Car of the Day: Alfa Romeo 164S

Up until Fiat's return to the U.S. in 2011, it was pretty rare to see an italian car on American roads unless you happened to live in Orange County. But perhaps even more rare than the exotics prowling the suburbs of SoCal are the more budget-friendly oddities of the 80s and early 90s.

Case in point: the Alfa Romeo 164S

I wasn't able to get very good pictures of the 164S, so I'm borrowing this one—there are very few interesting cars out and about in Chicago this time of year, and it's been a while since I posted, so it'll just have to do![photo cred: commons.wikimedia.org] 

It looks part Benz E-Class, part Subaru SVX. The one I spotted sports two of the most tacky automotive faux pas ever conceived: two-tone body work and gold trim. Slightly less tacky however, is Alfa's 3.0L 2-valve V6 motor putting out around 200 bhp. Better yet, Alfa fans could also get the AWD-equipped Q4 model with an upgraded 4-valve V6 making 230 bhp—Not too shabby. Either way, you get one epic looking engine:

Yes, the intake runners came polished from Alfa [photo cred: classiccar.co.nz]

Personally, if I was shopping around in the 164's heyday and looking for a spry, FWD, midsize sedan, I'm not sure the Italian job would've been at the top of my list. Saab 9000s or even second gen Taurus SHOs come to mind. However, starting next year, if I find myself in the market for a featherweight track toy, Alfa Romeo's first offering stateside in nearly two decades, the 4C, will certainly be on my wish list!

AR



P.S. For your amusement, here's what a modified 164S can look like:

[photo cred: http://www.flickr.com/photos/travisrockphotography]

Check out his flickr stream, it's chock-full of some insane cars.