Evo Middle East Article - Alfas in the Middle East

[Stephen Manjai]

Guys....

There's a nice spread in Evo Middle East this month with a whole bunch of our cars.. Many thanks to William Grime, Kamran Iqbal, Onno le Roy and Bare Ghazal for co-operation with Evo on the photoshoot and eventual article.

Most thanks of all to Dimitri Pesin of Evo magazine for the article..

Enjoy the read.. Page 48 - Page 51..

I have asked for pictures and permission to post them. I will let you know as soon as I hear back from Evo Magazine..

[almayer]

Bought the mag, read the article, I guess its not bad but not really fair. Had 2 156 and now a Spider, with the 2nd 156 & the Spider hardly a problem. I understand the guy is driving a 155 and having loads of issues, but to be honest when I talk to BMW or Mercs owners theyre also complaining about issues. The old stereotype Alfa (or italian) quality vs german one was ok and perfectly justifiable in the 80s-90s, not anymore. German quality has dropped big time (especially Mercs), while Fiat group has managed to improve a lot (just look @ the 500, or the Mito).

[Richard Moss]

I'm not sure that I agree with you on the quality issue, almayer. Back in the UK I ran Rover 800s and Jaguar XJ40s, both cars with a poor level of perceived quality. However, they were all far superior to my 166 in terms of fit, finish, durability and quality of switchgear etc. The switches on the 166 feel like they came off a kids toy, the spray colour on the dashboard has a nasty look and has gone sticky and opening anything with a lid leaves me with a fear that the hinges are going to snap. And then there's the electrics..............

Sure, Alfas are not as bad as they were nor as bad as they are made out to be but they are not up to standard.

[almayer]

Richard, never had a 166 so I cannot talk. As far as the 156 goes I could never complain. Of course, the BMW 318d that I got after was better finished, but not so much as to justify the price tag. Plus it was a beautiful car, so long as it wasn't raining or snowing.