So... what car do you guys drive when not flying?

[tgh]

Interesting to compare the "soul" cars , Alfa et al...with the (mostly Chinese) throw away white goods

 

[DejaBrew]

Prefer the custom neon green one in 6 Underground!

It's (admittedly) pretty wild....


....but surely it isn't an Alfa unless it's red?


That sort of neon green is more at home on a Lamborghini, no? Don't get me wrong though, I'd take it if it was offered to me

 

[Quickstatus]

Alfa

The Alfasud was a rustbucket with an engine.

 

[TheRealTMA]

The Alfasud was a rustbucket with an engine.

Yes cost me more almost in repairs than to buy. They put the battery in top of the firewall cavity so over time condensation and leakage rusted out the firewall. Cost small fortune to replace it. But great car to drive!

Then we had the 33 then the 156. Long stories for later but worth the cost for joy of driving them.

 

[Buzzard]

Yes cost me more almost in repairs than to buy.

Sounds like my daughter's Skoda Octavia.
After the last repair quote of $3,500 IIRC, it went to the scrap yard.

 

[Quickstatus]

it went to the scrap yard.

How old?

156

Also a rustbucket with an engine which uses a lot of oil

 

[Buzzard]

How old?



Also a rustbucket with an engine

By memory, it was only 4 or 5 years ago that she scrapped it and it was less than 10 years old. Our oldest granddaughter is 13 and she was a few years old when mum and dad bought the Skoda brand new.

 

[TheRealTMA]

How old?



Also a rustbucket with an engine which uses a lot of oil

Na 156 was past the bad Naples steel period. We had the Selespeed auto with paddles. Was excellent vehicle until the Selespeed died and couldn’t select gears. Fix in Italy would have been $75, fix in Brisbane was $3500. Traded in for a bclass merc. Sad day to leave the marque but enjoyed each one of them.

 

[TheRealTMA]

It's (admittedly) pretty wild....
View attachment 507331

....but surely it isn't an Alfa unless it's red?
View attachment 507332

That sort of neon green is more at home on a Lamborghini, no? Don't get me wrong though, I'd take it if it was offered to me

Jeremey Clarkson Reviews The Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio | Mangoletsi

Jeremey Clarkson Reviews The Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio - read more with Mangoletsi in Knutsford, Cheshire and Manchester. Stay up-to-date with the motoring world and discover the latest offers and car models at our dealership.

www.mangoletsi.com

 

[Cossie]

I have decided to sell my Focus RS mk3, I don't drive it enough to warrant keeping it, so we will see what happens......

 

[Happy Dude]

I like the Alfas too and wanted to get the wife a Guilietta to replace her aging Corolla. Maybe look at a Junior now? No, doesn't like the brand and there's nothing wrong with the Corolla, so is not interested. Sometimes I think we're very different people.

 

[cambriamarsh]

I like the Alfas too and wanted to get the wife a Guilietta to replace her aging Corolla. Maybe look at a Junior now? No, doesn't like the brand and there's nothing wrong with the Corolla, so is not interested. Sometimes I think we're very different people.

The MD has a 10 year old Giulietta, bought from new. Great car!

 

[TheRealTMA]

I like the Alfas too and wanted to get the wife a Guilietta to replace her aging Corolla. Maybe look at a Junior now? No, doesn't like the brand and there's nothing wrong with the Corolla, so is not interested. Sometimes I think we're very different people.

Sweeten the deal by adding a nice Italian red leather handbag!

 

[kelvedon]

The MD has a 10 year old Giulietta, bought from new. Great car!

My father bought one 67 years ago !

 

[Cossie]

My father bought one 67 years ago !

View attachment 507583

Libyan license plate? Do you have it? asking for a friend...... I think Tripoli, not the Tripoli in Lebanon.

I think I have one somewhere.....

 

[prozac]

Libyan license plate? Do you have it? asking for a friend...... I think Tripoli, not the Tripoli in Lebanon.

I think I have one somewhere.....

When I was single and travelling alot I returned home to find my mother had thrown my French tourist transfer plates away. I had the experience. brought the car back to Australia, later sold it and now the plates for my future bar were gone. Not happy.

 

[kelvedon]

The MD has a 10 year old Giulietta, bought from

Libyan license plate? Do you have it? asking for a friend...... I think Tripoli, not the Tripoli in Lebanon.

I think I have one somewhere.....

Yes, I still have the rear number plate. My father was working in Libya and this meant he could bring it back to the UK avoiding tax. At the end of the contract he drove the car home via Malta and Italy, and putting it on a Bristol Freighter to cross the English channel.

Bristol Freighter photo from Wikipedia.

 

[Cossie]

Yes, I still have the rear number plate. My father was working in Libya and this meant he could bring it back to the UK avoiding tax. At the end of the contract he drove the car home via Malta and Italy, and putting it on a Bristol Freighter to cross the English channel.

Bristol Freighter photo from Wikipedia.

Wow, that is so cool, as you probably realise I collect plates, and it means so much more when you have an association with the plate, this is such a good story.

Do you mind if I put the photo on a number plate forum I visit?

 

[kelvedon]

Wow, that is so cool, as you probably realise I collect plates, and it means so much more when you have an association with the plate, this is such a good story.

Do you mind if I put the photo on a number plate forum I visit?

Yes no problems with you reposting the picture.

Tax and import duties made Alfa Romeos very expensive in the UK at the time. Apparently only 100 were imported in 1959 and all those on a special order basis and LHD. My father had a few interesting tales from his ownership.

The Arabic script on the number plate led to an amusing confusion. Shortly after arriving in London, my father needed to buy something from a specialist shop in Tottenham Court road (a major London Street ). The shop was about to close so he parked outside and dashed in. A few minutes later he returned to his car to find a Traffic Warden standing next to it. My father feigned ignorance as the traffic warden explained that you cannot park on double yellow lines, and then admitted that he couldn’t write a ticket anyway as he couldn’t copy the Arabic letters !

The rarity of the model in the UK caused issues. A few weeks before a holiday trip to Switzerland, the starter motor failed. Alfa Romeo GB couldn’t source a replacement part for 6 weeks, so my father removed the starter motor and covered up the resulting hole with a piece of Lino to protect the crown wheel. The resultant trip was completed by strategically parking on hills and bump starting each time. This plan worked well until it came to the cross channel ferry. When it came time to disembark, my father feigned frustration at the temperamental stating of its twin cam engine, but was soon assisted in push starting the car by the posse of equally frustrated drivers stuck behind !

He then drove the 100 km south from Switzerland to Milan, where the factory service centre fitted a new starter motor.

 

[prozac]

Yes no problems with you reposting the picture.

Tax and import duties made Alfa Romeos very expensive in the UK at the time. Apparently only 100 were imported in 1959 and all those on a special order basis and LHD. My father had a few interesting tales from his ownership.

The Arabic script on the number plate led to an amusing confusion. Shortly after arriving in London, my father needed to buy something from a specialist shop in Tottenham Court road (a major London Street ). The shop was about to close so he parked outside and dashed in. A few minutes later he returned to his car to find a Traffic Warden standing next to it. My father feigned ignorance as the traffic warden explained that you cannot park on double yellow lines, and then admitted that he couldn’t write a ticket anyway as he couldn’t copy the Arabic letters !

The rarity of the model in the UK caused issues. A few weeks before a holiday trip to Switzerland, the starter motor failed. Alfa Romeo GB couldn’t source a replacement part for 6 weeks, so my father removed the starter motor and covered up the resulting hole with a piece of Lino to protect the crown wheel. The resultant trip was completed by strategically parking on hills and bump starting each time. This plan worked well until it came to the cross channel ferry. When it came time to disembark, my father feigned frustration at the temperamental stating of its twin cam engine, but was soon assisted in push starting the car by the posse of equally frustrated drivers stuck behind !

He then drove the 100 km south from Switzerland to Milan, where the factory service centre fitted a new starter motor.

In the mid 70's having hitch-hiked to Italy and seen the organised traffic chaos and how everyone parked partly or wholly on the wide footpaths I liked the cosmopolitan life. Back in UK I would regularly eat at this Italian restaurant in Newcastle which had no parking outside for, oh at leat 50m, so I would park my Citroen avex French TT plates on the wide footpath outside. Terrible behaviour of a young man I realise now, I was 22 at the time. Anyway the police used to leave me notes on the windscreen to please come to the station to discuss.