In the '90s everything was going front-wheel drive, there was even almost a front-wheel drive Mustang at one point.
Fiat ignored the various downsides and embraced the new idea wholeheartedly. Also, with Fiat being Alfa Romeo's parent company, the marque was pretty much guilty by association. They had no choice but to make it work with the previous 164 model, and now they needed to do the same with a newer, but still front drive platform supplied by a fellow Fiat subsidiary who was once a fierce competitor.
It was an approach that had, to say the least, mixed results, but in the 166 we have one of the most luxurious creations from that era, and today it resembles something of a bargain and a wonderful entry point into the world of Italian cars.
10 Love: Kappa Platform
The platform they were forced to work with was from the Lancia Kappa, a brand they used to compete with for sales, and a car that is infamously ugly.
Suffice to say, putting lipstick on the pig wasn’t going to work. Hence, the exterior got a radical redesign, and you would be hard-pressed to find any similarities between these sisters. The car also got a different suspension setup and a host of other tweaks to make it suitably Alfa.
9 Love: Timeless Design
Even though this first came out 25 years ago, it has not dated one bit, at least from the outside that is.
It is unusually pretty for a simple 3-box sedan, but what they achieved with the 166 in terms of design proved just how much can be done with a relatively simple platform (and a facelift).
8 Love: Italian
All Italian cars have a certain charm to them, and the 166 is no exception. Even though it is a big luxury sedan, it has that same “soul” all Italian cars seem to have.
With that “soul” comes a few quirks. The interior looks and feels great, but isn’t durable and by now early 2000s cars won’t look great on the inside, rattles and squeaks are also just part of the “experience.”
7 Love: Affordable Luxury
These cars were infamous for their rapid depreciation, initially priced to take on the luxury German sedans of the era, on the used market they are now competing with entry level models.
Even now that these cars are getting appreciated more for what they are, they are still very affordable, with good examples often selling for less than $5,000. It is a lot of car for that kind of money.
6 Love: Performance Oriented
Where other luxury sedans focus on comfort and refinement, the Alfa focuses more on performance and driver engagement.
It isn’t exactly the fastest car in its class, but it has a firm sporty ride and a couple of fun engines that beg to be thrashed.
5 Love: Intoxicating Busso V6
Nothing sounds quite like a Busso V6 and a performance pipe, not necessarily something you would want in your luxury car, but it is something you can easily come to enjoy.
The 3.2-liter version offers the most performance, making 240 horsepower and able to get the 166 to 60 mph in around 7.5 seconds.
4 Love: Unique
These cars didn’t exactly set any sales records, and for the most part they are unwanted, which makes them fantastic for those looking for an alternative luxury sedan.
It also has the kind of styling that will still turn heads, like it or not, and it truly stands out of the crowd when you compare it to any other sedan, even modern sedans.
3 Love: Driving Dynamics
Admittedly, you will find yourself between a rock and a hard place here, the car is genuinely fun to drive, but you can’t have it all.
If you want something that handles well you need to choose the lighter, slower Twin Spark. If you are after speed then only the Busso will do, but it does not handle all that well and with the heavy V6 powering the front wheels there is rather a lot of torque steer to deal with too.
2 Wouldn’t Buy: Front-Wheel Drive
It is without doubt the biggest issue with the car, for small cars it makes sense, it improves fuel economy and reduces production costs.
With bigger cars it adds complexity and more often than not ruins the handling, especially when you try to add more power.
1 Wouldn’t Buy: Reliability
Any older Italian made cars always have this issue, but the elephant in the room is really the frail Twin Spark engines. It should have been revolutionary, enough power, efficient, rev-happy, but alas, they failed with alarming regularity.
The older Busso is stout, but also not immune to electrical gremlins and the more miles they accumulate the more likely they are to have electrical failures that lead to more serious issues like the ECU giving up the ghost.