Alfa Romeo Owners Club of Australia Forum

General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: f1worldchamp on November 04, 2008, 10:26:47 PM

Title: Looking to get started
Post by: f1worldchamp on November 04, 2008, 10:26:47 PM
Hi all, despite being a car fan and Alfa fan my whole life, I'm finally getting round to ownership. I won't be a daily driver, and I would like to get into some club events, primarily supersprints, and was wondering about the pros and cons of some of the models in my price range. I've seen mostly 75's, 90's and 33's.
A particular 90 near my work has caught my eye. It's an 86 2.5 under 5k with 260k on the clock.
I want to keep it road registered, so something that will be a decent drive without a tonne of mods would be ideal.
Thanks
Title: Re: Looking to get started
Post by: dehne on November 04, 2008, 11:00:35 PM
hi there 90,s are a great car for the road andthe track if u r in melb there is a 90 going for $1300 it is not a bad machine it is currently on ebay and has been for a while so you could get it cheaper you do not need to many mod with these as they r quite quick anyway the other option is the 75 which would be good as well. but for the 33 personally i would not being frontwheel drive and either 1.5 or 1.7 ltr which to me is missing a few mouthfuls but its up to you
Title: Re: Looking to get started
Post by: Thmpar on November 05, 2008, 12:51:48 AM
Hi i have a sud we were running not for a bit though it cost us $150 to buy and a clean up inside and out and still even now a great car for track work.
It does now have quite a lot of mods 4 years down the track and still has some improving to do in places.they are quite easy to learn in being front wheel drive they are very forgiving,especially when having a heavy right foot.
Title: Re: Looking to get started
Post by: Sheldon McIntosh on November 05, 2008, 01:33:35 AM
It would help if we knew where you're located, and also do a search around this forum, especially regarding the cars you mention, this topic has been covered a few times.  Whatever you do, join the local club ASAP as the advice/contacts you get will be invaluable.  Whatever you plan to do, there will be many people who have done the same thing and can advise you on the right way to go about it.

All the cars you mention are great for a road/track car.  Do you want to still drive the car occasionally on the road, or will it just be a track/weekend car?

In my opinion, the 75 would be the pick, they're a good car which can be easily and cheaply made very quick on the track.  The 90 Super is essentially the same car with a different body.  If you're thinking of doing some track work I wouldn't recommend the 90 Gold Cloverleaf though (the earlier model with the digital dash and 5 bar grill) as it has very long gearing and a bad gearchange.  The 75 would be the pick though.  The 90 is generally cheaper but the parts are rarer and more expensive.  Ask me how I know.  And when you put a cheap Italian car on the track you'll need to buy parts occasionally.

The 33 I don't know much about, but I've seen plenty of them go pretty quickly on the track, and they are a fun car on the road.  Also consider an Alfetta sedan.  A great car, but hard to find rust-free.  But these days people almost pay you to take them away, so worth researching them also.

There's a few threads here about the topic already, this is one, but I'm sure I remember other ones, you'll have to search yourself.
http://www.alfaclubvic.org.au/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,68/topic,1537.0/ (http://www.alfaclubvic.org.au/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,68/topic,1537.0/)

Title: Re: Looking to get started
Post by: alfagtv58 on November 05, 2008, 09:39:20 AM
Sheldon offers some good advice there.  The 75 (a twin spark) would be my pick.  The only other thing I might add is see if you can stretch the budget a bit and buy something that someone else has already tipped some money into and set up for track work, it will save you money in the long run.
Title: Re: Looking to get started
Post by: f1worldchamp on November 05, 2008, 09:13:02 PM
Thanks for the advice guys, it's much appreciated.
I'm in Sydney, and the car will probably spend more time on the road than on the track. I still want to take it out for weekend drives as well.
This was the car I was looking at: http://tiny.cc/kVscJ (http://tiny.cc/kVscJ) Definately think the 75 is better looking.
Cheers
Title: Re: Looking to get started
Post by: 1750GT on November 11, 2008, 06:11:18 PM
Hi, I have read your message about what car you should get and (hopefully you haven't already purchased) but the 90 is definitely not the car for club events. I agree with some of the responses and would think in the price range $3 - 6K (depending on condition) that the car to get is an old GTV2000 (1980-1985), its a 2lt four cylinder model but a goer. A GTV6, with a six cylinder engine will be more.

It's worth waiting and getting a "lovely", properly maintained Alfa without rust, or should I say any rust problem fixed, whatever you get and get an NRMA or mechanical inspection on the vehicle.

1750GT
Title: Re: Looking to get started
Post by: Paul Gulliver on November 11, 2008, 06:56:06 PM
I agree with Phil Baskett about the Alfa 75 ,but as mentioned  you might want to consider an Alfetta GTV.

The pick of the bunch are the original steel bumper GTV's and Alfetta 1.8 GT  (1976  - 1981). Although getting harder to find IMHO these are the cars that offer some potential to be collectable and with any chance get your money back at some later date.

Track wise if you enjoy it and want to get more serious you have a great base for a Group S car . Alternatively if you want to use it as a weekend cruiser, it is something that you can put the misses & kids in, it has  a radio & heater and hopefully not to many complaints.

I purchased a 1979 Alfetta GTV did earlier this year (see avatar). I have been to 3 sprints so far this year and it is "as much fun as you can have with your pants on"

The following add was in the classifieds on this page a couple of months ago. This is about what you should pay for a car but be prepared to spend that much again on decent tyres suspension & brakes to get it to a safe condition to get on the track.



  General Category / Buy/Swap/Sell / FS: 1979 Alfetta GTV (in NSW)  on: July 29, 2008, 09:26:21 PM 
David Stone (previous Alfa Romeo General Manager) has the following 1979 Alfetta GTV for sale.

David informs me that he still has three other Alfas including an immaculate silver 1985 2.0 GTV and is still building Alfetta Group Sc race car, and is not lost from the "faithful" just because he isn't with AR anymore!


FOR SALE: 1979 Alfetta GTV 2000

Ivory, great mechanical condition, solid and straight body with only minor rust, perfect dash, a/c, Momo steering wheel, Pioneer CD, 15" factory alloy wheels, NSW rego to April 2009, UCW 636. $3,500.

Please call David on 0407 166 156 (bh) or 02 4861 6364 (hm).

Cheers

Paul