Alfa Romeo Buyer's Guide

Alfa Romeo's auction results split into the cars the market forgives everything (three classic Spiders, £10,250 to £19,125, median £17,250) and the cars it forgives nothing (a 156 at £2,725, two 159s around £3,250). Same badge, same twin-cam charisma, ten thousand pounds of sentiment between them.

The story, briefly

Pre-war racing royalty, post-war maker of the affordable exotic: the Giulietta and Giulia saloons and the 105-series coupés and Spiders of the sixties gave ordinary drivers twin-cam engines and five-speed gearboxes when rivals offered neither. The Spider outlived them all, 1966 to 1993 in four series. Later front-drive saloons kept the engines special (the V6 especially) while the bodies and electrics funded the jokes.

Which Alfa, for what money

Classic Spiders around our £17,250 median are the marque's blue chip in this data; earlier series lead, and the last squared-tail cars remain the accessible entry. The 105-series coupés, when they surface, trade above equivalent Spiders. Modern 156s and 159s at £2,500 to £3,500 are the enthusiast's daily gamble: gorgeous, engaging, and priced for their reputation rather than their ability.

What goes wrong

Rust is the Alfa constant on anything before the nineties: floors, sills, arches and the Spider's boot floor, with Italian-market steel of the seventies deserving its infamy. Mechanically the twin cams are strong with regular cam-belt or chain attention, and the Busso V6 in later cars is one of the great engines when its belts and tensioners are done on time. Modern-era electronics and front-suspension wear are the 156/159 items. Parts supply for classics is good through the specialist network.

Our view

A late Spider at £10,000 to £15,000 is the sensible way in: usable, supported, and holding value while earlier series pull away above it. Inspect structure before anything else; a rough engine costs a fraction of rough sills. The £3,000 modern saloons are romance priced as a consumable; enjoy them on those terms.