I have been the owner of a 156 for some time and i love her.
But i figure, maybe i should dabble with an affordable alfa classic to do up slowly as a weekend car. Im looking at a 74 Berlina 2000, body looks in great nick as is the trim, but its an auto. I understand very few were made. So I'm wondering what the issues with the auto will be, aside from performance, in terms of reliability, servicing, repairs, rebuilding, costs?
I would welcome your views, especially if u own or have owned one as I'm looking to make a decision soon.
I can't comment specifically on the Berlina you are looking at, and/or even specifically the auto box itself. I am sure others more knowledgable than me may be able to shed some light there.
What I can say is that in general, the 105 be it a Berlina, let alone other models is, if well maintained a reliable (in Alfa terms), model. Rust generally was the big killer for them, that and using their drive train for GTVs, Spiders, Giulia Supers etc.
I recall that something like around 250 or so Auto Berlinas were made but whether that covers both RHD and LHD, I can't say at this time, given I am at work and don't have such info at hand.
From memory, the auto was first tested out on a small number of 1750 Berlinas, they also installed it in a small number of 2L GTVs. My brother has the remains of an Auto Berlina, ie. rust special.
At a guess, again I would have thought that it likely to have been a proprietary auto box rather than an Alfa specific model, and if so, so long as well maintained, it probably should be fine. Best get it checked out by an Alfa specialist. Berlinas are cool, I enjoyed my 2L manual Berlina, and by far they are the bargain of the 105s.
Attached is a pdf of a manual I have for that model. It'll probably be really popular in a few years as most of the young kiddies of today are only getting auto licences!
http://www.alfa-male.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Berlina-2000-A_1867.pdf
I was a passenger in one a few years ago and it was a great ride but it was driven slowly at the time so it apperaed really sluggish.
Older autos are a bit slower off the mark but depends how you drive it and where you drive it (highway etc.)
If you like it, and it's good for you then so be it.
Regards
I seem to remember reading somewhere these Auto cars were built in South Africa.
The auto is a ZF unit as fitted to BMW's of the same vintage (wasn't cheap to rebuild back in the 80's).
We had one for years and whilst its a nice drive once she's up and going, they are sluggish off the mark and can be darn' annoying.
IMO having drivend both (and owning manuals!) I much prefer the manual as I don't think the auto version is any great thing.
Collectable? Yes as they are rare. Driveable? Certainly, nice to take on that quiet EMR one sunday morning.
I'll have a manual any day.
Good Luck.
p.s. Buy it if its a good car (you can always change it to a manual if you don't enjoy the auto ;D)
Go ahead and buy the car. If you don't enjoy it you coudl always part it out and recoup your purchase price by selling the 4.3 LSD diff.
It was a ZF unit but as others have written not a lot came to Australia.
I was going to say the same Barry, but I had this niggling feeling that the auto's were not 4.3. But I cant remember where I read/heard that....or if the ratio was higher or lower. ???
Yep - the auto's are the other end of the scale, 3.3 or something silly - I chucked one in my duetto as a stop-gap for a couple of weeks. You rarely got out of 2nd around town, and hill-starts were a bit rough on the clutch :)
But you could growl down the freeway at 110k doing 1500 rpm....