Your first car is always a memorable one; if it’s an Alfa you’ll definitely never forget it.
- Model: Alfa Romeo Sud 1.5 Hatch
- Year: 1984
- Mileage: Can’t remember
- Motor: 1.5 Petrol
- Transmission: 5 Speed manual
- How long did you owned it for: 3 Years
- Comfort: 7/10
- Fun to drive 8/10
- Reliability: 7/10
- Fuel consumption: Can’t remember, but I don’t recall it being too heavy
- What did you like most about the car: Fun to drive
- What did you like least about the car: Leaked oil and had a few niggly issues
- Maintenance: Replaced the water pump, CV joints, Coil, hydraulic clutch seals and distributor cap.
- Owner: Neil Peverett
What a wonderful little car this was; in 1994 when equivalent Golf 1’s were going for about R8000 I picked up the Alfa for a song – R3900; Alfa Romeo had pulled out of South Africa and nobody wanted them, I didn’t have much money, so it had to be a Alfa Sud or Renault 5 who also had pulled out, I went with the Alfa and had no regrets.
It was light, well balanced, and loved the corners; powered by a 1500cc flat four boxer motor with overhead cam and a twin barrel carburetor it had more than enough power; when you put your foot down and hit stage 2 of the twin barrel all hell broke loose; it’s that old school noisy grunt of power that made it so much fun.
Old Alfa’s are known to be temperamental and my one definitely had its good and bad days, the brakes would squeak on some days, the heater never worked properly, the dashboard cracked in various places, the fuel gauge could not be trusted, the tail lights filled up with water when it rained, funny noises would occasionally develop, the idling would sometimes be erratic, and if you took a trip to the coast, for sure you would have a ping from the engine for your entire holiday. All those niggly things would drive me mad today, but at the time I didn’t care, I just loved driving it.
Alfa Romeo certainly does know how to build cars with emotion; driver’s cars that come with their own attitude. For me a wonderful first car.
Written by: Neil Peverett
I’d love to hear your comments on Alfa Romeo Sud
