88 MODERNCLASSICS
AROC
& ROLL
TheAlfaRomeoOwners
Cl ub’s(AROC)NationalDay
is alwaysa treatforfansof
th e marque– youget to see
th ingsin abundancethatyou’d
ha vethoughtwerenearextinct.
Th is yearit washeldat BicesterHeritage,
an d it provedto be themostpopularyet –
12 00ticketssoldand 900 carson show.
And my 156wasamongthem.
Sinceits lastspotof fettlingit’sbeen
ru nningwell;a faultycoilpackwasthe
cu lpritbehindtheroughrunningandlackof
oomph.Suitablyfixedby DarrenJamesat
Al fa UK, thetripto Bicesterwasa breeze.
I ambeingcarefulwithit – I’verarelytaken
it past5000rpmas it soundsandfeelslike
I’ m hurtingit. It’sa shameas theTwinSpark
is builtforrevs,but I do haveto get it to
Mi lanlaterin theyear.
Th ere’sabsolutelynothingwrongwiththe
way it handles:quick,grippyandalways
wi lling.TheTipoplatformgetsa lot of stick,
but in 156formit’soneof thefinestFWD
ch assisof the1990s,thissideof sportier-fare
li ke an Integra Type R or 306 GTI-6.
Pulling into Bicester I was parked
alongside Alfa Aid, who’d sold me thecar.
AL FAROMEO 156 1.8 TS
Year 2002
Acquired February 2019
Mileage 290,723
Nathan and probably the
leggiest 156 in the UK mingle
with fellow Alfistis at Bicester
The lust for a 75
Cloverleaf grows.
Doesit always have
to be Italian, Nathan?
OUR DRIVES
Thestaffwerepleasedto seeit again,but
no t as muchas GeorginaandSteve
Murtagh,thecar’spreviousowners.They
co uldn’t quite believe the work Darren had
done, and were pleased to see that it had
survived. They did confirm that in its last
days in their care, it rarely went beyond
50mph and 4000rpm. Understandably so!
The show itself was fantastic. The
selection of GTAs just made me miss my one
more – hopefully it’ll be resuscitated before
the end of the summer, and it was good to
see a big selection of 156s of all shapes line
up proudly on the grass (below).
My show highlight was the vast collection
of transaxle Alfas that made it along. While
the GTV6 might be more popular (Jeremy
Clarkson’s bought one) and the Giulietta has
a blocky charm, I have a deep want for a 75
V6 Cloverleaf, but the £15k+ for a decent one
is a stumbling block. Hmm, 147 GTA or 75
Cloverleaf... one to ponder. What would you
do, readers? aroc-uk.com Nathan
‘IT WAS GOOD TO SEE A BIG
SELECTION OF 156S OF ALL SHAPES
LINE UP PROUDLY ON THE GRASS’
Alfa 156 takes up its slot. Georgina and Steve, previous owners
