By Antti Kautonen
Last weekend, I was out with my camera in the coastal town of Pietarsaari, Finland – also known as Jakobstad for those with a more international language than Finnish in their use. As I parked my BMW in the street, I noticed this Alfa Romeo 166 parked on the other side.
Only going through the photos later on did I realize I had photographed the exact same car a year ago, but since these photos are better I’ll happily run them anyway. The car is such good looking it deserves to be shown in a good light, despite its dirtiness.
Oh, those shapes and forms. The 166’s nose is interesting in so many ways, including the tiny headlights being encompassed completely by the fender. And the owner really should replace the Alfa badge with a new one.
The re-visit to the 166 meant I could finally recognize the winter wheels the Alfa wears, and those indeed are Fondmetals.
And this is how you apparently close a 166 trunk. The plate holder confirms the car as a second-hand Italian import, while the 205-horsepower 2.0-litre V6 Turbo is an Italian specialty. The car also has a body kit, which in my opinion suits it well.
The 166 remains as one of my favorite designs. It’s daring, from certain angles it’s challenging, but damn if it isn’t handsome.
[Images: Copyright 2013 Hooniverse/Antti Kautonen]
Jeff Glucker
It looks good but imho 156 is a much better looking car.
saw a bright red 164 S today
that's a looker
i really like the lines running up the side of the 166, the little convex section on the doors, the door handles. all fabulous.
I've always had mixed feelings about the 166. Some of the detailing is nice, but it doesn't hold together as an integrated shape — not nearly as well as the 156 or subsequent 159. I have similar feelings about Pininfarina's outgoing Maserati Quattroporte.
Always thought the Quattroporte was a generic looking car with nice details. The last ones looked better though (Sport GT S mainly).
I thought that the facelift model, which got rid of the sad,droopy anhedral front was an improvement on this. All of them have beautiful interiors though and from the rear threequarter it's stunning.
Thanks for the photos! I've seen a few 166 while in Italy, even driving one around Turino for a day… a few years back. The 166 always look great in person. In the USA I never see any as they were never sold here. They were too heavy and I doubt many will ever come over. The 156 and 159 are also great cars and there are a few in the USA now. I am happy with my driveway having three of the older 164S which are quicker and handle better. Thanks again! Keep up the nice car spotting efforts!
I agree, it's a handsome car! But it's not pretty for sure; this car is definitely a dude if I were to genderize it. I mean, he's doing that squinty-seductive eye thing male models do. He's also wearing a tailor-made Italian suit, a bit of jewelry but he needs a better pair of shoes:
<img src="http://static.cargurus.com/images/site/2008/03/15/08/24/2002_alfa_romeo_166-pic-17636.jpeg" width=400>
The oldest one is 15 years old! Looking forward to seeing some here in Canada.
These are fine machines. My brother has a couple of 166's, a humble Twinspark and a loaded 3.0 V6. They look good, drive well, have nice soundtracks and the interiors really are the place to be. Build quality seems to be much better than that of 156's. And they are dirt cheap too.
Too bad Alfa Romeo didn't make a successor for 166. in the future, where do I find a stylish, nice-to-drive second-hand highway cruiser with the cost of large fries? And without the image burden of driving a german überwagen?
It feels like I'm one of very few that prefer the facelift version.
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/wv1yz9p.jpg" alt="" title="Hosted by imgur.com" />
But I can't get over the license plate. It feels like the designer forgot to leave some space for it in the middle. It looks so wrong to have it off to the side like that. I could sort of understand it if Italy didn't require a front license plate, but they do… like all of Europe.
Oh, crap. Sorry for the gigantic picture.
sorry mate, but you will never see this car again..