I have a unique opportuniy (possibly)

Jeremy128

Jeremy128

True Classic
First off, it's been a while since I've stopped by. I've been inasnely busy with work and two kids. On top of it, we may be moving soon (locally).
So, back on topic. I may have the opportunity to swap my 128 for a nice Alfa Alfetta GT. If the opportunity presents itsself, is this somethign I should do?
I like the Alfetta, but only know a little bit about them. Anyone have experience with these cars? I've heard they are quick cars, and handle awesome due to the tranny being at the rear axle. I've heard they are a bear to work on.
Anything else?
BTW, I got to drive a beautiful old Alfa Super yesterday. That is a cool car!
 
You got it all right

The Alfa will handle better than the 128,. but you will be hard pressed to do a lot of work yourself. I have owned 3 Alfas and 2 Fiats. I still own both Fiats and no Alfas.

I real liked driving the Alfa Spiders and 164s, but the repairs were to expensive, even if I did the work myself. All parts for Alfas cost 2 to 4 times the same part for a Fiat.

I think every Fiat owner should own an Alfa at some point to remind them why they love their Fiat.:)
 
The Alfetta is a great driving car with a great engine... ...when running.

I've never owned an Alfa myself (came close a few times), but everyone I've known that did, eventually sold it in frustration (and these were people accustom to "quirky" cars). They were disabled often and were always expensive (in both time and money) to fix. I'm not saying this to sway your decision, but its something to be aware of.

Another thing specific to the GT... drivetrain parts are easy to come by, but body and trim are getting hard to source...
 
Jeremy... I don't know anything about the Alfetta GT

Jeremy128 said:
I may have the opportunity to swap my 128 for a nice Alfa Alfetta GT. If the opportunity presents itsself, is this somethign I should do?
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but I think you should make the trade so that my X gets some attention when I park it next to your car. :)



Back in the day, I had a buddy with fairly new Alfa GTV-6. It spent a lot of time in the shop. He sold it after about 1 year of ownership.
 
Is it an alfetta or a gtv6. I think either one is better then a 128. The gtv6 is the little brother to my milano verde 3 liter. The verde is a blast to drive. I agree , a little more complicated then a fiat, but worth the effort. If its an alfetta, I love those and they are hard to come by.
 
It's not the GTV6. It's just the Alfetta GT with the 1.8. Look sclean, with only a little surface rust. Appears bone stock. As stated, the offer hasn't been made yet, I just have a sneaking suspicion that it is coming.
Couple years ago, before stumbling across teh 128 I was very interested in the Alfetta. But it was more of a "someday" type thing.
THe 128 is harder to find, but the alfetta is a much nicer car. THe 128 offers a hooligan approach to driving! I dont think the Alfa would offer that. However, I imagine the Alfe orrers a more precise approach to driving.
We'll see. He kept offering for me to drive it, so I'll do that soon enough.
 
I was given a 77 alfetta. It was to far rusted out. Would love to find a slid one and drop a 3.0 liter in.
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The alfetta has way cleaner lines then the common gtv6.
 
My .02...

I have owned Fiats and Alfa's. Specifically a 164s and a late model spider.

The alfa is an upscale fiat. Nicer trim and what I would consider a more relaxed pace.

The 128 however seems to always draw a crowd no matter where it goes. People seem to love the stupid little thing vs. the Alfa which people will walk by all day long.

Last year I was stopped at an intersection waiting for the light to turn green. A truck is driving through the intersection and a lady literary hangs out the window and yells at me "Now THAT'S Italian!"

Trust me, no one said that to me in either the Alfa 164s or the Spider.

People will crawl over other cars to get to the 128. Weird...

The only other car which generated interest when I drove it was the Austin Healy 3000 Mk1, but alas, it is not Italian.

Last point. All of this boils down to what you want. If you are just itching for the Alfa, then buy the dang thing. There are a lot of people dying to buy a nice 128 such as yours. I have people in line for mine as well.

Hope this helps.

Eric
 
Exactly! the problem is, that I love my 128. But I strongly suspect that I would dearly love the alfa.
The 128 is definately a head turner, which is cool. I guess my perspectively is far different than the majority of society. Regardless what kind it is, as long as it's Italian, I'm rubber neckin to see it.
This decision may have to wait however. In the original post, I stated that I have a whoel bunch of stuff up in the air. One of them just landed. We put a bid on an awesome house in the far burbs. Well, they accepted the offer and in 6 weeks I will own 2 homes. I've had my currect house on the market for a while now. If it sells cool. If not, we're gonna use it as rental property.
We got a smokin deal onteh new house. 9 years old, 2600 SF, 4 br, 3 bath, geothermal heat, on 3.5 acres, in a differnet county. The school disctrict is one of the best in the state. Due to the school dist overlapping into the neighboring county (where the house is) our property tax bill will be cut in 1/2 while damn near doubling the size of our house!
 
School district, who cares about the school district!!??

Jeremy128 said:
We got a smokin deal onteh new house. 9 years old, 2600 SF, 4 br, 3 bath, geothermal heat, on 3.5 acres, in a differnet county. The school disctrict is one of the best in the state. Due to the school dist overlapping into the neighboring county (where the house is) our property tax bill will be cut in 1/2 while damn near doubling the size of our house!
Click to expand...

DOES IT HAVE A BARN!!! ;)

Great news Jeremy. At first the kids won't know what to do with that 3.5 acre backyard, but give them a few years and they will figure it out. And good schools surely will be a big plus for the kids.

Can't wait to see it.
 
I think the 128 is a cute little car. They are very rare, it has that going for it. If I wanted to drive a box though, I would look for a first gen gti or an even earlier rabbit.
:headbang: My 70 fiat spider and my 74 x snap necks all day long. While driving my 88 verde i was surprised to get the reactions that I got. Even had a guy folllow me home and offer to buy it. I dont drive cars to get peoples reactions though, other wise Id be sportin a green mohawk. i drive cars that are fun, cars that make you want to drive them just for the pleasure they give. i thought my verde was cool when i bought it just to have a car with more then 2 seats. I was in for a surprise though, it was a blast to drive, I flogged that thing. Didnt feel like any other four door I had driven.
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"Is this something I should do?" NO!

Add the Alfa to your collecion or sell them all an become a Den Mother...

Just who the hell do ya think you are showing up here and asking for our FREE advice after hibernating all this time, anyway?

Geez Loueez... I guess I'll just haveta send Decker ovcer there and straighten you our... maybe send Chris along with him.

Just look at these two fellow Missouri-ians... raising BIG kids with multiple cars, wives, girlfriends, careers and what not... They have SHOWN you the way!

And BTW... you need o SHOW us just how well yur doin' with those kids... and the cars!

POST FOTOS HERE:
 
Despite some earlier comments, I would totally disagree with the notion that Alfa's are unreliable or even expensive to fix. As long as its been well cared for and you continue to care it in this matter, it will be no less reliable than your 128.

I've had the same Alfa as my daily driver for 6 years. I learnt to drive in it, I drove it to school every day, then uni. Until a few years ago we lived in the hills, so pretty much every drive was, erm, a 'spirited' one through twisty roads. Now we're in the 'burbs so it does the whole stop/start short running thing in traffic. Its been dirt roaded when I go away camping, support vehicle for motorsport efforts and bike racing and carting entire Fiat engines and gearboxes around in the boot. I've driven it thousands of k's around Australia severl times - so essentially it gets ridden hard and put away wet.

And in 6 years and about 100,000km its broken down exactly once - when it did a condensor (which was very easily fixed with a spare on the spot). So I guess my point, if the Alfetta is mechanically sound and you keep it that way theres no reason why it should be a problem :)
 
Well, that's fair. I have been away for a while. Lets see. Joey now has bilateral cochelar implants and is hearing. It is a gradual process to slowly bring him into the hearing world. He is thriving more than we ever imagined. His aggression is all but gone. Every once in a while, when he is having a bad day his aggressive side will show, just a bit. Now that he is learning sign language at a fast rate, his frustration is going away. Now he can tell us what he wants instead of trying to show us, then gettign mad because he can't. He has been in preschool since January and has made many friends. Just last week I had a friend of mine over so our sons can play together. His son is in Joeys class.
As a family, we are continuing to learn sign language together.
Lilly is doing better than awesome. SHe turned 6 last month and is turning into quite the little lady. She is continuing to amaze everyone with her progress. In kindergarten she is reading at an advanced 1st grade level, and has a speech comprehension level of a high functioning 2nd grader. Just after Christmas break we learned that LIlly took a test at school that evaluated her overall intelligence with an emphasis on logic and problem solving. THe results of this test placed her at the 93% nationally for for developmentally normal children. Aparently she has not only caught up with her hearing peers, but has passed them in almost every category.
During our last I.E.P. meeting (where we meet with her "normal teacher", deaf ed teacher, speech teacher) we learned that she is ready to be mainstreamed into her home school distrcit. Just today we got a premission form to have her tested to transition into the gifted program. Remember...... she is a 6 year old deaf kindergartner.
So yeah, I've been busy keeping up with the happenings of my family.
We have also been jumping through hoops trying to get our house sold. If it doesn't go by the end of the month, we are gonna lease it out.
Over the last several months I have also started back into another hobby that I have put aside for several years. I got back into fire arms. I had a gunsafe full of weapons that I had acquired over the last 10 years. I had no interest in any of them so I got rid of them and started gettign stuff that I wanted.
I sorely missed my M-16 that I carried whil ein the Army, so I built an incredibly depenable AR-15. For thsoe that are into AR's, I bought a CMMG lower, and a 16" Bravo Company MFG upper with BCM bolt carrier group (full auto bolt..... does not mean full auto weapon), Daniel Defense fixed rear sight, Cavalry Arms stubby oval front grips.
This is a weapon that you can literally put your life on the line with.
I sold my SKS, Browning 2000 semi auto 12 ga, 303 jungle carbine, and 7mm rolling block rifle. With some of the $ raised from this, I purchased a Remington 870 12 ga shotgun, and a Cricket 22 rifle to teach Lilly how to shoot.
Well, here... pics to bring everyone up to spped with all of this...
Oh, Also, I have been interested in getting into hunting for several years. I decided that I was going to take up Phesant/Quail hunting this fall. As a result, I have started taking my 75 lb standard poodle out to see how she does at flushing birds out of fields and bush. SHe is a natural. Afterall, standards have been used for centuries for bird hunting.
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By jeremy128, shot with COOLPIX L20 at 2010-04-13
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By jeremy128, shot with COOLPIX L20 at 2010-04-13
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By jeremy128, shot with COOLPIX L20 at 2010-04-13
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By jeremy128, shot with COOLPIX L20 at 2010-03-30
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By jeremy128, shot with SPH-M540 at 2010-04-04
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By jeremy128, shot with COOLPIX L20 at 2010-03-30
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By jeremy128, shot with COOLPIX L20 at 2010-03-30
That's what I've been up to.
 
Oh, while the new house does not have a barn, it does have a 3 1/2 car oversized garage. The driveway would be IDEAL for a gathering.
THe kids will have fun with the extra space it is almost all wooded. So I think climbing trees and a tree house will be in short order. We were out there this evening and LIlly was amazed when I started pointing out deer tracks in the yard.
 
BAM! You win! HAHAHA!

Great looking family Jeremy... Congrats...

With all that room and the barn and all... ADDING the Alfetta would be a perfect fit. Sell off half your armory and ya got it made...

Thanks for sharing!
 
DING DING DING!!!! Pete wins the prize!!!! It is a Ruger 22LR pistol. THey are referred to as the "Mark" series. This pistol does not have an official designation as a Mark series pistol. When it was made, it was just called a 22 autopistol. Since they are known as teh Mark, I guess this one is referred to as the Mark 1. I got that pistol when my wifes grandfather died. Her grandmother wanted it out of the hosue with the rest of his firearms. She wanted me to have it, so ther eit is. I got it back in 2000. It was still in the box, unfired, with the original leather "Indiana Jones Holster", the reciept and hand written St. Louis County permit. It was purchased on 12-15-69. I had a hard time deciding whethter I should shoot it or not. I figured since it has alot of sentimental value, I was gonna keep it so it didn't matter because I am never gonna sell it.
My wifes first name is a several generation old family name. THe tradition is to give the name to a family member from every other generation. So my wifes grandfather was named Ketrill. When my mother in law had my wife, she named her after her father. So my wife was named after him. He was a very neat guy. I really enjoyed spending time with him. Every time I fire that pistol, it reminds me of him. I use the pistol for target shooting. It is a great littl epistol to teach someone how to shoot. Ketrill would absolutely love the fact that the pistol will be used to teach his great grand children how to shoot.
Sorry, I got a bit sidetracked. Some weapons are just that... weapons. Others have tremendous family value. The rifle you see in the pics, between my shotgun, and my AR is a very old REmington 22. That was my father in laws first firearm. He bought it back in the mid 50's. Another rifle taht is not shown in the pics is my Ruger 10-22. That was my first rifle. Once my kids learn how to shoot with the Criket (little black rifle, single shot bolt action 22), and they get older, I will give each of them one of the 2 rifles. I love the fact that their first rifle was my first, and thier grandfathers first.
 
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