You Know Your Car Is Italian When

[ForzaLancia]

You cannot get the parcel shelf out without folding the seats

 

The space in front of the gear stick is just that bit too too small for a smart phone

 

Your glasses cannot fit in the cup holder area

 

The drivers window switches are too far forward so I still end up lowering the rear one

 

The front seat belts stalks are too short and don't stick up far enough to find easily

 

They have left the handbrake on the left side so the other half's coat or handbag drapes over it

 

 

Though not quite in the league of my brothers old Fiat 128 3P coupe, when the driver seat was tilted forward, the hear rest hit the centre of the steering when and therefore the horn!

[Nello]

...and that Parcel Shelf edge is damn sharp! Anyone else skinned their knuckles on it getting stuff in/out.

[MikeyRules]

Haha all true!

 

You forgot a few...

 

Cup holders that don't fit cups.

 

Glove boxes only fit for...well gloves!

 

Having to have the hands of a 4 year old  with dislocated wrists to change a headlight bulb, and the neck of an Ostrich to actually see what you're doing!

 

Designing cars and advertising them as 4 seaters when actually only 3 are any good unless you don't have ANY legs. (To be fair Delta excluded on this point)

[alfaspud]

Not to mention the cassette player on the 75 - had to change gear if you wanted to eject a tape!!

[MikeyRules]

Not to mention the cassette player on the 75 - had to change gear if you wanted to eject a tape

Oow love a good 75! 

 

How about the cup holder in a 147!? Every time you brake you cd player gets a good healthy gulp of coffee! 

[Andrewgrale]

But we still love our Italian cars ?

[MikeyRules]

But we still love our Italian cars ?

Is that a question Andrew or a statement!?   

[alfaspud]

There's a thin line between love and hate   

[alfaspud]

My first 33 had a trip computer allegedly - random numbers would have made more sense 

god bless Magneti Marelli

Edited January 22, 2020 by alfaspud

[ForzaLancia]

I did like the roof window switches on the 75, looked like you were giving the driver behind the middle finger 

[MikeyRules]

I must admit I really miss the flat four engines from the Alfasud. I had a 1.5ti in council house beige, but boy did it sound good at full chat! Even the 145 got it on the early cars.

[alfaspud]

I did like the roof window switches on the 75, looked like you were giving the driver behind the middle finger 

 

You can relive your misspent youth in a Citroen DS5

 

I must admit I really miss the flat four engines from the Alfasud. I had a 1.5ti in council house beige, but boy did it sound good at full chat! Even the 145 got it on the early cars.

 

Hear, hear -  I had a 1.5 and a 1.7 - I think I preferred the 1.5

[ForzaLancia]

one more I forgot, why on earth is the switch for the rear wiper three times that of the intermittent switch? The first rule of Italian motoring is 'what is behind me is no longer important' !

[Nello]

My wife has still not forgiven me for the day when she was still my girlfriend - we were going out to a posh doo/Saturday night function so were nicely dressed and I picked her up in my Beta HPE. It was a great car however the fuel gauge was not the most effective - whenever you turned right it was full - turn left it appeared empty so you had to guess how much has you always had. We got on to the Coventry Inner ring road................you can guess the rest...................................

Edited January 23, 2020 by Nello

[Nello]

............Ooh and I hate the fact that to fix my broken Heater actuator flaps I will have to remove what appears to be most of the cars interior! ................... Needless to say I have bought a new scarf and gloves for winter.......

Edited January 23, 2020 by Nello

[MikeyRules]

Haha can't believe you still haven't done 'something' about your heater flaps! You're getting lazy in your old age!! ?

[TJB]

That lot has made me chuckle.

 

As I was reading it I was thinking, Oh, that reminds me of my MG ZT, or my Rover Tomcat, or my Proton Gen-2, or Seat Ibiza, or Toyota Celica...… (insert random car here). 

 

Point taken on the parcel shelf though, that one is a first for me.

[Andrewgrale]

Is that a question Andrew or a statement!?

A bit of both really!!!

[kapetanikolas]

Some stuff from the Alfa GT

• Passenger window gets stuck in closed position for months. One day car battery runs out. After installing new battery the window starts working again like nothing happened.
• Your try to close driver's window. It goes all the way up then all the way down on its own and stays there. Repeats every time you try.
• Car radio increases and decreases volume on its own.
• Parking sensor bip barely audible one day, then loud the next day.

There is more but I don't remember it right now...

[Nello]

I did have a look Mike but its a nightmare job. I managed to get a long screwdriver up within the footwell to the flaps that direct air to the screen. But the problem is the actuator flap cogs being plastic occasionally grab the motor arms and move them so it does not stay put where you want the air to go for long. Occasionally I get heat both sides but it soon goes back to being cold on the passenger side. This time of year is worse too and not just because of the temperature as with the damp and cold you get very misted up especially if there is more than one of you in the car. I'm going to live with it for now. I have recently changed jobs roles so working from home mostly now so I only use the Delta now for the daily school run for my youngest lad which is only a 4 mile round trip. The wifes 500X is the mode of transport any other time. Thats why I mentioned I don;t really need a car of the Delta's size anymore and not with 4 doors.............. Will see how it goes this year.... The Brera S is still top of the wanted list although I know if I see a Momo S going local I'll be wanting to view it!

Edited January 24, 2020 by Nello

[Andrewgrale]

I did have a look Mike but its a nightmare job. I managed to get a long screwdriver up within the footwell to the flaps that direct air to the screen. But the problem is the actuator flap cogs being plastic occasionally grab the motor arms and move them so it does not stay put where you want the air to go for long. Occasionally I get heat both sides but it soon goes back to being cold on the passenger side. This time of year is worse too and not just because of the temperature as with the damp and cold you get very misted up especially if there is more than one of you in the car. I'm going to live with it for now. I have recently changed jobs roles so working from home mostly now so I only use the Delta now for the daily school run for my youngest lad which is only a 4 mile round trip. The wifes 500X is the mode of transport any other time. Thats why I mentioned I don;t really need a car of the Delta's size anymore and not with 4 doors.............. Will see how it goes this year.... The Brera S is still top of the wanted list although I know if I see a Momo S going local I'll be wanting to view it!

Gawd,that reminds me of a Ritmo/Strada 130 that I had, the hot/cold cable had broken and it was a pain in the exit orifice to do (dash out etc) so if I wanted hot I lifted the bonnet and tweaked the tap, if during the spin I wanted cold, I just opened a window!!!

[Nello]

The Italian guys obviously share the problem.....and pain!! - See what I mean about the fix!

 

[MikeyRules]

Wowsers!

 

That's not a job for the feint hearted! 

[Nello]

And its a common problem as well Mike! On both Delta and Bravo (same heater box). All because they used these plastic 'Ferrule' control cogs instead of metal ones for a few quid - 

 

Edited January 27, 2020 by Nello

[MikeyRules]

Yeah I know only too well. I guess I was lucky in that it was only the recirc that failed on mine, and I was able to jam it open!

[TJB]

It's not just the Italians. You know your other car is British when......

 

 

 

Heater matrix and hard pipe replacement on my 75 last year. 20 years of OAT coolant sludge took their toll.