Classic Alfas And Me.

[Nige005]

Here are some of the Classic Alfas that I've owned over the years. Sad to say some were new or nearly new at the time...........

One missing is the Turd Brown 116 Giulietta that I had for a short while, no pics at all of this one. Don't think I felt the love for this one.

Current Classic is the GTV 6

Here are some of the Classic Alfas that I've owned over the years. Sad to say

[Nige005]

Oooops, pictures in wrong order and text is repeated oddly. I think my very classic IT skills are at work here !

[Kermit]

True Alfa man

Always buy the rusty ones

Respect
H

[KevJTD]

some very nice cars there nige

S1 suds my fav of course

pics tend to want to upload in revesrse order for soem reason, we may get this solved...or we may just get used to it
a few gremlins to iron out mate

[Nige005]

True Alfa man

Always buy the rusty ones

Respect
H

Glutton for punishment !

[Johnboy]

Where's the fun in buying a finished one! Start with a diamond in the ruff

[Nige005]

some very nice cars there nige

S1 suds my fav of course

pics tend to want to upload in revesrse order for soem reason, we may get this solved...or we may just get used to it
a few gremlins to iron out mate

I liked them all, some more than others. Here's my run down on them in picture order.

HV 50, bought new in Cyprus in 1976 from Demades in Limassol, tax free, my first Alfa. The pic was taken in Happy Valley, Episkopi less than two hours after leaving the showroom. Note the paper " Number Plates " ! Those were the days ! Paid the grand sum of £2000 Sterling, not a cheap car even then. Should have brought it home on repat but the paperwork defeated me so traded in, amazingly for £2200, more than I paid for it, the ONLY time that this has ever happened to me ! Picked up the replacement MG Midget 1500 at RAF Brize Norton four hours after landing from Cyprus, would have been earlier but the delivery driver and his dolly bird assistant had taken it off for some er, afternoon delight........ HV 50 was a lovely 1.2 ti, remember at about 1000 miles the engine just coughed and suddenly freed up, vroom vroom, off we went ! Was a great little car but found out after Supercharged Chris did some research for me it didn't survive for too long before it appeared to have been written off.


SJX. This was a very odd car, never seemed quite right and was in what I think was an odd colour, Corrallo ? Got this after living with the Midget for about an year, enough was enough. So it wasn't very old at the time I got it from a showroom in Barnsley. Suppose that it was OK ish but the most annoying quirk it had was that the engine would just cut out at random intervals and despite spending a lot of time investigating and changing ALL Ignition system components and fuel system components I never did figure out what the cause was. The paint lines were odd too, a very peculiar car that didn't quite do it for me.

EFE, a 1.5 ti and my favourite, loved this little sud. The pic has faded but honest guys it was AR 130 Rosso. Bought at just over a year old from Loveday and Bennets, a VAG dealer in Louth. Initially had problems with Big End rattle on cold starts which was put down to the shells. This was the start of a long saga and to be fair to the Dealer they tried their best but couldn't fix it, they didn't have the knowledge of Alfas. In a way it was good as it eventually led to being introduced to Tom and Phil ( now BLS ) at the Alfa Dealer on Newark Road Lincoln. ( Help me out Kev, I can't remember the name ) Problem was quickly sorted by putting an Alfa Oil Filter on to replace the incorrect VAG one fitted by L & B...... Lesson here for every one ? After this I loved the car and kept it for a long time, even tarted up with a respray and various other little go faster mods until I saw the light and realized that rot to the Bulkhead was going to kill it off sooner rather than later. Oh well.

The last sud was the 1350 tix, very competent little car which did me well, again I enjoyed this for quite a long time until I felt the need for something a little bigger.

Hence the Alfetta Gold Cloverleaf. I got this from Michael Lindsay and people of er, a similar vintage to me, will recall that he just about run AROC single handed for many years. Comfortable and fairly swift, though it was no 'sud, but it was a nice car to drive. Took it to Cyprus when I went back to live there and I poled around the island for five years until in a moment of madness I let loose a local mechanic on a Head gasket problem. After stripping the whole engine to its component parts on his garage floor it became apparent that this was the end. I was leaving the country shortly for sand dunes anew in the Middle East so I made it the only rear engined Alfetta in the World by simply putting the engine in the Boot and towing it home to be left to the tender mercies of my ex to be. Never saw it again, within a couple of months it was scrapped and cut up as it was Duty Free so couldn't even salvage or sell any bits.

On to the GTV 6 - lovely ! A car I always wanted one when they were current but with wife, kids, mortgage and a bank manager to support it couldn't be. This one came up a few years ago in Lincoln and it was love at first sight. With a lot of help from Kev and Jim the bodywork man it went through a bit of a refurb and I've enjoyed it ever since. Battery is flat right now so excuse me whilst I go and pump a few electrons into it.....

[markalfa83]

Hello Nige. A nice selection of Alfas you've had over the years

How are you keeping?

[Nige005]

Hello Nige. A nice selection of Alfas you've had over the years

How are you keeping?

Hi Mark, good to hear from you ! Kev and I were talking about you, in a good way I hasten to add, on Thursday night. How are you and your Alfas ? Time we met up again.

Had a few problems in the last few months but mostly on the mend, thankfully.

[markalfa83]

Hello Nige. A nice selection of Alfas you've had over the years

How are you keeping?

Hi Mark, good to hear from you ! Kev and I were talking about you, in a good way I hasten to add, on Thursday night. How are you and your Alfas ? Time we met up again.

Had a few problems in the last few months but mostly on the mend, thankfully.

Good to hear your on the mend Nige I'm fine thanks mate and so is the Mito and Sprint. I longer have an account on the 'other side' and with having an extension built at home I've been a bit quiet over the last few months. So yes, we'll have a meet up at some point

[Nige005]

Hello Nige. A nice selection of Alfas you've had over the years

How are you keeping?

Hi Mark, good to hear from you ! Kev and I were talking about you, in a good way I hasten to add, on Thursday night. How are you and your Alfas ? Time we met up again.

Had a few problems in the last few months but mostly on the mend, thankfully.

Good to hear your on the mend Nige I'm fine thanks mate and so is the Mito and Sprint. I longer have an account on the 'other side' and with having an extension built at home I've been a bit quiet over the last few months. So yes, we'll have a meet up at some point

Be nice if you could do the Scaletrix thing that I'm going to sort out sometime soon.

[Nige005]

Where's the fun in buying a finished one! Start with a diamond in the ruff

As long as you like the pain and sleepless nights !!!

[Johnboy]

This is true

[KevJTD]

F K Sharpe nige




love the story you put to all the cars mate, even though i've heard them in part before.
just shows the cars infect us in some way, bet your school mates who probably went on to have vauxhall vivas and hilman hunters wouldn't remember their cars so fondly.
great stuff

[York Sud]

An excellent read indeed, my S1 Sud addiction came from my dad having one of the first ti's when I was beginning my interest in real cars rather than toy ones.. I can remember my mum dragging the bills out when they sold it as it always went to the local York alfa dealer Alywyn Kershaws.. My grandfather was the instigator of the purchase with his 79 T black ti, an uncle had a 1980 V bright yellow sprint and my other uncle was in London selling them...probably got salesman of the year that year! Some of the later story's about repainting bodywork of new ones due to rust issues before they were sold I can now relate to...

[Nige005]

F K Sharpe nige

That's the one, I remembered myself after the second pint last night........... Also remember whilst hanging about there one day I sat in a Fiat 500 with a Sun Roof. Looked a bit like Chad with my nose level with the outside of the roof !

Would imagine that all my old school friends would have been hanged or transported to other climes by now.

[Nige005]

Took the Alfetta out for a run last Sunday, after a bit of hassle getting it going.

Gave the battery three hours on charge and then it had juuust enough umph to get it started. Off we go I thought. But it wasn't that easy. Couldn't get into gear as the Clutch plate was sticking, this happens occasionally if it's not been run for a while - and it hadn't. Usually when this happens I just start the car in gear and the kick of the starter frees it all up.

Being a bit impatient I thought I'd do this so after less than a minute I switched off to give it a go. Bad move as all I got was half a turn before the Battery decided it didn't want to play any more. So dragged an old Battery out of the garage and put the Jump leads on. This gave relatively quick cranking on the Starter but no Engine start.

Thoroughly fed up by now did a bit of shuffling cars around and linked up the Celica to the Alfetta, nose to tail like a pair of randy dogs, a match made in Heaven ! This really got the V6 spinning but it took about thirty continuous seconds of cranking without even a cough before the V6 decided to fire up, even then it was a bit rough for a few seconds. This has only happened once before so it was a bit worrying, usually starts " on the button. " Don't know the reason for this.

Anyway, V6 now rumbling nicely, Clutch free and me with a slightly worried smile plastered in place off we went. Forty miles of fun as I hadn't, for various reasons, driven it for some time. Faith was soon restored and I knew again why I keep this fantastic Classic, nothing quite like a RWD V6 with an Alfa badge.

Hoping to do the same tomorrow, without the Battery and Clutch issues !!!!

[KevJTD]

well done nige.

no idea why we subject ourselves to such torture, until we drive them.........

[Nige005]

That's exactly it Kev, all about the drive.