Soo, it's been an awfully long time since I last updated this thread.
First of all, the Alfa has gone. Sold it back in February to a bloke who had never owned an Alfa before but had always wanted one. The good news is that he still owns it, it breezed through its last MOT, and he's really enjoying it.
Anyway, the Alfa was replaced with something a little more... Modest:
A Peugeot 205 GL, fitted with a 1.1-litre carb-fed engine with a whopping (when new) 55hp. This is one photo from the seller.
When I bought it, it had overheating issues and a broken heater, alternator not good, tyres were dodgy, brakes were worse, the speedo was hopelessly inaccurate and screeched alarmingly above 35mph, there was ancient mouldy orange peel in the door pocket (it only had one door pocket, because poverty-spec 1980s hatch) and it was generally very scruffy. BUT, it was structurally very clean, had loads of history and only 86k miles on the clock, and was mechanically sound overall.
And here's the crucial thing: it cost me £111.
The aim was never to keep it long-term - I would fix it up, enjoy it for a while and maybe make some money when the time came to sell.
First job was to replace the brakes, because the front pads looked like this
Eek.
After that, more work. I stuck four new Michelins on it and sorted the tracking. The coolant system was missing about two litres (!) of coolant and needed bleeding properly - which fixed the engine cooling and heater for almost nothing. Gave a full service including leads etc. Treated the insides to a forensic clean, dyed the faded bumpers, tidied/repainted the scruffy wheel trims, and generally scrubbed up the outside as best I could. Then for an MOT, which - aside from an advisory for a split rubber gaiter - it passed with ease. Anyway, I ended up with this:
When all was working, it was really good fun to drive. Not as slow as 55hp would suggest - it weighs less than 800kg - and the four speed gearbox was genuinely brilliant. Not a huge amount of grip from the skinny tyres and lots of body roll, but a great balance and plenty of information through the steering. Ride excellent for a supermini, even by today's standards. In other words, it's ideal for pottering about London, which is how I used it most often - much to the envy of all hipsters. Probably.
Feeling happy with my work, I put the 205 up for sale in September. Sold for £600. I reckon I didn't quite make a profit (I think I'd have needed to sell for about £645 to break even), but it gave me enough for my next car, which I'll post soon...
