Having a loan car whilst your own car is being serviced is a standard these days. Often, you’ll get an entry level Fiesta, Polo or other marque consistent model; if you’re lucky may be a demonstrator. But this was little different.
My 2017 Alfa Romeo Giulietta JTDm2-120 (Alfa know how to title a car…) was due its first service. UK trading laws are quite straightforward – servicing completed outside the franchised network does not affect the warranty if it is consistent in timing, content and parts used to the manufacturer’s schedules, and completed by a tax registered motor business. So, for better value, convenience and that elusive warm feeling, I’m using our local Alfa Romeo specialist. The one with “Alfa Romeo Milano The Workshop” signposted over the entrance. And my loan car was a 2003 Alfa Romeo 156 Sportwagen. The 1998 European Car of the Year, no less.
Actually, I asked for the 4C or the Alfasud Sprint, rather optimistically. But, with nothing more than a telephone number, I was given the keys to a twin cam 16V Alfa, with 108,000 miles on the clock and some fuel in it. Just don’t bring it back empty was the only request. No licence check, no insurance forms, no ID check.
First stop was a fuel station (in fact the one I used before) just around the corner, and I added the fuel I expected to use during the day. The gauge moved up a bit and then fell back to zero, the miles to empty indicator raced up to 190, which was impressive for two gallons, and we were off.
First impressions were around the compact nature of the car. Not just the width, but the external mirrors were small, the wipers short and the dash simple and compact.
Two instruments in front of the driver, three more in the centre binnacle, three twist knobs for the heat and air conditioning (no, of course it didn’t) that worked just like my Giulietta’s and stalks for the other functions. Some warning lights in the centre of the instruments, most of which stayed off all day, and logical controls for the windows, mirrors and the like. The radio was an aftermarket unit that did the job of contacting the BBC.
Size wise, this car is actually a close match for my Giulietta, being just 4 inches longer and a couple of inches narrower. But, it did feel more compact, partly because of a much lower scuttle and dash structure, and partly through an impression of being internally much narrower.
Parking it up at work reinforced this impression – this did not look like a BMW 3 Series competitor, which is what it was perceived as, and intended to be, back in 1998. It is the same length and width as the 1990-2000 BMW E36; the new 3 Series G20 is 10 inches longer in wheelbase and four inches wider, sized almost exactly as the 5 series (E39) was in 1998. No wonder the 156 felt compact.
The styling of the 156 (Tipo 932 in Alfa code) was by Walter de Silva and the Alfa Romeo Centro Stile, and was intended to move the brand’s design on from the blocky and obviously Fiat related 155, by picking up something of the spirit and essence of the first Giulietta of the 1950s (above). A compact, elegant sport saloon, may be sized to match the 3 Series but trying to compete by othering something different, not something aping the BMW. De Silva has (modestly) described it as masterpiece; certainly it was a great looking car in 1998 and has aged very well, and has something Alfa about it.
Personally, I think it looks great, especially around the front and from the compact nature of the car. Alfa hid the rear door handles to aid a coupe look, and this was the first Alfa to have the now typical offset number plate, to accommodate the deep shield grille.
How often do you open the bonnet on a regular loan car? Me neither, but this was different. The 156 was built with a variety of engines – 1.6, 1.8 and 2.0 four cylinder petrol, 2.5 and 3.2 V6 petrol, and 1.9 and 2.4 litre four cylinder diesels. This car had the 1.8 litre petrol, so (nominally) 140 bhp, 120 lbft and 9.4 seconds to 60. I didn’t verify this, of course, and some of the horses may well have retired in a car of this age, so from a performance view there is little to say, other than that the car went happily with the flow and drank modestly as far as I could tell.
The engine is what Alfa termed Twin Spark – in a way Alfa has used on and off since 1914, there are two spark plugs in each cylinder, one in the middle of the four valves and one smaller one to the edge between an inlet and an exhaust valve. The intention now is to enable smoother idling and low load performance at high air:fuel ratios and the second plug is fired simultaneously with the central plug.
Suspension is double wishbones at the front, helping the low scuttle, and a MacPherson strut assembly at the rear. In theory, there is some Fiat Tempra (a saloon based on the early 1990s Tipo) in the central floorpan but Alfa managed to modify even that. In effect the platform is an Alfa one, and was also used on the Lancia Lybra, a similar saloon and estate sold in lower numbers only in Italy and certain southern European markets.
Driving was an enjoyable experience. Obviously, you’re not going to thrash such a car on first acquaintance in traffic, and it has to be said, it did feel as if most of the suspension bushes could do with replacing. It pulled and braked straight, but felt a bit loose. Nothing dangerous, just fair wear and tear, and I’m comparing a 15 year old 108,000 mile car to a 12,000 mile car. Still, it was a pleasant drive, with a compact feel, good visibility (except in the small mirrors), a sharp turn in and little sense of imminent understeer. The steering is quick, with just over 2 turns from lock to lock, which helps the impression of a prompt response. There are very reasonable seats and a better driving position than Italian cars are supposed to have, also, but the rear seats are for two, really.
The character of a car to a brand is not easy to define; much of it comes through either visual impression or the feel of the contact points, but somehow, something, tells you when you’re in an Alfa. Aside from the main instruments paired behind the wheel, two features did this especially in this car – the first being the front door handles. Not only are they deliberately echoing old style chrome handles, but there is a separate button to depress as well. When did you last do that? In my case, a Hillman Hunter.
The other was the angle of the gearlever. Although not very evident in this library photo, the lever is set on a raised element of the console, and angled back in a manner reminiscent of an older Alfa saloon. You suspect the original was a consequence of the placing of various mechanical elements and the interior spaces, and the 156 was a deliberate mimic, particularly as the Lancia Lybra’s lever does not angle in the same way. To add to this, a wooden rim steering wheel was also available.
The estate version of the 156, known as the Sportwagen was launched in 2000, and clearly aimed at the lifestyle not volume format of estate. Think Audi A4 or BMW 3 series Touring, not Volvo 240. It is arguable how much usable it was than a saloon, unless you dropped the rear seats and may be fairer to consider it as a hatchback rather than an estate. But the looks might sway your opinion, and the telephone dial alloys might help.
The other notable 156 variant was the 156GTA, named after the 1960s Alfa Romeo GTA, or Gran Turismo Alleggerita, Lightweight Grand Tourer in literal translation. Fitted with the Giuseppe Busso designed 3.2 litre V6 engine with 250bhp and 220 lbft of torque. Although the car was launched in 2001 and production ran to 2005, it never took the facelifted nose and tail but did gain a widened wheelarches, as tracks were widened to cover revised suspension and bigger brakes. Best of all, the engine noise was perhaps the best of is time for something fewer than 12 cylinders. A BMW M3 with a bit more character and soul? May be ,but may be not for everyone, and Alfa took 3 years to sell a run of just over 3500 cars.
A repair shop that offers a loan car like this is clearly Alfa focussed.
Most repair shops would run a mile from such a car as a loaner, but when the forecourt area has an Alfasud Sprint in racing trim, a 164 V6, multiple 156s, Spiders and 147s and a Alfa 4C, and the workshop a GTV, classic Spiders and a 2000 Spider then you can tell you’re in the hands of an enthusiast.
The Bentley is only allowed as the owner also has an Alfa!
So not a typical repair shop loaner, but not a typical repair shop either. Was it better than a main dealer experience? Was it better than a brightly coloured Fiat 500 or a Vauxhall Corsa with “Buy me now!” stickers on it?
I think we can agree on the answer to that one!
Lovely car and the color/colour works as well.
Walter da Silva was being a trifle grandiose, but he’s not far wrong in my book. Superb looker, even better as the wagon. The GTA’s, with giant wheels and a turning circle that surely must’ve made them liable to fall off England on either side, and their Plastico Awfullismo bodykit, they ruined the party a bit, though they did sound exceptional.
I drove a mates GTV Twin Spark when it was new, and it was electric-smooth to over 7,000rpm, but also could not be driven with less than 2,500 on the clock (shortening the power band some). There was no power there at all. These engines had a rep for the thingy-that made-the-timing-variable failing, and I’ve pondered since whether or not his was dead from the beginning, so poor was that low-speed response. (Not that he could’ve cared, Italian background, non-car guy, loved the glam image he felt it had).
Many of these 156’s were sold here as Selespeeds, a supposedly quite incompetent single-clutch semi-auto. They’re notorious for failing to proceed, and leaving owners with bills that would be higher than the car if piled as cash. And so these sweet-looking cars, which were pretty expensive here new, are now worth negative amounts, if the wrecker’s tow is included.
I’d love one as the garage loaner, though. (God, last thing I was granted was a dour ugly little Nissan Tiddler. No, Tidier. Tide. Turnip? Anyway, it wasn’t nice). An old Alfa for a day? Perfect way to enjoy one.
Lovely car for a loan job and possibly one of the best looking Alfa saloons ever, inside and out. And proper door handles that work just as you’d expect them to; the handle part for pulling, the button for unlatching. Yes, Hunter ones were good like that too (well, practically all the cars of that era, i.e. 30 years before the 156), but that was a treat in ‘modern’ times.
But . . . but . . . it’s not red?!?!
I have flipped around in my car ownership too much to ever become on good terms with a specialist in one particular brand. It looks like a great place to go.
And I love those old-style pushbutton door handles. The only thing I have found with superior ergonomics has been the now-common refrigerator-pull style. I liked them on my 1959 Plymouth and like them on my 2012 Sedona. To answer your question on the last car with this pushbutton style – my 1989 Cadillac Brougham.
Our ‘89 LeSabre had the push button handles too. Old GM still did some things well, and those door handles were one of those.
Trivia point of the day: The handles on my 89 Cadillac Brougham appeared to be the exact same handle that was used on my 63 Cadillac Fleetwood. That was one of my favorite things about the 89 – one Cadillac-specific part that absolutely did not come out of the same bin as the parts for every other GM car.
That went back to 1963…the Cadillac door handle was different and classier-looking than its Chevrolet/Pontiac/Oldsmobile/Buick counterpart.
It was when “Standard of the World” meant something, before the bean-counters took over GM completely. Where parts were shared, oftentimes it was done where it wouldn’t be noticed, as in the basic roof stamping for the Cadillac Coupe de Ville, shared with that of the Chevrolet and Pontiac four-door hardtop; or didn’t matter, as in the glove compartment lock, pointed out to us by our across-the-street neighbor, Bernie Jennings in Parts at Les Vogel Chevrolet, when my Dad bought his first Cadillac, a 1963. I never did check out if Bernie was right, though!
That’s what it was, my ’88 LeSabre! I was trying to remember which car it was that had those, they really were quite good on that one. Thanks for the reminder.
The Chrysler PT Cruiser had pushbutton door handles from its start in 2000, of course a “retro” feature. Consumer Reports had nothing to say about them for six years, until their third PT Cruiser test report, at which time they said some people found them awkward. The way they phrased it sounded like they were having trouble coming up with something to complain about…it was an American-make car and wasn’t a Toyota, so they HAD to find something to gripe about.
Personally, with the many variations in the shapes and effort required with the now-conventional “pull-to-open” door release handles, I find my hand slipping out from under some of them before the door opens, and have to try again.
Nice looking car, another one that the States missed out on. As for the door handles the GF’s 10 year old grandson was totally baffled by and unable to figure out the pushbutton door handle on the Kadett. We had to have an inservice on how to push with your thumb and pull with your fingers.
I know that the flap type door handles from circa 1970 were just pull to open, but I was caught out by a friend’s BMW E46 3-series coupe which looked like it was supposed to be a ‘proper’ door handle only the whole darn thing moved when I pulled; I thought I’d broken it for a moment!
Is it just me, or is the Alfa nose silly? It looked great… or at least distinctive… on older Alfas I’ve seen, but trying to carry that design over to the modern era just looks daft. It reminds me of the Edsel nose and that’s not a good thing. It would be like Ford trying to staple a bullet nose onto every car it makes in the laziest nod to “tradition” ever seen.
No, not only you. My elderly and polite father had quite a ribald response when first he saw one, and he wasn’t alone in that. (Obviously, as above, I don’t agree with you myself). But your comment made me snort, as I suddenly had an image of a Fiesta with huge Dagmars out front.
I agree that it’s awkward on some models, but I love it on the 159. It makes for a really sharp looking police car! This is a “Squadra Volante” (what a name!) car, which I believe is the Italian equivalent to highway patrol in the US.
Well, yes and no. The shield grille is both distinctive and easy to adapt to any new model. But it is usually not a good fit on the newer models, as the regulations and aerodynamic needs usually make such a grille less than ideal for the intended position. And really, it’s no different than BMW using the dual kidneys on everything. It announces who made the car to the masses.
You jest about the Ford bullet nose, but the Mustang is basically retro. The closest they came to doing something different was the attempt that became the Probe instead. But is is not just Ford, everyone is about as guilty as the next. Designers have to walk a fine line when doing new versions of existing models, as they have to be similar enough to warrant reuse of the model name, yet different enough to justify the cost of buying a new one. People say that they want something new and different, yet their buying habits show that they actually want something familiar.
It’s not just you. I don’t think it melds particularly well with the rather benign bodywork aft of the front grill on this car. Points for distinctiveness, and there’s something to be said for that, but little else.
I think the current Giulia has the same problem. It looks like an insect’s head mounted to any generic semi-premium sedan. You’ll never mistake it for anything else in your rearview mirror, but from any other angle it’s A Car.
Funny you should mention the door handles: I have a few older cars with the same type of mechanism (push-button for your thumb), and they always baffle younger people. They just yank on the door handle, nothing happens, and they think the car is broken (not a bad guess, to be fair). It’s especially common with my Citroen CX, where the button surface is flush with the rest of the handle–you wouldn’t even notice that there’s a button unless you’re looking for it.
Of course, the weirdness of the CX’s exterior handles is just the start: the interior door releases are completely invisible. There’s a trigger hidden behind the door pull: to exit the car, you grip the door pull, thread your finger around the trigger, and fire! It’s actually pretty nice one you get the hang of it, because it’s a very natural position and movement for your hand: there’s no torque on your wrist at all. So perfect yet so strange, so French…
My early 404 Pug had locks that you pushed down to be in the unlock position. I’d reach across and do so for approaching passengers, who would stand with a pulled face as if to say “very funny”, and I’d have to yell out “No, that’s unlocked it, try the handle.” Then once their journey was done, they found they couldn’t get out without some translations of French engineering.
The interior arrangement is very hard to describe. Picture a padded armrest on the door, about forearm length. At the front, a nice chrome handle goes up on about a 50 degree angle, but it is fixed to the armrest at the bottom, and the door at the top. It has no movement. Behind and level with the top of where the handle joined the door was a tiny, fore/aft sliding chrome button that looked like little more than decoration. The only logical way to use all this was to put the forearm on the rest, grip the handle with the four fingers, reach the thumb up and backwards slightly to slide the sprung button. Having unlatched the door, the only practical way to keep the button forward (and thus door unlatched) and actually swing the door itself was to use your four-fingered grip on the handle and your elbow forcing sideways and outwards. Needless to say, very few got it first time. Also it need hardly be added that later 404’s had a normal plastic handle.
Unlike the low-torque logic of the CX system, this had no advantages and was in fact utterly unergonomic. Quite stylish, but quite idiotic really.
Viva la French.
Never seen it in wagon form before. Looks nice!
First, a fecal-colored Oldsmobile article with abundant colon-cleansing analogies and now a cool little Alfa Romeo wagon review with another Alfa article linked to it.
It’s already a good day here at CC.
Any day that you get to drive an Alfa is a good day, for you I suppose that makes it every day. It’s reassuring though that the shop has Alfa loaners as opposed to, say, Nissans, and are merely in business due to seeing a profit opportunity with the Alfas. Keep going there and you will eventually ascend the loaner car rungs…
I can’t decide that if I was at your shop and won the loaner car lottery, would I rather drive the 4C for a day or the GTV? Maybe I’d have to hope for another repair “opportunity” sooner rather than later to be able to return for another sample!
I loved driving the 156s we had at work, which were 2001/2 models. Never had the guts to buy one, ended up paying more for something boring.
A friend was looking to trade his knackered Cavalier for something newer at a (non-Alfa) dealership in Aberdeen (Scotland) and was all over a 156, but because he was a boyish looking twenty-something, the salesman dragged him away saying “Naw son, ye dinnae want that, it’ll just break”.
We rarely use dealer service, but still I’ve probably used local VW and Toyota dealers 10 or 15 times in the last 20 years and have never been offered a loaner. Another sign that the UK is more civilized than your former colonies. The last loaner I had from a dealership was in 1981, when my new Honda Civic was getting the radio installed (yes, many Japanese cars didn’t come from Japan with radios back then … they received OEM logo’ed radios installed by the dealer). The loaner was a pre-Colonnade Cutlass. Not brown.
My experience in the UK was that I had to ask for a courtesy car, and little independent shops wouldn’t have one.
It’s funny you say that about the radios, I remember being told that Japanese brands made inroads in the UK market in the 70s because they offered a radio as standard, which was unheard of in run of the mill cars.
I seem to remember BMW being notoriously tightfisted with stereos in the 80s, when their competitors had them as standard, claiming their customers were so discerning they assumed they would wish to select their own.
I have never had any trouble getting a loaner from a franchised dealer, going back to the mid-eighties. The Ford dealer where we purchased several new and used vehicles was always willing to let us have a Taurus if they had to keep our car overnight. The Pontiac dealer who replaced the power steering pump on my Grand Prix (on a semi-annual basis) provided a loaner, usually a bottom feeder Sunbird but better than no car at all. The one time one of our Toyotas required an overnight stay the dealer let my wife have a Lexus ES350 in lieu of a Toyota.
To be clear, the loaner cost me an extra £5.00 and would probably not have been available without a planned service appointment.
What a great loaner car. Gotta love it when a car company sweats the styling of the engine as well as the exterior/interior of the car.
I’ve always liked the Alfa 156 and follow-on 159. It’s too bad we didn’t get them here in the U.S. I find the wagon/estate/touring versions look better than their sedan counterparts, which I think is true of many cars.
In my parallel universe, I take my 2003 M3 Touring (yes, a few exist) to my local BMW specialist. He has all kinds of interesting things in and around the shop. Like your guy, the collection often includes an old British car (his Jag). At any given time about half the customer cars are track- or fully-prepped race cars. The others are a mix of daily-driver BMWs and a classic or two.
I don’t think his forecourt can match your Alfa-whisperer’s in eye-candy, but he does have some fun loaners, like a rally cross-prepared E30. Sometimes I just drop by to see what’s there.
What a sensation it was, at the end of 1997. Alfa Romeo was back on the main stage with the 156. A co-worker, sadly he’s no longer with us, got himself a 156 sedan in 1998. It was some sort of baby-blue that would look ridiculous on any other D-segment car, but it worked on the 156. It really stood out in any parking lot and not only thanks to its shade of blue.
The 156 was also the first car on the market with a direct injected, common-rail turbodiesel. The 2.4 JTD was an inline-5, by the way, not a 4-cylinder.
I can’t wait for your next Alfa Romeo “service report”!
I remember perfectly when the 156 arrived back then, as you say it was truly a sensation, appearing in every european car magazine cover. Maybe it won the “Car of the Year” award thanks to the Mercedes A-Class´ fail in that infamous elk test, but it seemed the 156 could start a true Alfa renaissance.
Four years ago I had the chance to buy a 156 SW in this “azzurro fantasia” color, but with the 2.5 V6. I regret being too cautious.
Don’t imagine you’ll have a long wait; it us an Alfa he’s driving
Hahahaha, so are you saying that we will likely see a lenthy series of Service Loaners Of A Lifetime before Roger gets enough wheeltime in this one for a thorough review? 😄
Pretty much.
He made a big thing of buying a red Alfa, but didn’t take well to being asked what colour the second one was – but doesn’t everyone buy Alfas in twos, so there’s a reasonable chance of getting to work in the morning?
Push button door handles? I have an entire set and they all work as a recent WOF inspection proved, but from 1959 also on a Hillman, There are some of these twin sparl Alfas on the road locally but not wagons I’d notice those great score as a loan car better than the only ones Ive had recently, A Suzuki Swift, miserable car, and an elderly Toyota Corolla wagon, ok but very 90ish which was its year of manufacture.
I was slightly obsessed with the 156 Wagon while visiting Italy in 2000, thought it was a stunningly handsome car. Wasn’t quite sure about the Pathfinder style hidden back door handle, but it grew on me.
Usual question, why can’t we have nice things here in the US. Sigh.
The nice baby-blue was a first year only colour, as far as I remenber.
CC effect in full flow! Saw this Alfa 159 this afternoon. Apologies for the appalling picture, but it was raining heavily when I was taking this photo.