Description
An extremely well maintained Alfa Romeo 156, which is unmodified, and has been cared for from new by two enthusiastic owners. It genuinely has FULL DEALERSHIP SERVICE HISTORY.
It features the correct engine for the chassis, the 2 litre Twin Spark. Light, efficient, lovely to hear, and responsive. (The V6, of which I've had 2, sounds epic, and then eats it's suspension components for breakfast due to added weight/ mass, and is so thirsty for little performance gain. The 2. 0 is regarded as the best balance)
It was originally kept in the South of England and had been serviced by SGT, the Alfa Dealer in Maidstone, from new up until 2024, having had 5 timing belt changes for age, not mileage, reasons, and no other expense has been spared.
The original owner sadly passed away recently and so we took ownership of it in December 2025. It has since had a full service, and the recent MOT uncovered a potential failing in seatbelt mounts, which was repaired by the garage, leading to a fresh MOT being granted.
Issues: age related tiny paint imperfections, with a small indentation on the otherwise-gloriously swooping bonnet, but it seems too nice to qualify/ warrant a respray and is for the most part unnoticeable.
It features Pirelli P7's all around, and they seem to give the best comfort for the chassis, with generous wall depths to soak up UK road surfaces, and the 16" Alloys, maybe in need of a touch up, help it drive so nicely. Every single receipt, service item, all available, catalogued and accounted for, since it left the factory. An incredible paper trail the likes of which I've never seen before. I can provide this paperwork on request, however due to the copious amount, with personal owner details, it would take me ages to edit.
The engine pulls strongly, and the handling is sublime. They just broke the mould when this front-engined masterpiece offered a driving experience it wasn't thought possible back in the day, and it is still a pleasure to drive every day now.
The looks are something else, aren't they? Everywhere you drive, someone is giving you a nod. Add 20 minutes to each journey estimate, because you'll end up talking to someone in a car park about how they wish they owned one and can they sit in it. Speaking of sitting in it...
The Cabin is what Alfa, when spec'd correctly, do better than any brand other than high-end millionaire machines. It has almost entirely unblemished MOMO grey leather interior throughout, with the drivers bolster not misshapen whatsoever and still looking about as brand new as when it was made. The only interior issue is the slightly-off-kilter concave glove compartment, something every 156 develops by now. This is the least skewed I've owned, but I feel I should mention it. Maybe a 5mm gap at one side compared to the other side of the shut-line.
The rubbers are all very good for the age of the vehicle, with perhaps a tiny hairline split on one of the window corners, but it doesn't affect noise or weather ingress, or that very solid door thunk that Alfa were proud to finally pull off in this model. It demonstrates that Walter da Silva designed it brilliantly, and that Audi engineers were definitely poached to put these together.
One quirk/ feature... The Automatic is perfect for the chassis, but not modern. The rare sight of an almost totally uncluttered steering wheel reveals just two buttons, controlling the gearing up and down, pre-paddle-shift. They are from an era when autos were still more hydraulic than electronic, and so the buttons have the reaction speed of a bored cat sleeping in a window. Happily, Alfa built in two further options for this two-pedal beauty. There's a 'City' button. Leave it in that all day, drive around happily at your leisure. Or for more spirited helmsmanship, the gearstick can be tapped up or down, and I find this the most entertaining way to drive it, with it's satisfying reactions quickened up, and rev-matching blips making glorious Alfa noises out of the great-condition exhaust.
And finally, just look at it. Show me a better looking saloon, inside and out, for £2500, in this condition, with this level of maintenance, and genuinely, solidness and reliability. Yes, Alfas were talked about for reliability questions, but now, the ones that were poorly made aren't on the roads anymore. This one was clearly built on a Monday, while the boss was giving a factory tour to a visiting president. It's epic, and it's sad to sell it.
On That Side Of Things, the reason for sale is simple. My work means that daily driving it would be unfair, as previously it would do a shopping trip or two a week, and now I need to commute commercially, a hundred or so miles a day, stop-start, and loading equipment in and out constantly. This would be unfair on the lovely interior, and put it at increased risk of careless drivers pranging it. It deserves to not be a workhorse. We want another enthusiast to enjoy it.
It has never had a drop of E10 fuel in its life, although SGT show evidence of fuel system work, perhaps related to the mainstream adoption of E10. However, it only ever runs on E5/ VPower, and it shows.
I could consider a p/ x, perhaps a Sportwagon edition Auto. Thanks for viewing the Ad.
