Alfa Romeo 75 1.8 Turbo
The Alfa Romeo 75 is living proof that a saloon needn't be boring. In fact, this may well be the most uncompromising sports saloon Alfa Romeo ever built. While other manufacturers spent the late eighties obsessing over aerodynamic drag coefficients and rounded edges, Alfa planted a car with a nose like a hatchet and a technical layout that could teach Porsche a thing or two.
My grandfather had the Alfa dealership on the Heilooërdijk in Alkmaar, and as a child I'd often stand with my nose pressed against the showroom glass. The 75 was the hero of the shop back then. Not because it sold the most, that was the 33, but because every salesman knew: this is the real thing. The last real Alfa, if you will. Transaxle layout with the gearbox mounted at the rear axle, perfect fifty-fifty weight distribution, De Dion rear suspension, and a limited-slip differential.
And then there's that 1.8 Turbo. One hundred and fifty-five horsepower doesn't sound earth-shattering in 2024, but do remember you're sitting in a car weighing just under twelve hundred kilos. That intercooled engine starts quietly, almost modestly, and then somewhere around three thousand revs the turbo whistle makes its entrance. Not the hysterical bark of a modern downsized three-cylinder, but a grown-up, sustained shove in the small of your back. A crescendo you wouldn't expect from something with Italian registration history and cloth seats.
Anyway, back to the 75 on offer. This one dates from November 1988, Rosso Alfa as it should be, with an Italian birth certificate and a German chapter in between. Imported from Italy to Germany in 2005, registered in Ahrweiler, somewhere in the hills of the Eifel, where they know a thing or two about working through corners. The German paperwork is included, neatly stamped with that typical Teutonic precision.
What strikes you immediately: this is no tarted-up barn find. The boost gauge sits exactly where it belongs in the dashboard, the Alfa Control self-diagnostic system still works, and the fully electronic instrumentation looks as though it came straight from a Lancia Delta Integrale parts catalogue. Sporty, but not gaudy. The cloth upholstery, Tessuto for the purists, has that typical eighties texture you nowadays only find in Italian cafés where they still let you smoke indoors.
The technical checklist reads like a love letter to the driving purist: ventilated disc brakes at the front, discs at the rear, power steering that helps just enough without murdering the connection to the road, and that height and reach adjustable sports steering wheel. You sit in it the way you ought to sit in a car: low, engaged, with the gear lever falling precisely where your hand lands when you're not steering.
This is not a car for someone seeking a comfortable daily commute. This is a car for someone who understands why Jeremy Clarkson once said you're not a true petrolhead until you've owned an Alfa. The 75 Turbo was Alfa's answer to the BMW 325i and the Mercedes 190E 2.3-16, only with more drama, more character, and considerably more Italian soul.
And yes, it's an Alfa from 1988. Maintenance will be involved. There will be moments when you wonder why you didn't just buy a Golf. But then you fire it up on a cold morning, that engine rumbles into life, and you remember. This is why you're a car enthusiast. Not for the convenience, but for the feeling.
Some cars you buy with your head. This one you buy with your heart, and your head shouts afterwards that it was the right choice.
Key features
- 1.8 Turbo with intercooler, 155 bhp
- Transaxle layout with fifty-fifty weight distribution
- De Dion rear suspension
- LSD limited-slip differential
- Rosso Alfa over cloth interior
- Original alloy wheels
- Michelin summer tyres with 6.6-7.0 mm tread
- Air conditioning
- Alfa Control self-diagnostic system
- Italian born, German raised, British future
Full insight into the papers our assessment is built on. Carfax vehicle history, service documentation and paint thickness report — page by page.
