Good morning! Today we’re embarking on a special adventure, one that will take us twenty-six days to complete. We’re going alphabetically through the world of cheap and cool cars, starting with the letter A. Today’s choices come from Alfa Romeo and Audi.
On Friday we went absolutely mad with the prices and looked at some stuff I’m sure none of us can afford. But there’s nothing wrong with a little daydreaming once in a while, is there? When I checked on Friday afternoon, the votes were almost tied, but it looks like some more Ferrari fans came out of the woodwork over the weekend to put the silver Dino in the lead.
I could have fun driving either one of these, but I don’t think I’d want to own them. I just don’t do well with expensive or fancy things; I get too nervous and can’t enjoy them. Now, if some kind soul were to give me one or the other of these, I’d take the DeSoto, because I’m more confident I could fix it properly. I would jump at the chance to drive a Ferrari someday, but I have no desire to maintain one.
All right, let’s come back down to earth. For the purposes of this alphabet game we’re going to play, I’m going to first look for marques that start with the letter in question, but if I can’t find one, then the model name will have to do. And I’m going to try to avoid the common ones where I can: C won’t be Chevy, H won’t be Honda, and so on. Today we start with the letter A, and a pair of convertibles, one from Italy and one from Germany. Here they are.
1983 Alfa Romeo Spider – $4,500
Engine/drivetrain: 2.0-liter dual overhead cam inline 4, five-speed manual, RWD
Location: San Francisco, CA
Odometer reading: 155,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
Deet, dee-dee-dee, deet-dee, dee-dee deet-dee, dee-deet dee. Doot, doo-doo-doo, doot-doo, doo-doot doo… Oh, sorry. I get that tune stuck in my head every time I see one of these Alfa Spiders in red. I imagine by now, the owners of them are sick to death of that association, though, so instead, I’ll point out that this is also the car “smog tested” by Chevy Chase in the movie Fletch. And, looking back at that chase scene now, that little Alfa handled it pretty damn well. Luckily for Fletch, that one had plenty of gas in the tank.
In 1983, the Spider was in its third generation, powered by a 2-liter version of Alfa’s venerable twin-cam engine. It has Bosch fuel injection instead of the twin carburetors of the European version, to meet US fuel economy and, ironically, smog standards. Alfas don’t have a great reputation for reliability, as I’m sure a lot of you are aware, but this one has made it to 155,000 miles, and the seller says it runs and drives very well. Obviously someone knew what they were doing with its maintenance.
Inside, it’s as clean as you could hope for. The vinyl seats look good, and I have a feeling the carpet has been replaced. I’ve always liked the interior style of these, with that weird angle of the gearshift lever, the two big round gauges, and that deep-dish steering wheel. This one also has the required 85 MPH speedometer, with everything above 55 marked as a no-go zone. Yeah, sure.
Regulatory changes were never kind to small convertibles, but this one wears its big 5 MPH bumpers better than some others. Less appealing is the three-piece rear spoiler tacked on to all Spiders of this era. It looks like it belongs on a Camaro, not an Italian sports car. And just like on most Camaros, it doesn’t line up quite right. But who cares? It’s a shiny red Alfa with no rust, for a decent price. I call that a win.
2004 Audi S4 Cabriolet – $4,300
Engine/drivetrain: 4.2-liter dual overhead cam V8, six-speed automatic, AWD
Location: Encino, CA
Odometer reading: 79,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
Some automakers are known for a signature feature of their cars. Think Subaru with its boxer engines, or, um… Porsche with its boxer engines. Sure, they make other stuff, but those other things aren’t really what they’re known for. For Audi, since the early 1980s, that signature feature is its Quattro all-wheel-drive system, especially when powered by really hot engines. For about three decades now, the high-performace Audis have had a model name that starts with S, which as far as I can tell stands for “Shit, this thing is fast.”
After years of turbocharged inline fives and twin-turbo V6s, this generation of S4 embraced the hot rodder’s mantra “There is no replacement for displacement” and made use of Audi’s 4.2 liter V8. With four camshafts, and five valves per cylinder, it’s a bit more complex than your average American V8, but it’s got the goods – 340 horsepower’s worth, to be exact. It drives all four wheels through a six-speed automatic. This car has only 79,000 miles on its odometer, and it runs and drives just fine, though in grand 2000s VW/Audi tradition, I think I see a yellow warning light on the dash.
It’s in nice condition inside, though not perfect. The driver’s seat shows some wear, and might have a popped seam. Apart from that, though, it’s holding up well. As you’d expect, it has just about every power feature 2004 had to offer – as well as a somewhat anachronistic cassette player. Still got your Kraftwerk tapes?
Cabriolet S4s are somewhat rare; the four-door sedans are a lot more common. It’s a handsome machine, and in decent condition, though the ad does say it has a rebuilt title, for an undisclosed reason. California seems to hand out rebuilt titles like candy, so it may be nothing, but it’s worth asking about, and checking with your insurance agent to find out if they care.
So that’s today’s Showdown, brought to you by the letter A: two European drop-tops, one throwback to the 1960s, and one that was state-of-the-art in its day. They’re about equal in price and condition, so all that’s left for you to decide is the style. Which one speaks to you?
Alfa for me. With the manual, it will be more fun to drive and will likely be cheaper to operate and maintain.
I voted for the Alfa but I’d be up to buy both and give the S4 to one of my kids.
I had an ’86 Alfa Spider – it was great, and actually very reliable.
I would imagine you could do about an entire rebuild of the Alfa for the cost of doing timing chains on the Audi. Just sayin’.
Alfa all day long and twice on Sunday. I have no use for VWs with delusions of grandeur.
I voted for the Alfa even though I’m going through a bit of a crisis myself and have decided to purge some of my projects. My own ’69 Alfa Spider may be going up for sale, but unlike this one, it has the sexy roundtail that even Mrs.Robinson couldn’t resist!
I hope this doesn’t mean we won’t get a Ford v. Ferrari next Monday!
Also, I’m looking forward to seeing what Mark finds for the Q, U, and X days.
Would Ultium count? I hear those are dead.
Stick > Auto
Simple > Complicated
The rebuilt title on the Audi does not surprise me. If I recall, you had to rebuild the whole front end just to change a headlight bulb or top up the washer fluid on those models.
I would bet anything that Alfa (Not Alpha, kids) was maintained at the San Francisco Autocenter for a good part of it’s lifetime.
But now that it’s long gone and Martin Swig is dead – Who knows?
There’s only a few Import Repair specialists in SOMA anymore…
I had a boss in SF who had a silver Audi S4 Cabriolet of this vintage. He lived on Pacific Heights with his beautiful and elegant British wife and baby son and would drive his S4 Cabriolet into the Financial District every day.
But he also would go to the Kentucky Derby with his friends every year, as he always did when he was single – and he never told his wife.
Then there was the year that his photo was taken at the event and he landed in the papers.
Within the next few months she made him trade the S4 Cabriolet for a proper Jaguar XJ, and sell the house in the City for a spacious ranch down on the Peninsula.
So I went for the Audi…
….because I, like he, am a sucker for punishment.
You’re gonna sink a fortune into parts and repairs you might as well be in one with a V-8 and reasonably modern safety standards.
I voted for the Alfa because it “runs and drives well”.
That delusional optimism must be rewarded.
Alfas don’t have a great reputation for reliability.
The rest of the car doesn’t. I am probably not going out on a limb in saying the Alfa Twin Cam (in production from 1954–1994) is up there with the 20/22RE, the OM617, and the Ford 4.9/300 as one of the GOAT’d engines.
I completely agree. The only issue I had with my Alfa Spider was rust. Sadly it came from Long Island and the salt air did it dirty. The mechanicals were as reliable as sunrise.
Also, the first engine with variable valve timing!
I’d need to see it from below, but this Alfa looks shockingly nice for the price. WAY nicer than the one I had, which I paid the same amount for ~15 years ago.
The nice thing about these Alfas is that they were designed to be worked on. The Italian engineers knew things would break and owners will need to get their hands dirty. So it is at least a maintainable Euro car with a healthy US following.
That Audi, on the other hand, was designed by German engineers so enraptured by all the accolades of German reliability built up in the 70s-80s that they believed their designs were invincible and, therefore, believed no owner would ever pop the hood themselves. Whoever buys that car needs to set aside at least double the sales price for the inevitable repairs coming that will beyond the most capable of shade tree mechanics skills.
So, despite my disdain for the asshole Chevy Chase, I’ll take the Alfa on a smog test on LAs streets, sidewalks, parking lots, grassy medians, parks, etc.
Red Alfa Spyder with the twincam and the manual vs. the blue Audi with an automatic? This is an easy one. I love those old Alfas and this one does look like it’s been very well taken care of. (Waterfront Automobili looks to be a quality shop, so I’m guessing the car’s owner is well known there.) The Audi would be more hairy-chested fun, but that’s found easily among a lot of other cars. There’s not much out there with the cool factor of that Alfa.The downside to it would be having to upgrade my wardrobe to Mastroianni level and take up smoking.
Brought to you by the letter A, for “Anxiety”.
The Alfa would be far cheaper to keep on the road.
If I recall, pretty much all work on this generation S4 begins with “remove the front end of the car” meaning grille, bumper, radiator etc all need to come out before you can do any real work on the engine.
Alfa all the way.
Service position!
Just like Mini Coopers!
Sign me the fuck up for that Spider!
It’s a good thing it’s on the other side of the country, or I’d be making a phone call right about now.
The S4 sounds like a Crotch rocket when going full out. they are kind of special, but especially heavy Maintenance pigs. I think I would go Alfa, sadly I almost bet it would be the one that runs longer, mileage be damned.