Two weeks with a 156

["Robert Cess" <rcess@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

In mid December I posted a suggestion on the AD as to how to be sure you
receive an Alfa when renting a car in Italy.  Specifically, when making the
reservation and being told they cannot guarantee an Alfa but only that
class of car, then call the rental counter in Italy and again request the
Alfa.  This procedure has worked for me in the past and it just worked for
me again.  On December 19 my wife and I arrived at Milan's Malpensa
Airport, took a taxi to the Hotel Villa Malpensa, and the following morning
I returned to the airport, checked in at the Avis counter and was told "we
have an Alfa 156 for you as you requested".

The 156, in my opinion, is a superb automobile in virtually all respects.
Excellent fit and finish, clever styling in that it looks like a coupe with
the hidden handles on the rear doors while the handles on the front doors
resemble those on my '59 Sprint, brakes that are the best I've ever used,
and its handling was impeccable even during an encounter with a  snow storm
on a rather nasty mountain road.  Ours was a 1.8 liter with cloth (but
nicely done) interior.  They come with six different engine options:
1.6,1.8 and 2.0 liter 4-cylinder and 2.5 liter V6, plus two diesels, a 1.9
liter 4 cylinder and a 2.4 liter 5 cylinder.  The Owner's Manual lists the
horsepower of the 1.8 liter engine as 144  cv.  I am not sure how that
translates to SAE bhp, but the engine certainly was peppy with lots of
low-end torque.

The instrument layout is retro with speedometer and tach in separate pods
in front of the driver and three smaller instruments located in the center
of the dash and angled towards the driver (sound familiar).  My only minor
quibble is that the instrument which I expected to be an oil pressure gauge
was in fact an analog clock; there was no oil pressure gauge, only an idiot
light.  I once rented a 1.7 liter 155 that likewise had no oil pressure
gauge, but on another occasion I had a 1.8 liter 155 that had an oil
pressure gauge plus an oil temperature gauge (the latter possibly added to
preserve instrument symmetry).  But a perusal of the 156's Owner's Manual
showed no oil pressure gauge for any of the six engine options. The only
engine-dependent difference was that the speedometer for the 2.5 V6 went to
260 kph, while for the others it was 240 kph (sound familiar:  veloce
versus normale).

But again the above is a minor quibble, and I would certainly like to have
a 156 sitting in our garage.  Oh for the good old days when there was an
Alfa/Ferrari dealer situated three miles from our house.

Bob Cess, Stony Brook, NY

------------------------------