lukeage

Pretty impressive if you ask me - Bloke builds his own Lamborghini Countach from scratch (and this ain't no kit car with toyota engine inside); Link Here

Lots of stuff involving JB-Weld. Including a water pump once - Yeah, yeah - I know. It was a plug it up and drive motor at the time.

I tend to think of Cars as an monthly outlay like anything else, if you look at the whole price most would be put off buying. But most personal contract hires are best looked at as a monthly payment and near on all dealers guarantee a residual value so you can trade it in after three years or pay the outstanding loan. Working this way is nice as you get a new car every two to three years. I recently had to weigh buying against leasing or getting a 5 year + low miler. I went for a lease in the end as my life plans are up in there air at the moment. Now I have a nice Alfa on the way for one year for 300 a month, I only need to cover insurance and fuel.

My only gripe is the climate control panel is right in front of the gear stick so you need foo man choo fingers to change the settings when in a front facing gear slot. Other then that the layout seems just right. It also has that nice wrap around console like the rado - i.e. the driver is the only one who matters really :)

I thought you might be up still :) A nice tune to them - I was expecting a typical diesel ticker, but instead heard a nice 5 pot growl. Kind of looking forward to it, sod crimbo when you have an alfa on the way, even if it is only a diesel.

Well some people love em and some hate em and some are impartial. I have a brand new Brera 2.4 JTDM being delivered in ten days. Did I lay out 27k - not quite.... 300 quid a month and a grand down to cover first three months - after 12 months I can walk away. Not bad I think considering a Corsa would have set me back anywhere near to 225 a month. Would have loved a GT - but hard to find one on lease. Went out for a test drive on Sunday at the AR dealer as not had any experience of a Diesel Alfa and was not to sure on what to expect. I was very pleasantly surprised, it really pulls (200 bhp) and don't sound to half bad as well for diesel. Quite heavy, but comfy, lush interior and has a nice wide stance. Had a choice of black or red or a really yucky metallic blue - it had to black (even though it will be a bitch to clean); Hopefully will be able to get a little something for the weekend as well now work-mobile is covered.

Cheers D6's - your car is quite new though? I am not sure if I would get the same amount of warranty out of a general used dealer. I do like the silver color I am just not sure about the passion of the seats :) I agree on black cars as much as they look nice all you need is a 5 minute light shower and you need to get your bucket out again.

Wow thanks for all the info guys. I am also not to sure about the Q-system from what I have read and talking to my mate it's not known for causing issues, but I can imagine its quite nasty if it does start to play up. I can live without. I think the only time an Auto is handy is when your stuck on M25 and find yourself changing between first and second for over two hours. So I am off to see a GTV tomorrow morning. Its actually from a dealer (I normally always buy private, but this looks ok from initial impression) - it's 3.5k and has covered 60k. 60k means the first thing I am going to check out is if the cam belt and clutch has been seen to (as this will cost me over 600 notes if I put it in a Garage). So that may give me some leverage over the price. I am also not to sure about the red leather (I had my heart set on an ink black with black leather). I will see how I feel when I see it in the flesh. Let me know what you think guys and any dealing with dealer tips will help untold! Massive URL shortened, just like they like em Oh - I joined the Alfa owners forum and theres a guy on there with a corrado 24v called Stan 24v, I am sure that sounds familiar ;)

That's it - Auto which can switch to manual. - its definitely a UK model (RHD). I have now spent most of the day looking into whats around on the interweb. I am amazed at how cheap you can pick up a GTV 24v 3.0 V6. 60-80k from 3 to 4 grand :shock: To be honest I think I prefer the GTV over this particular 156. I am going to look at one on Saturday :) I have now gone VR6 to coupe 20vt back to VR6 and now seriously starting to lust over a GTV.

Whats your thoughts on the 156 (2.5 V6 24v with Q-System) Mate has offered me his a quite a nice price (from what I have seen it has all the extras and a recent cam belt change / full service hist). How is the Q-System (trouble?). Cheers, Luke

That is proper nice mate - what is the color code?

Mileage is always a consideration, but service history is more key to the cars condition (plenty of oil changes and replacement of key parts). I sold a VR6 with 43k on the clock and a full service history for 6.5k about a year and a half ago - when I originally bought the car it cost me 7k. The previous two owners had kept the service interval to every year so sometimes there was only three thousand miles between services. The leather was immaculate and the exterior better then most 5 year old cars and everything worked perfectly. That was enough to get me to part with my hard earned cash. Basically for a car which is over 10-15 years old, it had to be pretty well kept for me to part with my pennies no matter how rare, and its not that rare as there are normally 30-40 sitting on ebay. So I well kept rado is worth its weight in gold and more - but in my opinion there are a lot rags out there (seen some this weekend) for total OTT prices just because its a Corrado and the bloke off the telly said 'they will be collectors items one day' and dealers are some of the funniest for pushing that angel. EDIT - I second the advice over Stans car, you have a low mileage 24v there maintained by an obsessive owner.

Just a quick sort of related story. I got a taxi from the Kuwait airport to a place I worked at whilst over there. The driver had a TV in front of the gear stick lodged under the dash. It was one of the all in one small portables with a vhs video built in. It was a big old cadillac with a carpet on the dash board and bobble curtain trim / decorations around the top of the windscreen.He had his video collection in the glove box and got out his favorite arabic singer and popped the tape in. In the back he had removed the arm rest and had a big push to dispense flask containing overbrewed hot sweet tea. Whilst driving he kept leaning over and pouring me a fresh brew (even though I had enough, I felt I could not be rude and say no). I asked if I could smoke and he said (sway, sway! - which means, no problem go ahead). He then got out a big crystal cut glass ashtray and put it on top of the telly. Best cab journey I ever had :)

I personally find it a lot more dangerous looking left and down at the radio to tune a station of or fiddling around trying to insert a CD- it feels a lot more dangerous then lighting a cigarette I am in fact able actually able to pop a cigarette in my mouth and light it without taking my eyes off the road after years of practise. I keep my cigs and lighter to my left in a well behind the handbrake - this way I can find them just by touch. To be honest I don't like fiddling with the radio or taking a cd out of it's case whilst driving. I have been in a crash and I am a lot more cautious now. Believe me if lighting a cig posed any danger I would stop it, despite what big brother thinks.

This is no joke - You know those crazy Japanese type manga cars (I could only find one of a truck as below). I had this frustrating dream where all the side skirts and spoilers kept getting bigger and wider until they were such a ridiculous size that I would get stuck in the road and scrap against the walls. Kind of like one of those dreams where you need to punch someone and your arms are really weak or slow - or you think you have scored some fun with a really hot looking women but as soon as you go in for the snog her face keeps morphing into an old granny.