164 (Type 164) 1987 - 1998

I bought this car - my third 164 - this time a 1990 12V Green Cloverleaf, sight unseen (I know), on an eBay auction in 2009. The eBay user was selling the car on behalf of his father but had gone to so little effort with his auction – basically a couple of tiny photos and a phone number – that there was little bidding interest. As a result, I got the car for a good price.

I took the train up to Gainsborough, Lincs to collect the car and got taken for a hair-raising ride around the local lanes by the son of the owner at highly illegal speeds. My spidey sense was tingling as there something not quite right. The body kit had clearly been re-painted, as the lower half was Alfa red, instead of the correct grigio scuro (matt grey). The seller explained that this was because it was a “limited edition” – yeah, right. Also, the rear bumper was from a cooking Lusso and was not the correct item that should be on a Cloverleaf. And horror of horrors it had a towbar fitted!

My suspicion was that the car had received a rear-end shunt so I checked the rear floorpan, towbar mounting points and spare wheel well for signs of accident damage but could find none. It seemed the bumper may have been swapped to clear the towbar and the whole thing repainted red. Other Cloverleafs I have seen have had notches cut into the rear skirt to achieve the same result. Surely it’s sacrilege to adapt a thoroughbred Alfa Romeo sports saloon to drag a caravan around, or tow a trailer to the council tip?

Other than the bodykit issue, it had the usual lacquer peel in some areas of bodywork and there was corrosion of the alloy parts of the door mirrors. The electronically adjustable suspension was faulty and had defaulted to Sports setting. However, there was a decent service history showing a recent cambelt change and there was no rust in any of the usual areas. The original and correct 15” Speedline wheels were in good condition and it had an original factory boot spoiler. I decided that she was to be The One and that I was going to restore her.

The drive home down the A1(M) confirmed to me that I had made the right decision to get another 164. Interior plastics and electrics aside, it’s a nice, solidly built car – probably the best build quality Alfa had achieved up to that point. The sound from the Busso V6 through the aftermarket Powerflow stainless steel exhaust was intoxicating, especially above 4,000rpm. 

Although the leather seats were supremely comfortable and cossetting, the drive was not as relaxing as I had been expecting. I noticed that I seemed to be using quite a lot of revs just to keep up with other traffic and that the speedometer was showing near licence-losing figures. I later discovered that the tyres fitted to the car were too small which had the effect of shortening the final drive ratio, hence the odd speedo readings and the high revs needed to maintain a motorway cruise.

In the years since, I’ve been gradually fettling her and attending to issues as they have arisen. She’s had a respray but the first attempt was unsatisfactory as the body shop painted the bumpers and body kit in gloss grey, rather than the aforementioned grigio scuro matt finish. I also struggled to source the correct Cloverleaf rear bumper; they always seemed to have been hacked around with or were missing the towing eye cover. After some years, and one aborted attempt, I was successful so I got the bumper fitted and the whole bodykit repainted, correctly this time.

The engine was rebuilt in 2014 by Alfaworkshop in Royston. Originally, this was just going to be a head re-work to cure some leaking exhaust valve guides but Jamie Porter talked me into a complete overhall with new piston rings and bearings as well. The only engine mod has been the fitting of a Squadra ECU chip to give a few more BHP and improved torque characteristics.

I also managed to find a set of rare Zender Milano 17” wheels which I think look the business and are necessary to clear the Tarox 6-pot "big brake" calipers. The 2” increase in wheel diameter necessitates a lower profile 45 section tyre which gives the car much better grip but which, along with a pair of stiffer Alfissimo anti-roll bars, contributes to a much firmer ride. I have bypassed the default "sport" setting on the adjustable BOGE dampers by installing a hidden switch that activates the relay to switch them between comfort and firm, which helps with the ride.

An essential (in my opinion) modification I made was to fit an Alfa Q2 limited slip differential. The FWD V6 164s were notorious for spinning up their front wheels and understeer is never far away. The Q2 diff certainly transforms the traction but the trade-off, especially with the low profile tyres, is a tendency to wander under acceleration over uneven road surfaces. Very 4C-like!

In 2019, I was able to fix the air conditioning using refurbished hoses and compressor and a NOS FIAT/Lancia Ricambi original condenser. The evaporator was leak tested and found to be fine. I used a R12 substitute refrigerant called R24, available from Bee Cool ACS in Kettering, and now the A/C works a treat. I may eventually swap out the compressor and orifice tube for R134a-compatible ones, as the R24 is exceedingly scarce and expensive and it would be nice to take it to my local garage for a re-gas, when it needs one.

In 2020, I got a complete replacement exhaust from the manifold back, including new sports cat, from Ryan Edwards Exhaust Fabrications at Bicester Heritage. This is a fully custom-fabricated stainless steel system which sounds great and looks pretty nice, too.

The car has featured in the following magazines: Retro Cars; Modern Classics and Practical Classics. The latter two appearances were in head-to-head features against other contemporary executive saloons.

She has also featured in her own review video on the HubNut YouTube channel:  Real Road Test: Alfa Romeo 164 V6 Cloverleaf - Passion and such sweet music!

She also did a few spirited laps of the Zandvoort racing circuit at the 2019 Spettacolo Sportivo. This is my ropey dashcam footage (ignore the date): Lapping Zandvoort in an Alfa Romeo 164 Cloverleaf