Real Alfa's?

["Tim Hancock" <timhancock@domain.elided>]

Leonardo asks me (and I'm honoured to be asked at all)

<Do you affirm the 75 is the same of the 164? >

I had a new 75TS in October 1989 and drove it 68,000 miles in two years so I
got to know it pretty well and both loved and hated it.

I loved the handling, steering and the engine. I felt the brakes were only
adequate. The styling I felt was a mess, but I persuaded myself to like it.
The bodyshell was well constructed and the metallic blue paintwork was good
quality. The following items failed 1) Wiper Motor 2000 miles 2) Clutch 25000
miles 3) Differential bearings 30,000 4) Rear wheel bearing 34,000 miles 5)
The other rear wheel bearing 38,000 miles 6) Gear linkage seized 42,000.

I hated the handbrake, the haphazard switchgear locations and the lunatic Alfa
Romeo Control red flashing beacon that had a life of its own and drove me mad

It did not rust at all in my keeping. Do I miss it? Yes I suppose do for its
good points. I last saw the car on the road about a year ago in the Yorkshire
Dales, looking tired, but still going after 12 years.

I have had two identical early model 164 Twin Sparks, but ten years apart, and
driven a total of 45,000 miles between the two. It does not handle like the
75, but on the other hand it handles well for a car of this size. The styling
is not quite 'classic' Pininfarina, but still looks good from most angles. The
only faults I have experienced are age related. A new radiator in 164 number 2
at eight years old, and one new seat belt in 164 number 2 when it stopped
retracting, and one window motor is a bit weak, but works. Other
faults....well....none that I can think of except light bulb failures behind
the heater controls which I replaced myself. A much more confidence building
record than my 75 I would suggest.

Do I dislike anything about the 164? Yes, the heater warm up time is far too
slow, the rear suspension would have performed better in my humble opinion if
they had gone for a simple torsion beam system like most FWD cars have. They
tried to get clever and it doesn't work well enough.

Conclusion. They are very different cars, but in terms of quality the 164 wins
hands down, By 1989 Alfa Romeo should have learned how to make wheel bearings
that last longer than 30,000 miles so I conclude that the quality of the 75
was unacceptable, no matter how much fun it was. My brother has an old Toyota
Carina 2 which I hate, but after 160,000 miles he is still waiting for
something to go wrong with it and nothing has. That makes the Toyota a very
high quality car, something the Alfa 75  never was. They also managed to build
and sell 2.5 times as many 164s as 75s, so you could say it was the 164 which
saved Alfa-Romeo, which brings me to a quote from John Coates,  a car dealer
who is also a columnist for Autocar magazine. He summed up the 164 in the July
4th 2001 issue as follows:

" The 164 kicked off Alfa Romeo's transformation from a maker of rot prone
cars the trade wouldn't touch to the creator of decidedly well built beauties
such as todays 147, 156 and 166 "

As for 'Old Alfa' I suppose I could no longer take seriously a company that
produced the Arna which incorporated the worst of Nissan with the worst of
Alfa Romeo.

I admire Alfa Romeo for many reasons or I wouldn't drive one, but it is a love
hate relationship and it is as well to recall that Alfa Romeo was in terminal
decline before Fiat rescued it, and ask yourself why it was in terminal
decline. I have admiration for the inspirational designs over the years, and I
will be going to see the Alfa Romeo exhibition at the Science Museum in
London, but I also laugh heartily at their shortcomings and do not view older
Alfas through rose tinted spectacles any more than I view British sportscars
of the 50s, 60s and 70s as being anything other than badly made cars with
sporting pretensions, even though many were fun to drive and own, most of the
time.

cheers


Tim Hancock  164TS Lusso    Boston UK

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