1983 Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce 2.2 from North America
Summary:
A great ride (much better than my ex-wife.. kept the car, dumped her!)
Faults:
Six months after original purchase, I had the dash lights to go out... thought I would be smart(!) and drop in at the most convenient auto-parts store, and purchase a fuse and pop it in in the parking lot... BIG MISTAKE... Didn't disconnect the battery (and as the owner and previous owner of many British, Italian and German sports' cars, I certainly knew better!) and so toasted the car's main computer module.
Believe it or not, this has been the only time the car has been out of commission for ANY reason. Don't get me wrong, it suffers from slow electric windows (which I put the handy hand-crank in the glove box to use for), and her rocker panels tend to rust a bit (between paintings).
I've owned Jaguars, Triumphs, Corvettes, Mercury Cougars (a '69 XR7 Convertible.. my favorite USA car), Fords, Datsuns (Nissans), Mazdas, Fiats, Lancias, Porsches etc. The only truly bad car I've had is my last Porsche 911... it truly only ran three months out of the year (a week here, a week there; it spent the rest of the time at my mechanics... either actually being worked on, or waiting for parts).
I love cars, all cars, but the Alfa is my favorite, and German cars, in general, my least favorite. For pure character you can't beat an Alfa, old Cougar or Corvette, or any Triumph.
General Comments:
Great driver, love the looks, the feel of the interior (with a few tweaks)... surprisingly dependable (with extreme care, this is not a Toyota... and I thank God it's not!!).
Great MPG (but then I'm used to cars that get 12mpg).
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 4th December, 2011