1988 Alfa Romeo 75 1.8 DOHC
Summary:
A real drivers car
Faults:
Too much, as you can expect from an old alfa romeo.
1. The car was originally a 1.6. The engine has been worn out so it was replaced by the 1.8 carbs.
2. There was a bit of a leaking of exhaust fumes into the passenger cabin (of course it was fixed in no time lol).
3. The gearbox is worn out, gotta double clutch in order to shift down and if you try to shift up too fast, it will make a painful sound that will make sure you won't try it again.
4. Both front electric windows aren't working.
5. There are little red lights in the dashboard. If they turn on, it shows what part of the car has gone wrong. For some reason, all the lights are on (lol).
6. The horn has moods (sometimes it works, and most time it doesn't:) ).
7. The old Alfa's are build for people with short legs and long arms. I'm the opposite. I have long legs and short arms, and my legs get stuck in the plastics and sometimes my hands just can't reach the steering wheel like they should in an average family car (though it's not average).
8. The handbrake cable is loose and does not stop the car from going downhill when it's parked on a slope.
The car must be in gear as well.
9. Had water leaking.
10. Had to change the braking pump.
11. The water cooling fan stopped working for a while.
12. The right rear door had problems of getting closed after it was opened.
13. The air conditioning is broken.
And basically it has a lot of electrical problems.
General Comments:
I really like the performance of this car, it has a sporty character (rear-wheel-drive, hard suspensions, short clutch, two double cell carbs., variable valve timing). It's just great to take big curves on the road at high speeds.
Once you start driving it, you don't want to stop. it's just so much fun and challenging and the gas pedal tempts you so much to rev it up a bit and hear that wonderful sound coming out of the exhaust... it does not need a free flow muffler to sound like a racing car.
You need to treat this car and give it a lot of attention, otherwise it will have bad moods and start to fall apart like mine :), so it can be reliable, and it can be unreliable. it all depends.
Some cars have souls, and this is definitely one of those cars.
It has a lot of space in it and it is very comfortable, both front and rear seats. the trunk is big and can be used for various of large stuff.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 13th March, 2005