[Spiderman]

Very interesting point in the Telegraph`s test of the 159.Other than Alfa can you name any affordabable pretty modern cars?

Look around you for a pretty car nowadays. Britain's car parks are filled with cars that look like angler fish, sporting huge, ugly headlamps, sills shaped like bananas, bodywork creases that went to hell and back, grilles like a basking shark's mouth and boot lids like upturned soap dishes - ugly is the new beautiful.

 

[alfa scozia]

Very interesting point in the Telegraph`s test of the 159.Other than Alfa can you name any affordabable pretty modern cars?

You picked up on a good point there mate, I should think there are many disappointed 3 series fans out there, not to mention the droves of unhappy 5 series owners who all appear to be driving machines which ultimatly work very well BUT in the looks department are a complete let down.

I stuck the two together for comparison

 

[Spiderman]

I don`t mind the 5 series as it has a bit of presence.The 3 series is just bland.The back looks like a Mitsubishi Carisma.
Neither are beautiful though are they?
And the mre I think about it the more I struggle to thin of anything that is.
Peugeots 407 gets close but the gaping Chereie Blair-esque gob on it,takes the shine off somewhat.
In view of the competition,with the 159,this would appear to be Alfa`s best chance of sales success yet,even if in itself its not as pretty as the 156.

 

[Guest]

grilles like a basking shark's mouth

That'll be the Audi then I can't stand their exaggerated grills

wrinx

 

[HowardA]

That'll be the Audi then I can't stand their exaggerated grills

wrinx

true

Beauty is....not trying, just being.

 

[Guest]

When I picked my 156 up I was going past a friend who along with his wife is a petrol head and they own two Toyota Supra's. The Supra is a fantastic car technically and seriously over engineered, but it was great when I took them out and the whole journey was like a voyage of discovery for them. All the way all I could hear was them discovering neat little touches of design and the love the way the dash and dials are driver focused.

 

[THROTTLEMAN]

Look around you for a pretty car nowadays. Britain's car parks are filled with cars that look like angler fish, sporting huge, ugly headlamps, sills shaped like bananas, bodywork creases that went to hell and back, grilles like a basking shark's mouth and boot lids like upturned soap dishes - ugly is the new beautiful.

This is the statement of the year!!! :cheese: :cheese: :cheese: :cheese: :cheese:

But sooooo true!!!

 

[Buck Bundy]

This is the statement of the year!!! :cheese: :cheese: :cheese: :cheese: :cheese:

But sooooo true!!!

And who here thinks the Honda Accord estate is a perfect example of how Alfa could have got the 156 Sportwagon so wrong?

http://www.hoot-uk.com/content/news/archive/honda/2002/11102002-1.html

It may be more practical, but boy is that Honda ugly.

Buck

 

[HowardA]

And who here thinks the Honda Accord estate is a perfect example of how Alfa could have got the 156 Sportwagon so wrong?

http://www.hoot-uk.com/content/news/archive/honda/2002/11102002-1.html

It may be more practical, but boy is that Honda ugly.

Buck

Yes the 156 SW is nicer, but I like the Accord's bold stance & clean lines better than most estates on the road.

 

[Spiderman]

Ahem as an Accord owner I would AGREE its not exactly beautiful! :lol:
But as Howard says I do like it for its clean lines and lack of fussy detailing,but most of all its sheer usefulness.Compare it to a Passat,the Mondeo,Vectra,etc and it looks positively stylish!
Its a case for once of form following function.
When all`s said and done I bought it for what it does rather than what it looks like and its an excellent vehicle although I tend to think of it more as a tool.
As much as I love the 156SW its a useless estate car!

 

[morty1961]

I personally think the Mondeo estate is the best looking of them all in estate guise..except the 156 SW (not really an estate tho' is it).
The Honda is too slab sided to be considered a looker!

Lee

 

[Green Cloverleaf]

A year into ownership and I am still finding any excuse I can to have another look at her on the driveway!

Still the best looking car on the road - by miles

 

[Guest]

If the build quality matches the looks then it must be a winner

 

[Pasi]

When beauty is not enough.....

Who cares if the car isn't even working... as long as it looks good!

(BTW, even the Rust in me Sprint looks better than the rust in any Toyota )

 

[dpat]

A year into ownership and I am still finding any excuse I can to have another look at her on the driveway!

Still the best looking car on the road - by miles

Me too - at work my office is in one building and the lab in another so I regularly cross the car park to get from one to the other and ALWAYS make sure I have a look at my car on the way, even it means a a short detour

 

[Ben_NZ]

That Accord Tourer (which I've never seen in NZ) looks like the designers said "Let's make the waistline really high and the rear windows real low, for no good reason, so that people will believe us when we put 'Euro' badges on it!"
It looks a bit silly, but not as ugly as the recent Nissan Primera wagon:
http://www.japcar.ru/cat_pic/cnis_primerawagon2.jpg
Even the interior designers were trying a bit too hard to stand out. Meet blinky, the three-eyed dashboard:
http://www.in.gr/auto/dokimes/pr_dokimes_in/Nissan_Primera_1800/big/in_Nissan_Primera_14.jpg

 

[icarlisle]

That'll be the Audi then I can't stand their exaggerated grills

wrinx

Is that the Audi grille designed by Walter da Silva? Who also led the design of the 156...

 

[Guest]

156 Sportwagon alternative???What about the Mazda 6 (hatch or estate). They are pretty damn good looking (and I usually dislike Japanese cars). Agree about the Accord estate incidentally...grueseome!!

And Mazdas are well built, and we have an excellent family run local dealership (we bought the wife's Skoda estate off their 'cheapies' lot).

When my 164s finally peg it or get disposed of, I think you can see where I'm heading here, and I have NEVER owned a Japanese car...had a Suzuki Bike or two though.

I think the 156 is the best looking car of the last ten years, regrettably however its quality is pretty crap, so I will never buy one.

AlfaLincs

 

[VeloceMitch]

Actually it's not that crap really, just perhaps a bit patchy. Crap is too strong a word, unless we are talking about suspension bushes then I might agree

It's still the niciest looking 4 door saloon on the road though and by a fair margin as well.

 

[Guest]

I don't trust the 156 TS engines. They either work..or they break, and there's all those ruddy belts and the variator thats useless. The suspension is weak and wobbly, and I had a selespeed actuator in my hot little hand the other day..or should I say a FAILED selespeed actuator. Its a clever device, but my Alfa specialist says they don't tend to last very long...£600 or so a throw. Once upon a time Alfas rusted and had weak electrics...now you get the whole shebang. I gather the JTS engine is a bit better, and the new GM based JTS engines better still...not before time.

On the other hand the 164TS (8 valves and chain drive) is probably the most reliable rust free Alfa ever made..they just keep going unless you are really daft. Mine is 13 years old and has nothing much wrong with it. Its just wearing out gracefully..except it doesn't show. The interior still looks 'as new'. My 24valve 164 on the other hand is too complicated. Lovely when its going...a pain in the arse if anything goes wrong, and it doesn't handle tike the TS...but it does go just a bit, and I lurve the aircon in hot weather

AlfaLincs