Description
1996 Alfa 164 Cloverleaf
89k miles, 5 previous owners, MOT to June 2023, lots of history available. Owned by me for the last 3 years. I have a couple
Painted in Alfa Rosso (red) with black leather interior - front seats are fully electric. I believe the paint is totally original and it cleans up well but there are some imperfections/ scratches/ chips here and there as you'd expect on a 26 year old car. The mirrors would benefit from a repaint as they're suffering with lacquer peel.
The car is in good overall condition and drives really nicely. No warning lights on and it pulls well, not to mention it sounds great. All dials read correctly, oil pressure is spot on, battery charges correctly, etc but the rev counter sometimes has a mind of its own (it flickers around a bit). The interior is in very good condition but does have one or two sticky plastic trims here and there such as the radio cover (very common issue). The underside is also in good condition, nice and solid. The car has clearly been well looked-after, which is backed up by the thick file full of service history and old MOT's dating back to when the car was new.
The car has a few changes from stock - slotted brake discs and stainless flexi hoses front and rear, stainless exhaust, and an aftermarket steering wheel. The wheels are the original 16" Speedlines but have been refurbished to a polished metal finish.
The car featured in Jaguar World magazine a year ago, in a twin-test against an XJ; the Alfa put on a good performance and was deemed the winner, with some very positive impressions left on the chaps who did the test. I was very proud of it that day!
When I bought the car it had been sitting in a lockup for several years and needed recommissioning. Unfortunately I also ended up replacing the engine due to unavoidable bottom end damage. Below is a fairly comprehensive list of the work I've performed / parts I've replaced during my ownership:
-Cambelt, cambelt tensioner bearing, both cambelt idler bearings, cambelt tensioner
-Auxiliary belt, auxiliary tensioner bearing, both auxiliary idler bearings, auxiliary tensioner
-Valeo clutch kit
-Stainless braided clutch hose
-Clutch master cylinder
-Clutch slave cylinder
-Engine oil
-Coolant
-Power steering fluid
-PS fluid reservoir (it has a built-in filter which can't be replaced on its own)
-Power steering pump
-5x tyres - Pirelli Cinturato P7, including the spare in the boot
-NSF wheel bearing
-NSF driveshaft
-NSF ABS sensor
-Gear lever bushing
-Gearbox torque mount bushing
-Intake manifold gaskets x6
-Throttle body gasket
-Crankshaft sensor
-Engine Management ECU (previous unit developed a grounding issue)
-Thermostat lower housing replaced due to discovering hairline crack
-Replaced rubber O-rings on coolant pipe that runs between the heads to the thermostat
-Thermostat
-Spark plugs
-Oil Filter
-Air filter
-Upper and lower thermostat housing gaskets
-Spark plug well rubber seals x6
-Valve cover gaskets x2
-Fuel rail rubber hoses (using the correct injection-rated 7. 5mm SAE J30 R9 hose)
-ARB droplinks
-ARB bushes
-Fuel pump
-Fuel pump relay
-Battery (good spec one)
-OSR engine mount
-OSF engine mount
-Catalytic converter (pattern part, new ones are NLA)
-Oil cooler and pipes (used)
-EGR valve removed and blanked off due to leaking of gases
I can't see the car needing much mechanical work, if any, for the next several years until the belts are due again. But there are a few fairly minor issues the next owner should be aware of:
-Rear bumper lower valance was cut by a previous owner to fit a towbar, could do with replacing
-Folding mirror function isn't working. Electric adjustment works fine on both mirrors
-Slight blow from the exhaust, from the front downpipe as far as I can tell
-AC pipe between the pump and the climate system is broken / half missing. It was cracked when I bought the car and the crack grew as I caught the pipe when taking the engine out of the car so I pulled the rest of the pipe off. It needs a new pipe and then an air con re-gas.
-Sometimes the car pops out of gear when reversing. No bother; just pop it back in, or keep your hand on the gear lever. Only does it sometimes, but worth mentioning for the sake of honesty.
-Bonnet can be fiddly to open sometimes as one of the pins on the slam panel sticks, despite my attempts to adjust it. I've just lived with it.
Overall it's a nice car and I know I'll miss it quite a lot but I'm consolidating my fleet as I've simply got too many cars under my care, and the 164's replacement is now ready to hit the road.
I'm happy to answer any questions you might have and provide more pictures if you like. Viewings recommended of course, I'll do my best to accommodate any interested parties.
Payment to be made by bank transfer.
Thanks for looking!
