Well, lets get one thing clear first. I can answer those important and altogether crucial questions in no fewer than four words: Yes. Yes. Consistently. Loads. So is this job done? Can we dismiss the Alfa Romeo 166 as a sales failure and a car that you can walk away from easily? Well, yes and no. Yes the Alfa is a huge sales failure and yes, it is a car you can easily walk away from. To the untrained eye at least, the 166 is just another executive sedan with a plush interior and a relatively high price tag. To car people, it represents the classic Alfa fail. I can almost hear those fools that play golf, who end up in BMWs saying "Yeah yeah, looks all nice and pretty but that thing's front wheel drive and has an inefficient engine and it'll loose value like a cassette player, blah blah, you should look into this Beemer I've got, blah blah..." What really annoys me about these clowns who think they know better, is that they only look skin deep. You may think they have a point about the Alfa 166 being all show and no go. In fairness, they do. Its front wheel drive and this configuration is not the best for a large car with a large engine. This said engine (a 3.0 litre V6) is indeed inefficient, scoring only 2 stars out of 5 for fuel economy, using the NZ Fuelsaver website. On NZ$100 of petrol, it will only take you around 360km, way less than its rivals will. It will also need regular servicing, which will no doubt be expensive. The car itself, being essentially a front wheel drive Fiat platform, will indeed lose value like a piece of technology. Pay tens of thousands of dollars for it now, and in a few years you'll be struggling to shift a good one off your driveway for a few grand. But this, of course is completely missing the point.
Alfa Romeos in general have such a high level of style and comfort, one simply doesn't care about the dodgy powertrain or the depreciation. These feelings are amplified in the 166. One look at the plush leather seats straight from the studios of an Italian furniture craftsman, and the intricate Italian timepiece inspired dials, and you instantly forget about the insurance and the fuel being guzzled away up front. That said, you'll be forced to fork out even more to pay for petrol just so you can hear the engine sing. At 6500 rpm, that 3.0 litre V6 effortlessly performs an aria, giving you and any pedestrians in the vicinity a performance worthy of the Teatro alla Scala Opera House.
I guess its been said thousands of times before, but why not reinforce the point? Alfas are about aesthetics. Sight, sound and touch come before driving dynamics or the pursuit of speed and lap times. Intelligent people buy BMWs and Audis because they fill certain needs and requirements in a methodical and efficient way. Passionate people buy Alfa Romeos because they believe in a manufacturer that dares to think beyond performance and fancy technological pursuits, in order to make the driver feel better, and most importantly, happier.
