Tag: Alfa Romeo Tipo 156

When the Poets Dreamed of Angels

Fiat gained the credit, but the 164 was a genuine Alfa Romeo, despite what some might suggest.

The finest saloon shape of the 1980’s? It’s definitely top 5. Image: omniauto

During an FCA presentation in 2014, the designated Alfa Romeo CEO, Harald Wester had a point to make about what he saw as the marque’s latter day decline. The visual metaphor he chose to illustrate this with was the Alfa 164, Wester going on to state that because it was driven by the front wheels, it had somehow traduced the heritage carmaker’s bloodline.

But not only was Wester quite wrong in his assertion, he also demonstrated both a disdain for his forebears and a blind ignorance of history.[1] Dismissing the 164, perhaps the most accomplished and rounded product the troubled Milanese carmaker had produced since the 1960s, not only made Alfa’s then CEO appear foolish, it belied and diminished its achievement, particularly given the privations surrounding its birth. Continue reading “When the Poets Dreamed of Angels”

Tipo 156 – The Last Alfa Romeo

No, not the one you’re thinking of. This is the last rear-wheel drive Alfa saloon. Or is it?

156.Alfabb.com
A fibreglass styling model of Tipo 156, circa 1983. Image via Alfabb

By 1980, government owned Alfa Romeo was in trouble. The Alfa Sud experiment was unravelling amidst chronic labour unrest and the deteriorating reputation of the model that took its name. In addition, its expensive engineering couldn’t be recouped by its low price and paltry volumes, meaning Alfa was haemorrhaging Lire at a prodigious rate. Continue reading “Tipo 156 – The Last Alfa Romeo”