Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Rick]

I read something the other day that suggests Alfa is going to focus more on SUVs, and much less on overtly sporting cars - which is pretty depressing if true. An Alfa has yet to grace the driveway here at OCC HQ, but has anyone here experience of owning one?

RJ
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[alastairq]

Two Alfa 33s back in the last century...the last one being one of Alfa's Motor Show cars.....with all the tricks.

Proper driver's cars......biggest letdown Alfas had, was the fitment of passenger seats!

Our first 33 was a Green Cloverleaf model....1700 cc flat 4 engine.....with a pair of Weber 40 downdraughts...effectively one choke per cylinder.....fuel injection, almost. As they were wife #2's cars really, we used to get them serviced by Bogg Bros [of East Lutton], where old man David Bogg would also 'tune' them on his rolling road.....

For a couple of tenners, he re-jetted the webers adding a good 20 or so bhp overall..[boogered up the fuel consumption, however]....
Second 33 had fuel injection...my [eldest]son became an ardent enthusiast of the marque.....he discovered the 33 with fuel injection, had something like the 4th highest power-to-weight ratio of any production car of the time [Courtesy of the back pages of What Car magazine, which had such esoteric information].....only beaten by the likes of certain models of Porsche, and one Ferrari!
Huge torque steer, especially the first one....must have been a nightmare if driving on the 'wrong' side of the road.....for , on flooring the gas pedal, the car would shift smartly to the right! Fine for overtaking stuff in this country...not so sure in Italy, however?

The 2nd one was a real screamer......there were still revs available to use, at 70 mph, in 2nd gear.
No good being a passenger in either, however, when the wife was in a mood for 'getting on''.....
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Dellow Mk2, 1951 built, reg 1952.
Fiat 126 BIS
Cannon special [1996 registered. Built in 1950's]
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Ford Pop chassis, Ashley 1172 bodyshell, in pieces.

[alastairq]

Not surprised about the change of direction by Alfa....Porsche, Lamborghini, Audi, all went the same way.....seems folk want to drive panzer wagons these days, rather than sporty machinery......something to do with preferring connectivity rather than performance [ie, driveability?]?

[sadly from my viewpoint, cars are becoming like mobile phones......losing sight of their basic functions.]
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Dellow Mk2, 1951 built, reg 1952.
Fiat 126 BIS
Cannon special [1996 registered. Built in 1950's]
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Ford Pop chassis, Ashley 1172 bodyshell, in pieces.

[peter scott]

The only new car I ever paid my own money for was a MkIII Escort. It proved to be rather disappointing in many ways so I sold it and bought a 1500 Alfasud.

Apart from the Italianate driving stance it was an absolute delight in terms of performance and handling when compared to the Escort. I only sold it when I got a company car.

My boss at work bought a Giulietta as his company car in the 1980s and I remember it as a rather scary machine with lethal handling. Well, it was the way my boss drove it anyway.

Peter


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1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon