For some people this is the car that helped Alfa turn the corner and change their image in the UK, to others this is a significant car because it marked a change in the firm’s design philosophy.
Either way, it’s a car worth remembering.
The Alfa Romeo 155 was built to replace the Alfa 75 but Alfa made the car larger than the outgoing machine and changed something that gave purist cause for concern.
Unlike the 75, the 155 was front wheel drive, which gave the Italian firm packaging and cost benefits but it was at odds with the brand’s sporty image, so Alfa went racing.
To show the car as a sporty saloon they took it to touring car racing.
Under Super Touring regs it won the British Touring Car Championship at its first attempt and it also won the Italian Superturismo championship and the Spanish Touring Car Championship.
But the Alfa 155 is probably best remembered as the fire-breathing V6 TI that was used in the DTM championship in the early 1990s.
On the road drivers couldn’t get anything like the power the touring car aces had at their fingertips but a 2.
5 litre V-6 powered version was produced that offered 163bhp and a top speed of 134mph.
Later a Q4 version that offered a 2.
0 litre turbocharged engine and all-wheel drive was sold, but it was little more than a Lancia Delta Integrale in disguise as it used the same engine and powertrain.
Alfa Romeo 155So whether you see this as the Alfa that sold out or the one that stopped the rust and ruin reputation that had plagued so many of its predecessors, the Alfa Romeo 155 remains a significant part of the Italian firm’s history.
