Alfa Romeo 145 / 146

The 33’s follow-up pairing was born with the breadvan-esque 3-door 145 being launched in 1994 and its 5-door sibling following a year later. The unique styling of the 145 still strikes an attention-grabbing sight on today’s roads (is it some kind of shortened 3-door, shooting-brake estate with it’s wrap around glass at the rear?) and while the 146 may more obviously share its ancestry with the 33, neither have yet to be ladled with Alfisti adoration.

Well, we certainly think that’s unfair here at italicar. We’ve enjoyed a myriad of different variations and think that they really do offer great value-for-money in terms of driving thrills-per-pound. Early boxer-engined models are incredibly hard to source in decent condition and would represent a sound investment for rising values in the future. The top of the ranges were taken up by the 145 Cloverleaf and the 146 Ti both powered by the 2.0 Twinspark engine. While these are obviously always going to be the most sought after, we think there’s still plenty to offer an enthusiast in the lower spec’ models. In fact, for us, the 146 1.8 (fitted with the same suspension and steering system as the TI) offers just as much of a retro, hot-hatch feel as the full fat 2.0.

Alfa Romeo 146 TI

We’ve seen several 146 TI (Turismo Internazionale) examples through our stock list over the years, and enjoyed each and every one of them. The best pick for us is the keener CF1 engine, although the facelifted bodykit and teledial-style alloys on the later cars do look great. Probably the most memorable TI we’ve discovered was the red 1997 example which boasted the very rare combo of full black Momo leather, air conditioning and sunroof seen on our Youtube channel below.