Customer Reviews

Illustrated Alfa Romeo Buyer's Guide (Illustrated Buyer's Guide)

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4 star:		(3)
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Although written for the prospective buyer of an Alfa, this book is difficult to follow. It does not adhere to chronology or any other logical structure, and it does little to decipher the convoluted model-variations schema that Alfa Romeo uses to identify its products. One major flaw: in most instances, it does not identify photographs by model year. A disappointment.

Excellent, detailed descriptions of almost all the Alfa's you can buy (up to the 1980's) - very useful for the true 'Alfisti'. However, it is too obviously written by enthusiasts: excessively flattering praise for the cars, but precious little objective criticism of the faults Alfa owners know so well.

If you really want to understand the differences among the Alfa Romeo production cars, in chronological order, read this book. It's a goldmine of information. You'll definitely learn a lot. My only complaint is with the photographs, which are black & white, uninspiring and amateurish.

This should be *the* starting point for anyone looking to trace the postwar lineage of the marque. I finally understand the difference between 750 and 101 Giuliettas, why they're moderately interchangable, what changed, etc. 'Guilia' and '105' are partially synomymous? I had no idea. Also, I now know which ancestor to blame for the annoying chasis shimmy in my '91 Spider (one of the early Duettos).

I can't emphasize enough how helpful this book is in making sense of the various production and specialty Alfa models produced over the last 50 years. I'm definitely in no position to attest to it's accuracy and, as another reviewer noted, it's organization is somewhat confusing, but this is greatly offset by my newfound knowledge of the line as a whole.

I'd recommend reading this book before any other, including the Braden Bible, when diving into Alfa history.

This book has definitely shed light all the different models that Alfa Romeo has put out, especially the Guilias and GTVs, which I am most interested in. Its not perfect, I couldn't find every answer I was looking for. For example it gives you identification numbers, but not where to find them. More info on how what to look for when buying a car would be great too. It is definitely worth buying though, especially someone new to the marque.