well.... things took a rather bizzare turn of events yesterday....
i wasn't planning on buying a 166 specifically, as i has arranged a deal on a mint example in Manchester, due to happen next weekend, in px for the mustang.
the mustang is still defying any attempt to diagnose the problem, so i decided to buy a stop gap runaround.. while trawling autotrader, i found an alfa 166 (2000 W reg), stolen recovered (we believe) with 106,000 miles on the clock, in EXACTLY the same spec as the other one, for £1375 (right down to the sat nav and leather) list price for that car would be about £3000 - £3500
its not mint, and a little rough around the edges in places, but to be honest, its not bad at all, a little time and prob less than a grand spent, and it will be mint, so the new plan is to sell the stang, sort this alfa, and pocket the difference..
pics to follow...