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Originally Posted by Trevor
The worst car I have owned and the have been many, before and since, was a 1750 GTV Alfa Romeo. I had won a production car circuit racing series with a Subaru FF1 in 1971/2 and was looking for a car for the following year. (Long, long ago!) I had got caught up in all hype over the years and thought that an Alfa would do the job. How wrong I was.
The car was a handling death trap. I had been warned by a friend, but did not take heed, thinking all the magazine testers must know their stuff. There was a very, very thin line between drifting on the limit and a sudden, undetectable, breakaway oversteer. Without going into detail, I can assure you that I am exceedingly lucky to be alive on two counts.
Apart from this defect I soon discovered that the, accepted very pretty exterior, concealed very mediocre quality in respect of the tin ware, which is all it was. Even the grand looking driving seat had to be altered to give any sort of support. I have been told that the rear roll centre was altered in respect of the GTV 2,000, but had no wish to experiment.
As I could not get the car on the front of the grid, I reverted to a cheap, crude, three litre Ford Capri. The handling was far from couth, but it could be thrown around safely with abandon and was faster in all respects. Not what the purists would like to hear. The Capri also later towed an 18 ft. twin engined cabin trailer boat no problem. Good car.
The important point in this narrative, which I have imposed upon you, is to record that the best car I have ever owned, is the little Subaru FF1, 2 door sports sedan, which was the racing predecessor of the horrible Alfa. A winner in every respect, it is downstairs in my garage and I drive it often, with great pleasure. From a technical, performance and all points of view it displays excellent logic in design. Sadly hype has passed it by.
In gratitude to you guys, I record that the car which provided me with the most fun and shear pleasure, was a 998, rubber Mini Cooper fitted with worked 1275 engine, close ratios etc. That car WAS quick and and a real drivers tool. An SP250 Daimler also deserves a mention as well as other Brits. Bugger the Ities. 
If you have reached this point I thank you for your patience.  |
Excellent, Trevor!
Tell it like it is!!
My favourite Fiat is the 128, a lowly saloon. I liked it because the semi-elliptical rear axle set-up allowed attacking a corner with understeer or oversteer, depending how brave, or how stupid, you felt on the day. A little bit like the Porsche Weissachs set-up, or the Subaru SVX passive rear steer we are used to.
Anyway, I do agree with Trevor, all the 60s and 70s Fiats were built using sub-standard post war steel, aka tin. They may not have rusted too bad in sunny Italy, but anywhere there was frost and salt, yekkkgh...
Right here, I will put my hand up and say I LOVE Alfa GTV 1750s and 2000s. It is the Italian suit I like. I have noticed that when these cars are used for historic racing, if you check out the provenance of the winners, they have used subtle suspension mods to make the cars behave under hard driving. So I'm not too surprised Trevor found them dangerous, back then.
I myself had a Renault GT turbo back in 1987 which gripped the road like a good 'un. It gave me one or two bad scares on the limit. Cars with innate good roadholding may not have the right weight distribution or geometrics to handle in a friendly or safe manner once past their limits. So " drive it like you stole it" at least till you find these limits.
Then drive harder
till you are happy handling the worst it can do, or put it to one side like Trevor did the Alfa, if control is not achievable, or it is too unpredictable for personal safety.
Joe