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

So after a weekend with the Brera I have a few observations:

• It looks incredible. Even though it's a fourteen year old car it pretty much looks better than everything else on the road!
  
• Interior is lovely but back seats are entirely for show and weigh an outrageous amount so they would most likely go and be replaced by some sort of neat flat floor and an anti-roll bar. The good news is it's not impossible to fit a bike in the back with the front wheel off.
  
• Front seats are also quite comfortable but there's a rock in the drivers seat which is quite annoying and apparently a "feature" of early Breras so I wouldn't rule out replacing the front seats with some reclining Corbeau or Recaro seats.
  

• Head unit needs to be replaced with an Android one as I did in my 159. Also some USB sockets would be very useful.

• Exterior really just needs a new set of Alfa Romeo badges and a good detail and I'd imagine it will come up quite well.

• I'm not the biggest fan of the wheels and given how poor the roads are here I'd actually rather have 17s than the 18s but it's not a big deal really.

• The engine is pants. The 2.4 JTDM in the 159 is infinitely more pleasurable to drive and I miss it. Apparently a remap and new air intake and exhaust make it into quite a nice car though so there' a little leap of faith there in that respect. I'm effectively weighing up the compromise of astoundingly good looks against performance. It's a lovely drive but just a bit lifeless.

Going to have a chat with the owner later today and see how he got on with my 159 over the weekend and see where that leaves us.