The recent Honda Civic Tourer COAL required a photo of a Civic hatchback, and since there are two of these parked on a street near my home, I duly set off over there. As is always the case, both Civics were absent but the local resident Alfisti had most of his cars parked relatively close to each other. Quite convenient, really.
I mean, the other two Alfa Romeos owned by this guy are a modern Giulietta (type 940) and a clover-leaf MiTo, or maybe the MiTo replaced the Giulietta- I can’t keep up. Anyway. the interesting stuff was on site:
Two 164s were present, this one above is a very late-model “Super”, that could be a V6, judging by its wheels.
And here is another, mid-life 164 “Super” that you need not guess if is a V6, because it says so on the boot-lid. I find this two-tone much better than the all-white later car. The earlier 164 looked even better, as you can see here. And perhaps that linked 164 also belongs to the same person, as it was parked on an opposite street to where all the other Alfas are.
This to me is the most controversial Alfa, the “new” Spider. I could never warm up to its shape. Never mind about the front-wheel-drive, that some might consider blasphemy in an Alfa; it’s not pretty, and I fail to see where Alfas of old manifest in its styling. Still, the Spider/ GTV came at a time when Alfa were as low as they could go, having been sold to Fiat only few years before. This specific example is one of the early, mid-1990s ones.
And finishing off with a modern Alfa that is a complete styling victory. The 159 is executed so much better than the Spider, and to me, is possibly the prettiest modern Alfa.
It seems this collector is becoming a victim of the well known “too many cars, not much time to manage them” syndrome. As I was walking by yesterday, I noticed a ticket under the two-tone 164’s wiper, no doubt for not moving the car for over two months- in Israel, this is cause for a nuisance ticket. Maybe one of the neighbors across the street complained, having had enough of the Alfa fleet.
I’ll take them all. 😀 And that’s not just an Alfa lover, but a modern Alfa lover although it’s somewhat surprising to think that the 164s are around a quarter century old!
Now I see where the 97-99 Camry got it’s back end from.
I was thinking the exact same thing. When I first saw the opening picture, I didn’t have my glasses on…so I thought I was looking at a Camry.
To echo Jim’s comment, it’s hard to believe the 164 is as old as it is… it still looks good to me.
And, Yohai, as much as I’ve tried to warm to the avant garde styling of the reborn Spider, I can’t get over certain aspects of it, especially how the trunk looks so droopy in profile. I think I like it more as an art piece or statement.
Great selection – thanks for sharing these!
The 164 still looks good to me too. I occasionally see them, around (though never two at once), and always think the same thing… this design as aged remarkably well.
I still miss my 164. It may have shared some design with Fiat/Lancia/Saab but it had the soul of an Alfa. Beautiful, comfortable, good handling, able to eat up the miles, and it even made torque steer fun.
Alfas get into your blood. They are few cars that are alive and so eager to fast as an Alfa. The 164’s are an overlooked gem. Bosch electrics and heating systems with Japanese A/C components. With regular oil changes the V6 motors will do well over 200,000 miles, provided you don’t neglect the timing belts.
As ever, thanks for your comments.