Anyone fancy my Alfa 75?

[wuvvum]

I've posted this up on the Blue Forum, but I thought I'd give it a try on here as well to see if anyone's interested. It's a 75 2.5 V6 auto which came up for sale in January in a village not far from me - it had been sitting for a year or so as the owner had bought a new car (Saab 9-5 Aero). I'd been wanting to try a 75 for a while, so I bought it and got a local garage to recommission it and get it through an MoT. So it's now tested until the end of next February, but it does still need some TLC which I don't have the time or the skills to carry out.

 

It's a very solid, genuine car overall. It needed a very small patch of welding on the passenger front floorpan for its MoT, and there is a bit of grot in one of the rear arches, but this is not particularly serious and is behind the arch extensions so isn't unsightly. The interior is in good condition for its age, and most of it seems to work, including the roof-mounted electric window switches. The rev counter doesn't work though.

 

Mechanically it seems in fine fettle - the V6 starts easily and sounds gorgeous. It had a new cambelt about 18 months ago before it was taken off the road. The gearbox seems fine, changing up and down smoothly, although kickdown is not always as responsive as I would hope. The car still has its hydraulic self-levelling rear suspension, which pumps the rear of the car up Citroën-style when the engine is started. Indicated mileage is 68K - I would tend to think that this is genuine, but not having a full history I can't say for certain.

 

Overall the bodywork is pretty good for its age - there are a few odd scratches and the paintwork has faded slightly on the lower part of a couple of the doors and on the lip of the bonnet, and the alloys could ideally do with a refurb, but it's still a very presentable car.

 

The main issue with the car is the fuel pump. This is currently wired to an ignition live, so the pump is running all the time the ignition is on, rather than being cut in and out by the relay. The wiring to the pump itself and to the relay under the bonnet looks fine as far as I can see - it's the connections under the dash by the fuse box which need looking at, and unfortunately wiring is not something I've ever been any good at so I haven't attempted a repair and don't intend to. The car starts up fine and runs perfectly well on the open road (I drove it 20 miles the weekend before last and it was fine), but in traffic or when idling it does eventually overfuel and either idle too fast or start spluttering and eventually stall. It's possible to keep it running by giving it a rev now and then, but this is not ideal and obviously doesn't do the fuel consumption any favours.

 

Other than that it seems fine - it's not stupidly fast but it's quite adequately quick, and the noise it makes more than compensates. As with the manual cars, the automatic gearbox is mounted at the rear of the car to improve weight distribution, and it does feel a very well-balanced car to drive.

 

I realise that if this were a manual I'd probably be beating the OMG DRIFT types from RR off with a shitty stick, but I actually think it works quite well as an auto, even if it does mean the potential audience is rather smaller. I'm after £750 for it, which I think is reasonable given what these things go for on the Bay, & I'm sure somebody who doesn't get a complete mental block when faced with Italian car wiring would have it running properly in no time.

 

Here's a couple of pitchers (yep, that was my Stagea - now belongs to a mate who was storing the Alfa for me until recently).

 

 

[outlaw118]

TAEK £50 COLKT 2NITE M8?

 

Would really love this, but as usual, space, time, cash etc.

Looks lush though.

GLWTS.

[Guest]

HNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGH.

[idiotboy]

I've driven a Autobox 75 and I can confirm that it is a lovely motor, the sound alone is worth the usual Alfa aggro.

 

75 interiors are bonkers and show that the designer had no concept of curves and a 12 bore pellet scatter approach to switchgear placing; IIRC the electric window switches are located in the rooflining.

[Largactil]

75 interiors are bonkers and show that the designer had no concept of curves and a 12 bore pellet scatter approach to switchgear placing; IIRC the electric window switches are located in the rooflining.

 

I did love the quality 'suitcase handle' they had for a handbrake...

 

Friend had a 3.0 manual version around 15-16 years back... Alas, it was the era of OMGMAXPOWERSLAMITLOWANDFITPHATRIMZ, so it had suffered from a bit of stick hitting and gained a set of Momo Arrows, but it was still a hoot... (GR18 4 DONUTS!)

 

He ran it with no reverse gear for a few months after it gave up the ghost - Sold the car like that too...Just made sure that he didn't have to go backwards on the test drive...

 

(New owner called a few days afterwards, and he wasn't best pleased...!)

 

They're getting a bit rare now...GLWTS!

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I did a lot of miles in a 75 2.0TS, and it took a while but eventually i was a proper convert and still am. I found there is something about how these drive that seems like the whole thing had been designed by one person who knew exactly how he wanted it to turn out - the gearing, the suspension, the steering response, the seating position all seemed to make perfect sense and the whole lot somehow gelled together amazingly well. It had a feel about it like no other car i’ve had. Absolutely great. Obv the ergonomics are shit but who cares about that? Once you’ve got used to it, its no problem.

 

I've never had an auto one, its seriously tempting as these are rare in any format and defo on the upswing value-wise.