Alfaitalia other car love...other than MOPAR!

[alfaitalia]

Thought some of you might like to see my other car passion...ALFA motor cars. This is my current daily and one of four owned recently. I know that they import a few ALFA models over there now and you have a fairly active US ALFA forum....but they did not import the 159 to the US....my current car. (even though it was styled to appeal to US buyers....they changed there mind about import!)...

2009 ALFA 159 2.0JTDm 170 6 speed manual

2.0 Four pot diesel (turbo charger of course)
Brembo brakes model
Was 170bhp ....now 218bhp
Was 360 nm of torque....now 448mn of torque.

MODS

Remote control diesel tuning box with custom maps.
Straight through exhaust converted to twin exhaust using the centre section from a 2.4 version and two straight through HKS race silencers (not noisy as DPF and turbo stops the noise.)
Water meth injection....being fitted by me right now.
Blitz front mounted intercooler with red silicone hoses.
Upgraded battery to 115 size and AGM

Lowered 35mm on Apexi springs (unknown short damper brand)
Front and rear corner splitters
Front daytime running lights
Genuine ALFA Giulietta Cloverleaf badges.....expensive!!
Genuine ALFA 159 TI brushed chrome mirror housings
ALFA 156 Front fogs...clear lenses unlike ugly factory ones.
Additional Volt meter and under bonnet temp gauge.

To do
A pillar mounted gauges to show oil temp and pressure (parts in garage waiting!)
Upgraded turbo (the intercooler, water meth and custom maps have all been leading to this) Target 280 to 300 bhp....500mn of torque....that's more than a 318 V8 and at much lower revs. So it goes very well for what it is.

[70 sublime]

Looks like a fun car

I have always wondered when the steering wheel is on the wrong side  Is first gear up to the left or up to the right ?

[alfaitalia]

Same as you..............

[XH29N0G]

Alfaitalia,  Nice car.  I remember riding around mountain turns in my grandfathers alfa in a drive through Greece in the 1970's.  

I have another question that you might be able to help with.  Sometime in 1952/3, my grandfather bought a 2 seater alfa in southern France or Italy that had run in one of the past Mille Miglia. With his family, they drove it from their residence in southern France to Capri. My grandfather liked to say it won the race, but he also had a penchant for embellishment. My mom, who I believe, recently identified it from pictures as an 8c 2900.  She and my dad have been recording their lives for us kids - I know kind of gruesome, but it is what they want to do and the stories are really cool.  She and her brother moved place to place for most of their lives (all over the western world).  

With the alfa and the trip, she says she and her brother had to sit up behind the seats (possibly in a compartment like the trunk? or maybe if there was a top, where that would go? but I get the impression just sitting on the ledge behind the seats (if it was possible?)). Three things she remembers about that trip are that they strapped their luggage on the outside of the car, were cheered by Italians in some towns as they drove through, and that they smelled like castor oil after riding in it.

I am not surprised that they would have bought the car if it was available because they had the means and lived a different sort of life than we do now, but I am trying to sort out some of the way things would have worked. I have been looking at pictures of those 8C 2900s and cannot figure out how sat on the back. She doesn't remember whether they parted with it Italy, but thinks they might have brought it back to the US and sold it to a collector who my grandfather knew.  These cars are pretty well accounted for and limited in number, so I am guessing one could figure out whether it was one of the 8Cs that exists or something else by past histories.  

[Nacho-RT74]

Dunno If I could drive a stick shift RHD car.

I think would need to begin to practice at nights ( I'm single ) LOL

[alfaitalia]

Alfaitalia,  Nice car.  I remember riding around mountain turns in my grandfathers alfa in a drive through Greece in the 1970's.  

I have another question that you might be able to help with.  Sometime in 1952/3, my grandfather bought a 2 seater alfa in southern France or Italy that had run in one of the past Mille Miglia. With his family, they drove it from their residence in southern France to Capri. My grandfather liked to say it won the race, but he also had a penchant for embellishment. My mom, who I believe, recently identified it from pictures as an 8c 2900.  She and my dad have been recording their lives for us kids - I know kind of gruesome, but it is what they want to do and the stories are really cool.  She and her brother moved place to place for most of their lives (all over the western world).  

With the alfa and the trip, she says she and her brother had to sit up behind the seats (possibly in a compartment like the trunk? or maybe if there was a top, where that would go? but I get the impression just sitting on the ledge behind the seats (if it was possible?)). Three things she remembers about that trip are that they strapped their luggage on the outside of the car, were cheered by Italians in some towns as they drove through, and that they smelled like castor oil after riding in it.

I am not surprised that they would have bought the car if it was available because they had the means and lived a different sort of life than we do now, but I am trying to sort out some of the way things would have worked. I have been looking at pictures of those 8C 2900s and cannot figure out how sat on the back. She doesn't remember whether they parted with it Italy, but thinks they might have brought it back to the US and sold it to a collector who my grandfather knew.  These cars are pretty well accounted for and limited in number, so I am guessing one could figure out whether it was one of the 8Cs that exists or something else by past histories.  

Possibly an Alfa 6c cabriolet?..they has 4 seats and the rears are just a bench type seat.

[timmycharger]

Love it! If I didn't have my Charger, I would be building an Italian car for sure.   If it were not for my uncle and his 69 Charger, I wouldn't have my car today. My father (who came to USA from Italy in 1970) got me into sports cars and watching F1 and Rally as a kid and our family car at one point was a 1976 Lancia Beta Coupe. Yup same car that Jeremy from Top Gear ripped to shreds in one of the episodes LOL..

I ended up fixing up a 1979 Beta Coupe but had to sell it when I got a job with a long commute but it was starting to rot so no big loss there.  The car I do miss is my Dad's 1977 Lancia Beta Scorpion (Monte Carlo in Europe).  It was pristine, 2nd owner, twin Weber Carbs, Ansa Exhaust, upgraded cams, and with the smog equipment removed.  My dumbass brother sold that years ago when he assumed it was his 

Good luck with your future plans, looks great 

[XH29N0G]

It was a two seater I know that much from several sources. Last week I asked whether it could be a 6C, but she said it looked different.  I don't know much about the 8C or 6C, but the one thing they seem to say is it ran in the Mille Miglia, ran on the castor oil mixture, and that there were no seats for the two kids so they had to sit on the back.  A few years later they had a DB4.  

[Ghoste]

Very nice.  I had always thought by your username there was a mistress in the garage.

[Q5XX29]

Nice Alfa! Alfa Romeo has such a cool history. I bought my wife a AR 4c spider a couple of years ago for our anniversary, and we really enjoy it! Just for the hell of it, I ran it down our local dragstrip and the little bugger ran a 12.9 at 107! I'll also attach a few photos of my other little "italian hotrod".

Forum pics by William Brunner, on Flickr

Forum pics by William Brunner, on Flickr

Forum pics by William Brunner, on Flickr

Forum pics by William Brunner, on Flickr

Miura by William Brunner, on Flickr


Untitled by William Brunner, on Flickr

[alfaitalia]

Very cool...especially the Miura. The car was the first supercar with a rear mid-engined two-seat layout, although the concept was first seen in a production road car with René Bonnet's Matra Djet.

[Q5XX29]

Very cool...especially the Miura. The car was the first supercar with a rear mid-engined two-seat layout, although the concept was first seen in a production road car with René Bonnet's Matra Djet.

Thanks, and correct- unless you also count the Ford GT40, which helped inspire Gandini's Miura design.  170+ mph in a stock car in 1967= mind blowing. And I love my Mopars, but they get all of that credit for their bold, high-impact colors in 1970, but just LOOK at that wild shade of lime green, in a 1967 Miura!  

[alfaitalia]

163mph to be pedantic!...but yes..quite an achievement for the time.

[Q5XX29]

163mph to be pedantic!...but yes..quite an achievement for the time.

https://www.lamborghini.com/en-en/brand/masterpieces/miura

From Lamborghini's own website- 280 kph (which is 174 mph).  But yes, likely an exaggerated figure, especially given "factory-tuned" versions for testing, and overly-optimistic speedometers.
I really get a kick out of people who are so bold as to assume that they know even more about a car than the owner of the damn car! Says a lot about that person.  Would you like to tell me more about the cars in my collection?

[XH29N0G]

I'll jump in.  They look nice 

I'd love to see more of them

[alfaitalia]

163mph to be pedantic!...but yes..quite an achievement for the time.

https://www.lamborghini.com/en-en/brand/masterpieces/miura

From Lamborghini's own website- 280 kph (which is 174 mph).  But yes, likely an exaggerated figure, especially given "factory-tuned" versions for testing, and overly-optimistic speedometers.
I really get a kick out of people who are so bold as to assume that they know even more about a car than the owner of the damn car! Says a lot about that person.  Would you like to tell me more about the cars in my collection?

Ok...bit touchy....having a bad day? Sorry it it offended you....I just based it on road test results....could find none at 170.
Probably like when Jaguar launched the E type in 1961....the press cars were tuned to about 10mph faster than the ones you could buy off the showroom floor! They claimed 150 mph...making it the fastest production car at the time....142 was about it in reality.

[Q5XX29]

163mph to be pedantic!...but yes..quite an achievement for the time.

https://www.lamborghini.com/en-en/brand/masterpieces/miura

From Lamborghini's own website- 280 kph (which is 174 mph).  But yes, likely an exaggerated figure, especially given "factory-tuned" versions for testing, and overly-optimistic speedometers.
I really get a kick out of people who are so bold as to assume that they know even more about a car than the owner of the damn car! Says a lot about that person.  Would you like to tell me more about the cars in my collection?

Ok...bit touchy....having a bad day? Sorry it it offended you....I just based it on road test results....could find none at 170.
Probably like when Jaguar launched the E type in 1961....the press cars were tuned to about 10mph faster than the ones you could buy off the showroom floor! They claimed 150 mph...making it the fastest production car at the time....142 was about it in reality.

Nope, had a great day. Apology accepted.

[Q5XX29]

I'll jump in.  They look nice 

I'd love to see more of them

If you're talking to me- thanks! If you're on Instagram, my handle there is dakota_gt, and is dedicated to my car obsession. Lots of photos there, if you care to check it out. 

[XH29N0G]

I'll jump in.  They look nice 

I'd love to see more of them

If you're talking to me- thanks! If you're on Instagram, my handle there is dakota_gt, and is dedicated to my car obsession. Lots of photos there, if you care to check it out. 

I was.  I'm not on Instagram but may see if I can do that.  It looks like a nice collection. 

[ACUDANUT]

 Alfaitalia, glad your still here. Sorry if you were offended earlier. Cheers.
Try this thread. http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,127122.0.html