Well then, here you have it, CC friends, the final result of my most recent search for a new (to me) automotive millstone. Any of you who have read the entirety of my COAL series could probably have figured this out from a mile away, but I’ll admit to being quite surprised that a significant percentage of commenters on the previous post also expressed enthusiasm for the Italian choices (and nobody took the opportunity provided to justifiably call me a blithering idiot!)
All six of the final contenders were given serious consideration, and the rest were discounted for varying reasons. The first to fall were the two Mercs; the W123 simply doesn’t excite me very much, competent though it is, and although I adore the W124, it really does need to have a six cylinder engine to be at its best. I just don’t have the budget or time right now to commit to a conversion project unfortunately. The BMW was next to be discounted because while it was a fine driving car with sorted mechanicals, I didn’t want to get involved with serious rust surgery. Third place went to the Celica: while it had much to recommend it, the asking price was a bit too high, and the lack of rear seat space would be too much of an inconvenience too often.
Finally, the 156 is a car that has been on my all time “I must own one of these” list since it came out, but it lost out to the bigger sibling because of the Busso V6. It truly is one of the world’s great engines and I just could not turn down the opportunity to own one. The bonus of it being housed in a bigger and better built car also helped tip the scales. In an ideal world I’d own a 156 alongside the 166 but in this world, the 166 will do the job for now.
Rosso Alfa really is a very special colour
Since we all expect an Alfa to be troublesome, I did a lot of research before finally committing to buying the thing. Fortunately for me, enthusiasm for any model of Alfa is not in short supply and a lot of useful information is available on forums and on Facebook groups as well. I was very lucky to stumble onto a fantastic UK based group run by a lovely couple named Chris and Racheal, who are longstanding enthusiasts of the 166, having owned dozens of them. It turned out that they know the cars inside out and also run a workshop and parts business specialising in Alfas! This truly was a bit of luck and they patiently answered all my boneheaded questions and gave me a fair bit of confidence that the 166 would not necessarily be a nightmare to own.
Armed with my newfound knowledge, I had a series of chats with the owner, who turned out to be quite an interesting character and a proper car enthusiast and eventually we arrived at a price that would work for us both. He was only the second owner of the 166, and had owned it for over a decade. I was assured that no expense was spared as far as maintenance went, and a massive file full of invoices appeared to back that up, so I went ahead and collected the car, expecting to do some minor fettling before enjoying it.
The Busso, in need of some tidying up. Still amazing to look at!
There were two problems I knew I had to address immediately, the first one being that the timing belt was last replaced in 2018 according to records, despite the owner thinking it had been done in 2022. So that was immediately moved to the top of the to-do list, as it is vital on Alfas. The next issue was that the air conditioning was non functional, with an error appearing on the display screen, which again I was assured was something minor.
Another major issue to solve was who would work on the car. Sri Lanka has a couple of specialists for Italian cars but most of them don’t particularly want to work on 90s Alfas, saying that they are too much effort. The one guy who would take them on was known to be rather disorganised and somewhat unprofessional in his approach, so much so that the previous owner actually asked me to not take the car to him at all, which meant I was in a bit of a pickle. Luckily the owner of the workshop I get most of my work done at (who has become a good friend), agreed to take the car on as long as I could find him a workshop manual, which was fortunately available online.
Once all that was lined up, the car went into the shop and… has basically spent the last couple of months there. The timing belt job took some time because the parts needed to arrive from the UK and in the meantime, they also discovered that the car had several electrical issues including non functioning wipers, partly functioning lights, and more. When the timing parts finally arrived, they were fitted and once fired up, we discovered that an ignition coil was failing, which meant more waiting time for parts to arrive. Other neat surprises included malfunctioning ABS, failing clutch hydraulics, cooling system issues and brakes that needed overhauling. So much for a “well maintained car”!
And that’s what it looks like when taken apart.
As a result of all of the above, the last couple of months have been spent ticking off items one by one, and employing creativity to fix the more annoying issues, punctuated by sending many pounds to Chris and Racheal for a whole bunch of parts, which fortunately they always seem to get their hands on. Fortunately it seems like the car is getting closer to being ready to roll, I even managed a test drive last week and it felt really nice, even with half the interior disassembled. The Busso V6 is incredibly smooth and loves to rev, making a truly evocative growl when doing so. It moves the 166 along pretty briskly as well, but I wasn’t able to do a very long drive so more in depth impressions will have to wait.
Parked next to its market leading competitor, the E39 BMW 5 Series
Anyway the brief drive did make me impatient for more, so the hype really does seem to be real. I also really like the way it looks, which is apparently a bit of a controversial opinion. Sure, it’s not as good looking as the little sister 156, but it has presence and looks very impressive in the metal. A lot of people take issue with the front end of the early cars and prefer the facelift, which looks more conventionally pretty, but to me the original styling is more striking and looks more unique. The interior, with the lovely tan Momo leather, is an exceptionally nice place to be too.
The Italians sure do know how to do a sense of occasion
So that is pretty much the status as of now, as we inch towards the day it is a functioning car again and on the road. It’s not like any of this was particularly unexpected since it is a 20 plus year old Alfa Romeo, after all and I fully knew what I was getting into. A quote attributed to Jeremy Clarkson goes “You cannot be a true petrolhead until you’ve owned an Alfa Romeo; until you’ve experienced that emotional rollercoaster of pain, frustration, rage and heartache, all leading up to that one golden, shining moment where everything important works and you’re on a nice road”. The man can be a bit of a blowhard, but I think he may have been on to something there.
Wish me luck!
Congrats, oh how I envy you!
Right engine, right color and right nose, just put those 17inch 5 spoke rims on and its perfect.
Pictures dont really justify its beautiful lines,. First time I saw one in the flesh I got stuck staring for half an hour, which is a comfort if its not running.
Hope to buy one myself one day, but right now priorities have to be elsewhere.
Hope Sajivw enjoys compiling his own “massive file full of invoices”… LOL!
The engine isn’t really “taken apart” in that 5th picture… just the runners off and valve covers removed… hope it never needs really taken apart…
Hope he comes back with a driving experience video.
Last December I picked up a winter beater 20 years old 1995 Pontiac Grand Prix in red… just hopped in and been driving it. The smooth 200 netHP 3800 V6 is such an improvement from the early rough weak Buick V6s. The claimed 142 MPH top speed surprised me. 20 MPG city/30 MPG hiway. Think I’ll sell it now in Spring and pick up an old Jeep or Corvette, since I likely won’t find an old cheap Pantera…
Love the red. Always lusted after the 164 and 164S here in the states. I was excited at the start of you’re article but then apprehensive once reading about all the unknown non disclosed problems encountered and months in the shop… Presently I’m on my 2nd market leading competitor, that being a 2002 e39 530i… First was a 99 528i.. Also owning my 5th e34, a93 525 sedan.. Purchased from the 2nd owner of the last 24 years… Both needed deferred maintainance performed but I love driving each with their own distinct characteristics.. You’ve kind of reaffirmed why I haven’t made the jump to the Alfa. Good luck with it, hope you can drive it regularly soon. Pretty car
Congratulations, my friend.
True to form, it’s a very nice Alfa. I hope you enjoy it and that you can explore your beautiful country in the company of your new car.
Best of luck!.
Congratulations! Stunning automobile in the right color. Looking forward to reading more of your adventure once she’s all sorted.
Yes, I do wish you luck! And congratulations, a very special car indeed.
A well maintained car ranks up there with ran when parked. Both need to be taken with a grain of salt immediately. I have ridden once in an early 72 Spider and a 74 Giulia when new. Sensuous. However the one I’d actually like to own would be the GTV 2000 from the early 70s.
Nice car, nice colour those Busso engines are great I hear, a cousin has one in a roadster, given the other choices i would have picked the Alfa, not being able to source parts easily is pretty normal to me now after 3 Citroens and its also normal to have to explain my car to anybody who works on it, Youre going to enjoy driving that car and thats what its all about.