Our Alfa Romeo left us a few months ago. After all, while it was registered under my name, I was sharing ownership with two other guys and just holding the car for a friend until it found a buyer.
Some time ago, our time-share 2003 Alfa Romeo found the strength to get its behind moving and meet up with its relatives, both new and old.
Everyone in the DriveArabia family likes Alfa Romeos until sarcasm kicks in. So, when our buddy was planning to leave the country for good, all we cared about was his car — a 2003 Alfa Romeo 156 V6 with 250,000 km on the clock. As mentioned by him, we knew the car had some “minor” ongoing issues and our plan was to keep the car for a while before we sell it off. It was registered under the Editor-in-Chief’s name, as he wanted a taste of Alfa ownership as well. On the day he was leaving, I dropped him off at the airport and took over this car.
When we got the Alfa Romeo 156, it was covered in a thin layer of dust on the inside that seemed to be semi-permanent, stuck in the nooks and crannies of the textured dashboard, door panels and centre console. The dark-tan leather was also blackened from years of neglect. After some hard scrubbing, the leather became a bit lighter, but none of the dust on the rubberised plastics seemed to come off. We then noticed an ad for Green Steam car wash and gave them a call to check out if it’s a cost-effective alternative to an expensive detailing job.
Ever since a certain now-unemployed TV host mentioned on air that you have to own an Alfa Romeo at some point to be a true petrolhead, idiots around the world have been quoting it like gospel. Never mind that the same idiots have never been brave enough to put their money where their mouths are, so we never took it seriously either. But over the last few years, we’ve actually met several Alfa owners in Dubai itself — none of whom took advice from TV comedies — and began to understand the madness behind Alfas. So when we finally found the opportunity to keep an Alfa,