Posts tagged Alfa Romeo
My Pics from PH and Autosport International
Jan 18th
As many of you will know, it was the Autosport International Show this weekend. I just thought I would touch on David’s previous post with some of my favourite road worthy cars from the show.
Ferrari California
This was the first time I’d seen the California up close and it is astonishingly beautiful. The 2+2 GT has a 454hp front mid-mounted 4.3L V8 that storms from 0-62mph in under 4 seconds. There are a few firsts for the prancing horse as well with this model, the first to feature that mid-front engine, the first to feature the 7-speed dual clutch transmission, the first with direct petrol injection and the first with a folding metal roof. Ferrari’s line up is growing on my each day with the 599, the 458 Italia and this, I truly am California dreaming…
Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione
I was first interested in the 8C when I saw this picture! There’s not much to say about the 8C other than it has searing performance and it looks great. Alfa have really showed they can play with the other Italian supercar big dogs, the 4.7L V8 launches it from 0-62 in 4.5 seconds and it’ll top out at 190mph. The only problem is the £100,00O price tag and the fact only 500 were built. If you are able to get your hands on one though, I would do it!
Noble M600
The £200,000 Noble M600 has been described as the most exciting British spots car for a generation. It is sensationally quick, 0-62mph in 3 seconds flat and 100mph in 3 seconds more. It has a suspected top speed of 225mph and has a better power to weight ratio than the Veyron, need I say more… Oh! I’m also a fan of the powder blue.
Jaguar XFR
I’ve got a lot of time for this car, I liked the XF when it came out so naturally the 503hp supercharged version has tickled my fancy. I like the interior of the XF as well, starting with the pulsating red start button, the sleek metal centre console and the bathing of blue light during darkness. Despite being the cheapest on the list so far by a long way at just under £60,000, it still has a 0-62mph time of 4.9 seconds and a blistering mid-range pace.
Lotus Evora Cup
OK so this isn’t quite road worthy but I had to use this picture of the Evora Cup to demonstrate my love for the Evora. When I first saw the Evora I wasn’t sold but now I’ve seen it in the metal I think it is an absolutely brilliant car. At just under the XFR at 45-50k with the same 0-62mph time I think this is a bargain supercar. Influx have recently included it as a future classic, and I totally agree.
Lexus LFA
At the other end of the pricing spectrum from the Evora and the XFR, here’s the Lexus LFA. Now I’m not sold on the LFA, sure it’s quite a nice looking and ridiculously fast supercar but how does it warrant the £350,000 price tag?! There is one thing I will give it though, it has an incredible F1 inspired engine induction/ exhaust noise, check it out here. Still… give me a California or an Evora any day!
A Load of Scrap!
Nov 4th
Although the scrappage scheme is mainly a good thing, people are buying new cars, there’s plenty of scrap metal around… One problem is that I can see a lot of nice cars, and potential classics being scrapped in favour of shiny new models. I had a trawl through a certain well known private car selling site and looked for any cars I could buy for under £2000, the minimum you’ll get on a scrappage deal. Here is a list of some of my favourite findings that could be in serious danger of becoming scrap metal:
1997 Alfa Romeo Spider Convertible
This car is simply beautiful! It has gorgeous curves, a good interior and a very reasonable 2.0 L engine with close to 150hp… and best of all, unlike the Alfa’s you can buy today, the number plate is in a conventional and better looking place!
1996 Fiat Coupé
A stylish Italian sports coupé with a curvy body and a stylish Pininfarina interior, still looking great 16 years after its introduction. Power is very respectable throughout the range, with the top 2.0 L 20V turbo version excelling to a massive 220hp.
1991 Jaguar XJS
A great Jaguar despite being overshadowed by it’s predecessor, the E-Type and it’s successor, the XK8. It has a smooth flowing body, and the typical mix of wood and leather interior typical of a Jag. Although sales struggled initially, it has become ever more popular with age and has matured like a fine wine. Although the economy is poor to say the least, about 10mpg in the earlier models, this car should be treasured.
1998 Rover Mini
There isn’t really much to say about saving the Rover Mini. This is one of the greatest stories in British engineering and it is sad to see the Mini being scrapped. A similar scheme in Italy saw thousands of Innocenti Mini’s being scrapped, we’ve got to hope that doesn’t happen here!
1990 BMW 3 Series (E30)
This is one of my favourites from the list, I love the E30. Altough there were plenty of E36‘s and a few E46‘s for under 2k, but I would be very sad if this car was scrapped. The M3 E30 is the real classic and anyone that scraps one of the those should be strung up, these great looking 3-Series also deserve to be savoured.
1992 Mitsubishi GTO
The GTO is a technically advanced Japanese sports coupe, and was created to rival the Nissan Skyline, Mazda RX-7 and Toyota Supra. With a 3.0 L V6 with 290hp in top spec and all-wheel drive, this car is undeniably fun. I would have thought that the only way this car would be scrapped is because it was wrapped around a tree, but there were loads of GTO’s available for less than the 2k mark, sad isn’t it?
1996 Mazda MX-5
My last choice is the MX-5, for simple reasons. It’s fun, nippy, cheap to run and you can even feel the wind in your hair! A real contender to be a true classic in years to come, unless of course they all get turned into little metal cubes like that poor little car in the advert!
Feel free to give me some of your suggestions…