Alfa Romeo 145 1.6 Boxer

I owned an Alfa 145 1.6 from new in 1996. I had it for three years in total, and here's the story. A beutiful blue/purple colour, different from the normal red or black that most people have. I wanted to be different, and in this car you certainly could be. Very fast 0-60, and a good top speed (117mph - proven at 2.30am on a long road from Nottingham to Worksop!). It drove very well, and cornered beutifully. The looks were stunning, and being so unusual, I always got coments from people, and if there was another 145 in a car park, we would park next to each other, an exclusive sort of feeling ... more

Hi there I had my Alfa for 3 years. For the first three months I was either in the wrong gear or on the rev limiter (which just dumps you without any juice - bad news on roundabouts) but we got along eventually. Bought slightly second-hand, I had a few niggles sorted out on the AA check - the check paid for itself, in fact. Then off we went. I had a baby, the boot was big enough for the pram and some shopping. The baby seat fit on the back seat no problem. The car went round corners fine, never failed to start, never failed to stop, but - well, it never did these things brilliantly, either ... more

The Alfasud of the 1970`s did a good job of being the poor mans Alfa. A superb chassis, some 15-20 years ahead of it`s time and it`s general driving ability was only let down by the now legendary dreadful Italian corrosion and poor quality - needless to say, few survived! The 33 saw a slight improvement, particularly in mark 2 guise but the same running gear meant the car seemed dated. The 145 stopped the rot if you excuse the pun. Based on the Fiat Bravo (check Bravo for NCAP safety results), so started the beginning of a revolution for Alfa which saw them regain their reputation on the way ... more