1998 Alfa Romeo 164 2.5 TD European Review

One clever man who likes powaaah, steaks and punching people once said that you are not a real petrolhead until you’ve owned an Alfa Romeo. Seeing how Alfas are either considered terrible, unreliable crap by sane and rational people or totally revered by devoted fans, I assumed there has to be something about them. Maybe it really is that fabled “automotive soul” everyone talks about.

When I drove modern Alfas, I tended to lean towards the “they’re crap” crowd. The Mito is just a Fiat Punto that’s been made worse and more expensive, while the Giulietta can be a hoot to drive, but you want to douse it in gasoline and light on fire every time you need to use it as transportation. It’s like someone did the first 90% of development and then decided to have some chianti instead of finishing the rest. Which is probably what happened.

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  • EBFlex It had a good run. But personally I wouldn’t want a truck that dates back to 2009ish when it was introduced. Still better than a new Ford though
  • Arthur Dailey Still prefer the 59's. Auto styling as mentioned was in the 50's derivative of military aircraft styling, and the 'space age'. The '59 Caddies 'nailed this' in an in your face manner. If you are going to put fins on a car, why use small, vestigial, almost apologetic fins, like M-B did with their 110? I did have an appreciation for Dagmars, but the front end/grille of the '59 is so much cleaner and more modern than the '58.As for the back/trunk of these vehicles the '58 appears to me to be clunky and cluttered. Corey what about a column on the Eldorado Biarritz Convertible from 1959? I need to see if my memories are correct or have been tainted over time.
  • Oberkanone Why would you want one? Nostalgia?
  • Arthur Dailey Really enjoy seeing these loyal survivors. The listing seems to prove the adage that the person who owns the car is more important than the make or model of the car when it comes to long term service/reliability.
  • ToolGuy If you could see how well my FFIE position is faring, you would understand how brilliant I am not.