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A few years ago I wanted to have a car which cannot phone home. This should not come as a surprise for any moderately paranoid IT person. Reading here and there I came across a list of interesting cars from the seventies and eighties, including the Alfa Romeo 75. This was a fairly expensive middle class car when I was out of school. Reading up I found that this transaxle model was full of interesting technical solutions. The 80ies "tetra-pak" design of the interior is a matter of taste. But I liked this thing.
Driving a transaxle is something I cannot really put into words.
However, beginners mistake: This particular car was sitting in a barn unused for 17 years. This means, that everything in contact with fuel, oil, brake fluid and martens had to be taken care of. Rust was ok, and many things I had repaired. But it then developed a habit: in idle the engine would just stop. Whereever. And it got worse. Studying documentation and listening to the clicking relays did not help. Professional help is getting expensive fast on a somewhat obscure problem. Plus you need to know someone, who really knows these 1980+ Alfa models by heart. Plus my personal space is somewhat limited, when it comes to working on cars. So it had to go.
Today someone showed up with a trailer and took my Alfa 75 with him. One problem less.
Bye bye, Alfa. May the godesses of Alfa Romeo 75 automobiles be merciful.
~ew
Now that I write this, I realize I don't even have a decent picture, sigh. Ok, so here is a not so decent one ...
