Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

Nice. Is it blue?
Welcome to the club, to the highs and the lows and the unbelievably inexplicable things about to happen to you.
First things first, learn to ignore ALL the dash warning lights UNLESS they say oil , water , or stop.
They don't really mean it. They really want to be a Christmas tree.

It surely is, must check the exact colour but it's a particularly lovely shade! 17" wheels look much better in person than I expected and I'd be tempted to possibly drop it an 1" and keep the wheels as is!

Quite a list of small things I'd want to sort myself such as new wheel centres, new boot emblem, paint needs a polish and a few touches, a more modern entertainment system would be nice too.

Should be capable of avoiding Dammit levels of splurge though hopefully.

I love those wheels so I agree on a subtle hit with the lowering stick and then tidying up any details that you need to. Enjoy it!

Caster camber check ;)

Geneva car show - Have you guys seen the pictures of cars on the abarth stand?

The 159... I'd be interested to know how the boot space is and the general ride/comfort/handling is.

There's a rare variant with a V6 and All wheel drive. That would be a nice thing .

Following on from the 182 chat, this looks pretty rad: https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F183702232553

Post needs pics.

911 sounded like a never-serviced Combi today, it's getting recovered to Precision tomorrow - who told me to under no circumstances start the engine. Hopefully just a sticky lifter.

Hopefully not bad news. This is still with the original engine right?

Yes, but the replacement is still some time off yet. It'd not be the end of the world if this engine is dead, but it would be annoying to not have the car over summer.

"Its not been cobbled together like some I've seen"

"Oh by the way its got a failed piston ring but its all good because I might have another engine to go in it"

No fucking thanks

Karma for taunting Alfa Romeo owners surely?

Nah, it's not currently on fire.

So general ride, comfort and handling are actually quite lovely. It's extremely planted on the road, very stable. It's a heavy car so it's not what I would call a sporty drive but I'd imagine the 3.2 V6 would be similar enough in a sort of gentleman's express style. A really lovely way to cover miles in a reasonable hurry.

I drove down from Birmingham to Salisbury with mine today and it was just a really pleasant experience which is what I was after really. It's got plenty of go when you want tops it along but it's greatest attribute I've discovered so far is how little I have to say about it. Haven't had a chance to get it around a few twists yet but I might try and find a few around the New Forest tomorrow to see what it's like.

Boot space is ample although I don't have a lot of experience with estates. It's puny in comparison to my Discovery Commercial obviously but I also think I'm going to get along very well with it. We had a large North Face duffel, a carry-on size suitcase and two backpacks in the boot and there was easily enough space for the same again and some more I reckon.

There are a few odd quirks such as there is only one cup holder which is a bit strange though nothing that isn't dwarfed by the sheer joy of the beauty of the thing so far.

I've already been looking into the 3.2 V6 myself.

The Alfa or the 911? * rushes to check on Alfa Romeo *

Perfect, thanks. A gentlemans express is pretty much ideal. I'm always on the hunt for the perfect smallish family wagon. Even been considering a Subaru levorg GTS, but dayum... Ugly and and CVT only here.

The V6 is absolutley glorious . But eyewateringly expensive to tax.
My twin spark is £270 a year , but my Abarth 595 with more power is only about £80!
How things have moved on.

Rest easy that you don't live in Ireland. My 2.4 JTDM is going to either cost me €750 or €1034 a year to tax depending on what a shower of cunts revenue decide to be.

Fingers crossed

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Somebody's stealing your beetle!!

Recovery chap didn't believe me when I said it was 21 years old, not a single mark anywhere on it.

So, that was nice.

Hope its all OK.

Re the wheel chat a while back; seeing it side on I think you've got the right wheels on it.

If you're down this way, blast it down the A354 to Blandford, A350 to Shaftesbury, and then back via B3081 and up ZigZag Hill

go up the hill , not down!