Seeing an American car guy appreciating an old Alfa. Huge respect!

As an Alfa driver in the EU i love you guys overseas showing love for the brand! When you have owned a Alfa Romeo you know what's up.

That client really is a man of good taste. The 164 has such a simple and pure design, it just looks good from any angle, is not something that sets the world of fire, more of an understated beauty. Really nice car.

Love that you show everything you are talking about. When you talk timing belt, you show the details and of course the underneath of the car. Many others just talk about it and never show what they are talking about and that’s one of the reasons I’ve been following you since the beginning. Great job as always.

When you have an Alfa V6 in your shop you have to start the engine to let us hear the beautiful sound of that engine!!!!!

Finally an Alfa Romeo!! It was about time, Wizard! A 94' 164 was my first car here in Spain, loved it, what an amazing piece of automotive art it was

The first car i ever drove after getting my drivers license, was my mum's 1994 Alfa 164 3.0 v6 super. It was completely murdered out and looked like the sorta car the italian mob would have been driving in the mid 90's. Absolutely loved that car.

I love 164s, definitely best Alfa Romeo ever made. That quality, testing and state of the art manufacturing plant. Could only recommend finding "164 promo video" here on youtube. Really nice period footage. As for this car, it is actually pre-facelift model with old style 12 valve engine - dual SOHC. Other than timing belt failure due to poor maintainance there are no major issues with these engines and they are really solid and suprisingly economical. Just maintain belt, check valve clearances and change engine oil every 6000 miles or so. These cars are really easy to work on if you have lift. You could just drop whole subframe with engine, gearbox, radiators, steering, suspension... just everything there is and once you pull it off, it is really easy to service just everything and then it should last at least 60000miles. In Europe there also 2.0 Twin Spark 4 cylinder was also an option. With that engine (has timing chain) this car is absolute pinnacle of reliability. Biggest pain in the ass on these cars are those pesky climate control stepper motors. Those are really hard to replace (videotutorial also here on youtube). Also nowadays spare parts for 164s are hard to come by. Yes, it was developed by Alfa Romeo before it was bought by Fiat and yes, it shares some of components with Croma/Tempra/Thema/Saab 9000, but really not that many. 164 has different front suspension, slightly modified rear suspension, completely different bodywork and interior... and there was only 260 thousands of these manufactured and they are really not that popular. Well kept and preserved 164 is something every petrolhead should consider to buy. It was last true Alfa and they were doing their best, because this car was ment to save them. Unfortunatelly Alfa went bankrupt and its revival still is not that great as Fiat promised.

The 230 HP version is a QV model (=Cloverleaf). the one is Shown isn't. I own a 93' 2nd gen with the updated headlights and digital climate control, Euro spec. spent about a year restoring it (and still have more work). This is indeed a cool car and I am very happy you got to show one on the channel ^_^

Here's something that I really love about what Mr and Mrs wizard are doing with these videos. Like he stated for some customers who get shocked by 15 different things that come turn out to be wrong with their car and they feel like they're getting bamboozled. With a professional mechanic putting up a public video like this of their findings as they're doing their inspection it removes the mystique and mystery that good old boy mechanics have put into their process in order to cheat the customer.

When the moon hits your eyes like a big pizza pie, it's Romeo...

The Alfa 164 was part of the “type 4” project between Saab, Alfa Romeo, Lancia and Fiat, with the Saab 9000, Alfa 164, Lancia Thema & Fiat Croma all sharing the same platform. The Thema 8.32 even had a Ferrari V8.

That rear subframe corrodes eventually in Europe (after about 30 years), and they are unobtainium. A friend of mine has just remanufactured his 164 rear subframe and had it galvanised. The 164 was galvanised up to the waist at manufacture and its a really well made car by any standards. Better than todays Alfas I'm sad to say. If you stay ahead of the maintainance a 164 is reliable. Look after it and it will look after you.

The Busso engines are indeed the world of art.

I love these Alfas, I owned one of these limos until my son unfortunately wrote t off. I can say having owned over 20 cars this is the best car I have ever had the pleasure of owning.

Beautiful car, i really appreciate people keeping those old cars in good condition and running. Even old they still make perfectly fine daily drivers, the lack of all the modern gizmos might even make them more enjoyable as they naturally provide a more raw/unfiltered experience.

Nice! I had a ‘90 164 for three years when I was stationed in Italy back in the mid 2000s. It remains my favorite car that I’ve owned.

"you can’t be a true petrolhead until you’ve owned an Alfa Romeo" - Jeremy Clarkson Top Gear.

My very first car was a facelift 1993 164 Super 24v, loved it. My dad bought a 1993 QV 24v with a Remus back box, to this day still the best sounding 6 cylinder engine I know.

My nana had a w124 Hammer and my papa had a 164 during my early childhood. Extreme nostalgia seeing that interior!

I had a 91 164L Manual in Canada it was a great car with great parts availability and easy to work on. I had it lowerd on borbet wheels and it would absolutely break necks out of pure confusion. I'd love to find a reasonably priced 164s some day

I saw one in my small town in Ukraine. Dark grey color on golden bbs's with a little bit lowered rear end. Just gorgeous.

I think this is one of the best shaped cars of its time. I love the sound on those too.

Wizard, as a 91, this a sohc 12 valve with about 190 HP. I miss my 93 S every day. Great video!

Never thought I would ever see a 164 on my favorite car show. I owned 2 of these. They were pretty common here in Europe.

Great car wizard, but it's the earlier 12 valve model. The 24 valve didn't come out until 1993. My father had 2 164 QV Cloverleaf models.

I’ve owned 7 Alfa’s in the U.K. they were the best cars I’ve ever owned, this 164 is in amazing condition 👍 and amazed it’s here in the states . Passion and soul only the Italians manage this !

It's the Italian flair in the design...that makes you fall in love with such a vehicle.

I had a red 91 164. 320,000 miles on it! The car was excellent, and never left me stranded. I did change out the timing belt once a year, and converted it back to the original oil fed tensioner.

So glad you reviewed an Alfa Romeo Wizard! Hopefully we'll see a few more, although it is a real shame how few of them were actually available in the US

I had an Alfa Romeo that looked almost exactly like that one except mine had tan and black interior. It was a great car! It sounded great, drove great and was a great daily driver for years!

This is why I like boldly designed cars. They look outdated after 4-5 years, but then after some time, they start looking cool again and represent the age when they were made. My 190 Mercedes looks dull inside, but Fiat Tempra looks just like someone who worked on Star Trek TNG designed it. This Alfa interior is a good example as well.

I remember in 91 walking into an Alfa dealer showroom and sat in one of these. Those dashboard buttons stood out for me. Always liked these.

2:33 thats Roswell, GA. That would also explain the SC plates.

Damn...my dad had many Alfa's over the years loved every one of them...they had a massive following out here in South Africa due to their track racing and rallying exploits..will never forget my dad's GTV6 2.5

shame you never see them, the "hot" version was just stunning

The Mercedes W201 was actually designed by an Italian - the legendary Bruno Sacco

Yeeeeesss! Since I saw this on Hoovies video in the background I was so hoping you would do a video on it. Such a cool car. Id love one of these.

Love that car. The facelift 164 Super is even nicer to look at. Have had the pleasure of driving one over some years - I never forget the sound of the engine (3.0 24v) and simply the character of the car. Just amazing!

Always loved the Type 4 chassis. The 164, Saab 9000 were the ones I wanted but the one I craved was the Lancia Thema with the Ferrari V8. Made such a lovely noise.

I really want him to work on a SAAB. That car shares a lot with the SAAB 9000

I ran a Twin Spark 164 back in the '90s, one of my favourites. Handled beautifully, & very reliable. I've also owned V6 Alfas, it's a sweet engine.

When you said, when a person see it in their mirror there is no question who makes it. First it be in your mirror as it was passing you. You do not measure speed of an Alfa in quarter mile. When you are cruising at 140 + on vacation, you know you have a great car. I have owned and raced Alfa, my 4 cylinder cruised at 130 +. Love Alfa.

Great to see this on the channel. I've got a pre-facelift Alfa 166, which replaced the 164, but always loved the 164. The V6 is a thing of beauty.

I certainly did not expect to see the 164 on your channel. It is great to see you appreciate these cars. The 1991 model does still have the 12 valve V6 engine though. Mine is a 1991 model, too. Keep up the great work, your channel is incredible!

Lol im actually watching from Compton California 🤣🤣

I have always loved the 164. I owned three Alfas in my driving career and have nothing but great memories of a car that becomes a part of you the driver!

The Alfa 164 is one of THE most favorite Alfas ever to me alongside the 155 especially if it was equipped with the 4wd q4 model, which I'm hearing that they've started importing them to the states. I honestly love 90s Italian regual cars in general from the Fiat Tempra to the Lancia Dedra and beyond.

Great engine, I had 2 of these both 12v and the 24v version. On the 164 change the cam belt hydraulic tensioner to a mechanical fiat one. Door handles snap all the time. Steering racks are prone to leaking. Electric seat motors get stuck. Inside door handles internal mec comes apart easy. The fork disengage from the mechanism inside the door. Buso engine parts are now hard to get and expensive. This car has something special about it. I loved mine.

The shop (store) opposite my school had one of these, aftermarket exhaust, oh the sound! they had a stunning daughter too!

I saw a green one of these in Carmal CA several months ago ! I was so surprised I totally stopped and got out and took a bunch of pictures lol. Carmel and monterey really is the absolute best place to car spot even all year long not just during car week!

I'm amazed an early 90's Alfa is in such good condition!!

Had an opportunity to drive one of these several years ago and was amazed at how effortless and stable it drove while maintaining speeds of 85mph (110 seemed to be a sweet-spot.) Truly a fun but unappreciated Italian sedan. Thanks for featuring it!

Didn’t know those were sold in USA. Start to be rare here in Europe, particularly the 3.0 V6 Busso engine.

I had 164 twinspark in early nineties. One of best cars ever. Fast, reliable… had it for seven years and never ever any troubles. Still elegant, sporty…

I can't see one of these without thinking of the Saab 9000. The Saab 9000 Aero has the most comfortable Recaros I've ever sat in.

First of all, congratulations for the nice video, Wizard! I am Italian and know Alfa Romeo brand and particularly, the 164. I use to see plenty of them on the road when I was a child between the end of the 80s and the early 90s. My uncle owned a 164 2 litres V6 turbo. I used to travel on that car once only and remember it was so elegant and sporty at the same time. The acceleration and speed of that car also impressed me. I've been so pleased to see this wonderful Alfa Romeo after so long. Take care of it and make it a great "Alfa" again! I'm looking forward to your next video clip. See you soon! Ciao! 🙂👍🏻

I had a 93 164 q4, loved that car, it's like a big gocart in the corners :D

These were really good cars. I bought one in 2001 for only $3k and used it to commute to work 60 miles round trip M-F for a full year. It never failed me. Things like power accessory switches weren't so great and needed cleaning and there were some other inconvenience items, but the engine is bulletproof as long as you take care of the timing belts. Good luck finding parts...

When these were new we had a regular customer that had the manual version performance version of this with the same chromed intake runners on the motor. Was a pleasure picking up and delivering the car. I remember the driving position being a bit odd but the rest was on point!

Great video Car Wizzard! 😀 As many mentioned, this is the 12v 180hp Busso. Worth mentioning is that when the 164 had its realese in -87 it beated the Rolls Royce/Bentley in sound comfort in the back seat, it had both lower levels of road- and wind noise. It also got an re-design of the front suspension to get a lower hood line then the othet three cars (SAAB 9000, Fiat Croma and Lancia Thema) in the Tipo 4 familly.

If only that Busso was driving the rear wheels like in pre FIAT Alfas.

Everybody that loves driving loves Alfa Romeos. They are designed just to loved.

I used to have one of these, still my favorite car iv'e ever owned

Dear wizard ✨I drove a 164 in the 90s great car and it had terrific fuel economy.

You really should have started this the Busso V6 sounds just glorious!

I had one of these (after a long line of Alfas) and it was brilliant. Didn't have the issues the older ones had (in particular the corrosion). It was the first sign that Alfa Romeo had turned a corner in the quality game and they finally started building (relatively) good quality cars. Alfa were always brilliant driving machines, just the quality is where they were letting us down.

Me at 1am Western Australian Time: "Should be thinking about getting some sleep." KZfaq notification for Car Wizard content. Me: "No sleep till WEEEEEEZARD!"

Agreed, I too love the styling of the Alfa Romeo 164L. They had one a while back on Wheeler Dealers, and the mechanic Ant Anstead called it "an Italian taxicab" so I guess they were quite a common site on Italian streets back in the '90s. No Alfa could ever be described as "common" in the US, though.

These cars are precious and should be protected at all cost, along with their sisters Fiat Croma, Lancia Thema and Saab 9000

The Alfa 164 is the most beautiful berlina ever made. You are absolutely right, the car is from a warm climate state. I visited ths USA several time, NY state, California, Florida and I have always seen one.

My first car was an Alfa 164 just like that one, but 4 cylinder T.S. version. Love that car !!

Seeing you checking things underneath these vehicles is my favorite part of your videos

Wish you would include a driving segment on these cars or even some idling/ running/ rev footage

One of the prettiest sedans of the era, so damn nice.

I had almost bought one of these as my second car. Had the online post for the car bookmarked and was waiting for the price to drop enough, it started at like 9k and dropped to like 5, and I decided to go look at it and most likely buy it. It was sold sight unseen to a guy multiple states a way 2 hours before I reached the lot it was being sold at. I actually screamed in the parking lot. Not proud of that, lol.

The best looking car you have featured. I’ve always loved the 164, my favourite Alfa and that legendary Busso V6 - the 24v was the last of those a family which ran from 1975 to 2005 and it is the best sounding engine ever made, hands down. The 164 was part of the Type 4 shared platform cars with the Lancia Thema, Fiat Croma and Saab 9000 in the 1980s and 90s. The dash in the Alfa is the nicest with all the buttons - so of it’s time. Superb video Wizard and Mrs Wizard

I've had two Alfas. Both of which were utterly faultless, nothing ever broke, never had to do anything other than routine maintenance. I feel like I was cheated out of a part of the whole ALfa experience. Traded one in for a 'bulletproof reliability' Toyota which broke down constantly, so I think I just live in some sort of crazy reverse universe, haha.

Notice how the wizard calmly listens and waits whenever someone talks to him. A gentleman!

My first car was an identical 1991 164L.

From 1992 to 1997 there was a version called the 164 Super which had 200 HP, enough to pull the car from 0-60 in 7 seconds flat. The Alfa 164 was also used as a base for the 1997 concept called the Scighera which had AWD. There was a ProCar version of the 164 with a V10 making 620 HP. I really like the car in both red tones in which it was available, especially the wine/darker red version.

"This car needs some TLC" Me, fan of wrestling: What? Tables, ladders and chairs?!

I really like the design of the 164, whenever i see them here in Finland which is quite rare, i cant take my eyes off of it. I own a Peugeot 605 which has extremely similar design, and getting to park it next to a 164 was awesome.

Love the buttons and set up, looks cooler then Mercedes but as always thank you guys,

Those were the 1980's-1990's Italian business man car. This is probably the last great full size Alfa Romeo sedan and shared its bones with the FIAT Croma, The Lancia Thema and the SAAB 9000, even if it does not show. Untill few years ago you saw some of them still on the road in Italy. Sad I didn't see one in years.

I was going to buy a newer Alfa in a few months but I rather start looking for one of these.

The 164 was part of the Tipo 4 project that also included the Lancia Thema, Fiat Thema and Saab 9000. The Lancia, Fiat and Saab are Italdesign designed cars. The 164 was the exception with its Pininfarina design. The 164 looks a lot like Peugeot's slightly larger 605, a Pininfarina design also. The 605 shares its platform with the Citroën XM (design by Bertone). Of all these cars I think the US only got the 164 and of course the 9000.

I don’t think Pininfarina ever designed an ugly car, and many of their designs set the trend for decades after.

Others said it already, but seeing an American understanding and appreciating Alfa is a rare and beautiful thing.

Little suggestion for Wizard: Looks like now your wife reviewing interiors which is perfectly OK with me, but what's not OK that you keep blocking view of a front door panel for no reason! :( -And in most nicely designed interiors that design as important as dashboard itself! And she's actually repeatedly telling you that you blocking the view!.. ;))

The Alfa 164 is one of the most elegant sedans ever designed. It was offered with an optional AWD system ,which I read was very good. The leather interiors in this model were also exceptional.

THIS IS A TIMELESS DESIGN AND IT WAS A REBORN OF ALFA ROMEO AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 90IES.

I love how you make such a great but awkward Dad pun at the beginning and then have the expression of "Sorry, let's move on.."

I've got an 89 with the twin spark 2L 4 banger. Great cars.

Absolutely beautiful design, one of the most futuristic cars ever designed

I was hoping you were going to fire it up so we could listen to it.

Wizard! A 1991 164 L (Lusso) is a 12 valve. The 24v motor arrived for 1993. You can tell the 12 v as it has the exposed plug leads on the cam covers. 164's were superb cars, equal in most ways to the E34 5 Series and better in many ways to the W124 Mercedes. They are certainly less rust prone as they had a fully galvanised shell. The body and trim quality was excellent and Alfa really built these well. Common issues were steering racks, rear suspension crossmember corrosion in damp climates and dodgy centre dash switchgear. A grossly underrated car.

Really great Alfa Romeo 164

I had a 164 v6, I used to carry a chrome CO² fire extinguisher in the back footwell (chrome to be classy and match the trim!) just to put out the occasional fires in the centre console. Kinda freaked out the passengers a bit when I'd ask them to flip open the doors and hold their breath while I gave it a squirt 👀 Aside from the massive rolling fire risk (the whole car!) it was a awesome car, I loved it, and my local wizard loved me while I owned it. I swear I sent his kids to Uni on the bills from that car Edit: as a previous owner of aged alfas, including old 33's and Suds, the quality of the New alfas constantly amazes me..... yea they only make about 3 models, but damm they make them good. The Mito is used as a Motability (disabled or aged persons motor rental) car in the UK, so frequently driven around in 2nd gear at 40mph, trust me I hear it happening 🙄 and yet the cars are fine, no huge garage trips, no funny noises, crazy.... I never expected alfa romeo to become a reliable make! 🤣🤣🤣

Nobody looks in their review and says, "look it's a Hyundai!" 🤣