavy smell of these italian leathers is still in my nose. He sold it considerably quick because alfa released the GTV which he bought in ’96 ( same V6 turbo engine). I drive it now, and after a 5.000 euros full service in 2010, it runs tip top and sometimes embarasses brand new GTi’s. But as for the 164, was at the top of the range of it’s class in the years it was built. Don’t forget that with the same amount of money you would have a Merc 190E for example, 2 tons heavy, lots of luxury, full of extras but only 110 bhp…
Correction : 164 V6 TB ’93