After my England trip, where I had the pleasure of pouncing around the countryside in an Alfa 155 TwinSpark, I missed the feel of the [then] new Alfa; the confidence it inspired, the sounds it made, and the looks I got from passers-by (or those it passed). It felt good in my hands, it was just the right size and the car I had was also in my favorite color. The two-liter twinspark engine was rated at 148Hp, and while it wasn't as powerful as its larger displacement siblings, it wasted no time calling on all of them as needed! I had a short sprint contest on the M4 with an E36 BMW 320i and can safely say it benefited from its lighter kerb weight.

When I returned to the US, it was clear to me that I needed to refresh my stable. I had two identical Milano Verde's. Both were grey, and both were in excellent condition. However, they were still yesterday's technology and while still respectable in their own right, they didn't possess the snazz the newer Alfas had. With the successor to the Milano's successor already on the horizon (the Alfa 156), I felt that the Milano Verde's I was driving needed to be superceded themselves.

The last Alfas to reach the US shores were the 164LS and 164 Quadrifoglio, the former being known as the 164 Super outside the US. Given the rumor that less than 1,000 units of those cars were ever imported to the US, I found a very nice used example of the 164LS and added that to my collection. I was content for a little while driving in my "new" Alfa. It is much more stately than the 155 and a whole lot more powerful given its 210Hp 24-valve V6. It is handsome and has an air of exclusivity about it (maybe it's that Cadillac-esque chrome stripe around the knee of the car). But, it wasn't a 155. It doesn't have the agility, and it is not sporty. All things considered, I knew that going in but the end result was that I still did not get my craving satisfied.

There was this nagging thought in my mind; "why can't I have an Alfa that was medium-to-small in size, goes like hell, handled deliciously, and be different from anyone else's"? With the availability of "sports sedans" from Audi (the A4 Quattro), Volkswagen (Jetta VR6) and BMW (3-series, the M3), I wanted to have a car that was different yet from those examples, while still having the qualities of the aformentioned. I thought deeply about buying an M3, but then everybodyhad one. Come to think of it, so is the case with the other two.

Buying the 155 was out of the question, as was the new Alfa 156. They were just plain unavailable.

Clearly, I had to build my own.