German Engineering or Italian Design?

[graveshaker]

I like it, never seen one in person. Always loved the front end.

[wikkid]

Great 6-cylinder, bosch FI engine. Easy to work on. Parts vendors are around, especially IAP.
More similarities than you would think, in terms of cars to work on.
Tough choice. May need both.

[andrewm]

I've had to work on them before - talk about annoying...

[Cletonius]

Hot car but parts availability would make me not want to have it as my only vehicle. Sometimes it's a pain getting E30 parts...

[Roysneon]

Yeah, if you're going to worry about beating him down a few hundred then an Alpha isn't for you. E30 is just as much fun but easier to work on and importantly for me (and I'm assuming you), cheaper.

I will say though that the Alpha is really cool, beautiful design and rarer than an E30, but would be better suited as a toy/weekend car. Drive it for fun when it works, park it as long as you need to when it doesn't.

[wikkid]

Youtube of the Alfa. The vid has a bit of a plug for IAP, but I buy Fiat parts from them, and they are good folks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7MMPhG6zWg

[Emre]

How about splitting the difference?

I've got a (German) 190E 2.3-16 track car and a (French) Peugeot Mi16 daily driver. Both cars were designed by Italians: Bruno Sacco and Pininfarina.

German engineering + Italian design = best of both worlds