Drove around Italy in a rented Alpha Romeo Giulietta (about the size of a Ford Fusion). It had a 170 HP turbo diesel engine and a six speed manual. I thought the fuel gauge was broken until I realized that it is rated at 62 MPG!!! I just don't understand why these types of cars are banned in the US. It was a very nice car.

Took a cab ride in a Mercedes diesel wagon. The driver showed me the odometer....650,000 Km or 403,000 miles. He said he has had no trouble with it at all.

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"Life is tough...it's even tougher if you're stupid." John Wayne


Dave
Pawleys Island, SC

'79 300CD

It's ALFA

The company called Anonima Lombarda Fabricca Automobili or ALFA was founded in 1910. I had two, a '63 and later a '64 Guilia Spider. "The poor man's Ferrari," it was called, fun to drive. Beautiful, not terribly reliable, at least mine had Bosch electrics.

Jeremy

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"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970

Emissions control. The cars sold in Europe today will not pass current EPA and CARB emissions without some very expensive modifications that also impact fuel economy. The technology is slowly improving and it will probably become a bit cheaper after Europe switches to Euro6 in 2015 I think. You can rest assured a federalized version of that same engine will not have 170hp or return 62mpg. The new E250 diesel sold in the US now has a 2.1L with 195hp and 370lb/ft. Same engine will be offered in the GLK and Sprinter for the US market.
2014 Mercedes-Benz E250 BlueTec Diesel First Drive – Review – Car and Driver

Europe is choking on its own diesel soot.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kv6ak6MZXPA

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CENSORED due to not family friendly words

All my Alfas were extremely reliable, mechanically. Body rust a huge issue especially in the 70's with the use of Soviet steel.
I owned the following "Alpha Romeros"
'66 2600 Spider, big ol' 6 cylinder with twin spark and 3 Webers
'74 GTV 2000, my favorite.
'76 Alfetta 4 dr sedan
'76 GT Veloce Mario Andretti edition
There's something about an ALFA that is incomparable to other makes, I think I need to get me one real soon.

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'82 240D automatic to manual (sold)
'84 300D (sold)
'12 MINI CooperS Coupe
'71 Triumph Stag
'76 MGB
'08 BMW 535XI wagon
'12 VW Golf TDI

The new Dodge Dart is derived from the Alfa Giulietta.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_Dart_%282013%29

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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 400,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 22,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.

Comment on the Emissions Test. Someone decided that it is the % of emissions that is important instead of the volume of emissions that a Car puts out.

So an Engine can put out as much volume of emissions as it wants but what comes out must only be with in a certain percentage of the emissions tested.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

At least he didn't call it an Alfa-"Romero". Haha. That one always cracks me up, like people saying "Austin"-Martin.

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Stop paying for animal enslavement, cruelty, and slaughter. Save your health and the planet. Go vegan! I did 18 years ago. https://challenge22.com/

DON'T MESS WITH MY MERCEDES!


1967 W110 Universal Wagon, Euro, Turbo Diesel, Tail Fins, 4 Speed Manual Column Shift, A/C
1980 W116 300SD Turbo Diesel, DB479 Walnut Brown, Sunroof, Highly Optioned, 350,000+ Miles

I'm sure Count Romeo rolls over in his grave whenever that happens.

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"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970

Another stupid thing is the lighter requirements for trucks. My minivans are "trucks" and can pollute more and have lower safety standards to meet. Really big pickup trucks that burn a lot more gas are also allowed more %emissions. That is because Congress didn't want to "impact businesses" and threaten jobs. So now office workers who never haul anything in the back drive around in monster trucks polluting the air needlessly to show their manliness.

Yes, of course it is Alfa. It had nice breaks too.

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"Life is tough...it's even tougher if you're stupid." John Wayne


Dave
Pawleys Island, SC

'79 300CD