> Not quite - I finally saw sense for a moment after much (over 2 engine
> rebuilds on one of my Alfa 33s!) excessive maintainence and sold my last
33
> a month ago. Good riddance, goodbye, so long, auf wiedersehen, au revoir,
> arrivederci, etc.
>
> Don't miss them at all. Much, not for the magic handling, the responsive
> engine, the great accelleration, the (ahem, officer!) remarkably good top
> speed. Not a bit of it. Just had a gut full of the maintainence of
fixing
> something every week. There is a lot to rebuild in a 16v injected boxer
> engine you know!
>
> So there I was, carless, perusing ebay thinking - 'cheap and reliable,
cheap
> insurance, low tax, economical' - and suddenly instead of buying a toyota
> corolla, nissan sunny or proton persona, I'd bought a Fiat Tipo, the one
> with the 148bhp 2.0 16v engine - damn it goes well!
>
> However, I've always had a problem with Fiats - I've always regarded them
as
> being a 'second grade' vehicle - so I stuck with the 'Alfa' bit - but
> although I hold BMWs in high esteem, (I used to work in 1st tier motor
> industry supply to ford, rover, landrover, jag, aston martin, fiat, buick,
> toyota, nissan, renault - I understand vehicle build quality - get the
> picture) I just couldn't stoop to buying one as they are just not me.
> (Interestingly I used to have a Fiat Multipla as a company car...) If I
> ever had to get sensible and buy a 'decent' car I'd buy something like a
PT
> Cruiser or another Multipla. Oh yes, we have 3 kids.
>
> Somehow, the italians have the edge in appealing car design - I've owned
> lancias as well and loved them all - oh well, less of my life story -
> somehow from the above you'll grasp that I love Alfas but can't live with
> them anymore!

Wouldn't mind the 2.0 Tipo myself, the wife drives a 1.6 and even though
thats 15 years old it's still in surprisingly good nick. Problem with the
Tipo is they stopped making them in 95 and a 9 year old car, well, I'd
rather have something a little newer. From what I've read the 155 is quite
reliable so long as it is looked after, i.e. cambelt changes at 36k, etc,
and as they are galvanised no rust problems. Still, it's better than owning
a Mondeo

Hellraiser............>