[wvedec]

After reading Braden's Alfa Romeo Owner's Bible, I am now reading Alfa Romeo 105 Series Spider: The Complete Story by Talbott and Brown. I am REALLY enjoying it. It reminds me of the "good ole days", when I actually understood how a car works. I remember my regular "plugs, points, and condenser" tune-ups!!! I'm looking forward to a possible purchase of an S3 Spider, which will allow me to re-experience the past - clutch, manual transmission, no power steering, and no on-board computer. It would be more effort and input, but also - total connectedness!!!!

 

[spiderserie4]

After reading Braden's Alfa Romeo Owner's Bible, I am now reading Alfa Romeo 105 Series Spider: The Complete Story by Talbott and Brown. I am REALLY enjoying it. It reminds me of the "good ole days", when I actually understood how a car works. I remember my regular "plugs, points, and condenser" tune-ups!!! I'm looking forward to a possible purchase of an S3 Spider, which will allow me to re-experience the past - clutch, manual transmission, no power steering, and no on-board computer. It would be more effort and input, but also - total connectedness!!!!

true, great fun.......
except it has no points, no condenser and actually has two computors

but don't let that put you off an S3.
fun cars all of them are.

 

[wvedec]

Ha! I knew about the Bosch fuel injection, but I did not know about the computers. It will be "close enough".😁

 

[pantera928]

Ha! I knew about the Bosch fuel injection, but I did not know about the computers. It will be "close enough".😁

Well, they aren't quite the computers that you find in new cars. Much More primitive but fairly reliable.
Unless you have the correct equipment, they don't really have a way to do diagnostics except manually tracing circuits and sensors.

 

[alfaromeoblack]

The S3 is the perfect balance between the light weight and raw sport car feeling of the S 1&2. Yet lighter and with more road feeling then the S4. I have heard the S4 is more of a Grand Touring feel to it.

I own a 84, The years I like are 83 to 85. This cars have better looking bumper, I love the two pod gauges for the speedo and tack. The ride is comfortable not to soft and not to hard. The interior looks great and having a fuel injection is a big plus.

I was luckily and found a rust free car and PO put in a new interior. Cylinder # 3 had low compression. Engine work is really fair less money then rusty floor and rock panel repair witch turns in to a paint respray.

Rule of thumb no matter what your purchase price is and what condition the car is in. I believe the car will cost is some were around 13k to 15k in the end. I will say the S2 are raising in value faster then a S3.

One last note - because the valued the S3 is reasonable you can drive them all the time with out fear or worry of some terrible accident that will leave your car Unusable.

Hope you find your perfect classic Alfa!


Ken

 

[David O'D]

Hi WEVDEC -

Ken 's comments are very accurate. If you are looking for an Alfa, figure out your budget and buy the best you can afford. A car in good condition with an extensive service history showing ongoing maintenance is ideal - it's MUCH CHEAPER to buy a full-price good car that you can use and enjoy right away. Risking a low-dollar beater and trying to fix it will cause huge frustration and cost more - unexpected 'surprise expenses' will eat up way more than you can possibly 'save'.

Regular usage is much more important than low mileage. These cars don't like to be ignored.

David OD
Laguna CA

 

[bianchi2]

..fun cars all them are.. spidersrei4...becoming..yoda?

 

[Lear]

IMO if you want a balance between affordability/driving pleasure/looks/DIY tinkering then the S2 is the one. Get one with Webers or dellorto’s. A not such a good one with good bodywork car is still affordable and then make a to do list
1/ Suspension and sway-bar bushes
2/ track rod ends
3/ steering box and idler box rebuild
4/ when 1,2,3 above done then a proper tracking done by the book NOT by a modern garage
5/ T bar bushes
6/ uprated rear wheel bearings
Now the car will drive better than new. Not difficult and parts plentiful and cheap.
S2 prices on the climb so get one now

 

[nealric]

To me, things like points are the "bad old days." Modern ECUs are great, and aren't witchcraft once you've used a programmable one where you can see what it's actually doing.

But what I do miss is when there was complete freedom of design without having to worry much about safety or pedestrian impacts. Modern requirements mean modern cars are heavy. There's really nothing for sale today save the Miata that is in the same weight class.

 

[Lear]

Then refrain from buying a modern car. My daily driver is a 2005 1.9Jtdm Sportwagon. Not modern, great drive and performance yet 60 mpg (UK gals) Cost me $1,500 2 1/2 years ago and still worth $1,700!!
Admittedly, in the first year it cost me about $600 to fix the faults but for the last 18 months it has cost me zip apart from an oil and filter change.
How much would a $30,000 car be worth after nearly 3 years? I just do not need a new car on the driveway depreciating like a sinking ship.