[alfa] Re: DD parts (Long but hopefully not boring)

[John.Wiltshire@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

AlfaBill's post about deletion of parts is scary, and I think that it
relates to Michael Smith's post a few weeks back about what will he drive
when his 164 and SAAB finally pack it in.

I have exactly the same feeling - in our family we have my '89 164 and my
wife's '92 Peugeot 405 Mi16.  Both fabulous cars, and both feel like they
have years left in them.  I think that this period of the late 80's/early
90's is one of the great undiscovered periods of "modern classic" cars -
the cars have a good mix of modernity, ergonomics, comfort, style, etc,
while still retaining some "classic feel" in the driving experience.  They
are modern enough in terms of engine management, emmissions and economy,
but not overly complicated for the home mechanic or non-specialist mechanic
to fix.

To AlfaBill's point though, I have had the sneaking suspicion that it is
going to be availability and cost of parts that will kill these cars off
quicker than anything.  164s haven't been sold in Australia now for 10
years.  Despite the influx of low mileage 168s from Hong Kong, many are old
cars now with high mileage.  Most Australian-delivered 164's were auto, so
they are not always viewed as enthusiast cars.  The value of the cars is
now low.  Recently I corresponded with an Ebayer that was wrecking a
complete 164.  I enquired about why it was being wrecked - the answer
boiled down to the fact that a blown head gasket put it "beyond economic
repair" - I know this feeling - I blew a head gasket last year, and the
repair cost me about half the value of the car.  This topic has also come
up on the Peugeot digests recently, that Mi16s (a truly great sporting car)
are being wrecked because they're too expensive to fix (there is also a
side issue here that the Mi16 drivetrains are a popular transplant into
205GTis).

Is there an opportunity here for the international Alfa community to
investigate the remanufacture of parts?  The MG car club in the UK is (I
think) the largest single-marque club in the world.  I think that I'm also
correct in saying that there is nothing for an MGB that isn't available.
Between MG/Rover and remanufactured parts that are commissioned by the
club, you can get anything.  There is even a company in the UK that makes a
complete body shell.  The point of this is that if there is a
well-recognised market, anything is possible.  Maybe there isn't enough
interest for remanufacture of 164 bits, but surely there is enough interest
in 105 parts?

Just some thoughts...

Cheers Alfisti!
John Wiltshire
Sydney Australia




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