2000 Alfa Romeo 145 Cloverleaf – Classified of the Week

Many people, ourselves included, would site the 1980s as the golden age of the hot hatch. With cars like the VW Golf and Peugeot 205 GTIs alongside the forced induction Ford Escort RS Turbo and Renault 5 Turbo dominating the scene it was a wonderful time for feisty family cars. But this craze for rapid runabouts wasn’t confined to that most snazzy of decades. The hot hatch phenomenon was here to stay and manufacturers would continue to produce vivacious versions of their three-door variants well past the decade that brought us leg warmers, mullets and the Walkman, none least of which being Alfa Romeo and its brilliant little 145 Quadrifoglio.

With prices for the aforementioned scene stalwarts showing no signs of doing anything other than continuing skyward and with modern examples factoring less and less in the grand automotive landscape here is a car that will very much scratch that hot hatch itch while still being a hell of a lot cheaper than a similar mileage ’80s hero. It just so happens to be pretty rare to boot and oh so cool on top of that. There’s a lot to like with this Alfa Romeo 145 Cloverleaf then.

Coming out a year after the boggo 145 the Cloverleaf nabbed the 2.0-litre, 16-valve Twin Spark four banger from the 155, elevating this small family Italian from grocery getter to bum kicker with 153bhp (post-’97) and an eight second 0-60 time. With sharp handling, snappy turn in and a five-speed manual box it was a hoot to drive and its somewhat boxy, ’90s looks have aged well, topped off perfectly by those Teledial alloy wheels.

Imagine our joy then when we spotted this particular 2000 Alfa Romeo 145 Cloverleaf for sale on our classifieds via Fairmont Sports And Classics Ltd. With a constantly revolving stock of fantastic classics they more often than not have something tasty to tickle our fancy with and this Alfa is no exception. Not only does it look the business with its incredibly clean silver bodywork, but it is also mechanically sound to boot, so you can stop with all that Alfa reliability nonsense thank you.

The car comes with a comprehensive history, including eight services stamps, and 19 old MOT certificates dating back to 2003 corroborating the staggeringly low mileage of just 26,244. Yep, this beauty has covered on average just over 1,000 miles a year since being bolted together, likely making it one of the lowest mileage 145 Cloverleafs in existence.

The all important cambelt was replaced, along with the water pump, in November 2020 and the car was fully serviced in October 2022 with Italian car specialist MDZ Italtec carrying out all of the necessary work, so you can be safe in the knowledge that the car wants for nothing, aside from being driven in the spirit in which Alfa Romeo intended.

This is a stunning example, both inside and out, of a cool, rare car that was very much overlooked in its day. Just take a look at the 42 quality photos included with the advert and tell us we’re wrong. You can’t do it can you. With hardly any signs of wear and an engine bay most would be happy to dine from this 145 Cloverleaf presents as an incredible opportunity for Alfa-holics, hot hatch hooligans and fans of youngtimers alike.

And it’s less than ten grand! For context we just searched on site for Golf GTIs and one of the top results was an ’87 Mk2 with triple the mileage of the 145 for £30K. Thirty. Thousand. Pounds. With that in mind this Alfa Romeo starts to make a hell of a lot of sense. Somebody needs to snap this up, pronto.