Greatest road tests ever: Alfa Romeo 75 2.5 Green Cloverleaf

Named to celebrate Alfa’s 75th anniversary, the boxy 75 used rear-wheel drive and the company’s magnificent V6 engine to produce an enjoyable, if typically flawed, package

Sharing much with its upmarket 90 sibling, the 75 used a front-engine/rear-transaxle layout and Alfa Romeo’s celebrated alloy-intensive V6 with fuel injection and one overhead camshaft per bank.

Its five-speed ’box had lower gearing for sportier performance, but the creamy, tractable powerplant almost rendered such measures unnecessary, serving only to harm economy and cruising refinement.

Thumps from the sometimes-choppy suspension in town and significant wind noise on the motorway could both be overcome by the V6’s glorious yowl.

Driven on the limit, the 75 could be encouraged from gentle understeer to easily controllable oversteer on the throttle. The all-disc brakes performed strongly and without fade, too.

Flawed ergonomics resulted in a bus driver-style seating position for taller drivers, though. The tweed-covered seats were fairly comfortable and supportive, but the decently sized boot suffered a high lip.

*FOR *Performance, engine note, handling

*AGAINST *Fuel economy, ergonomics, wind noise

-Factfile-

Price £11,979 Engine V6, 2492cc, petrol Power 156bhp at 5600rpm Torque 155lb ft at 4000rpm 0-60mph 8.9sec 0-100mph 25.4sec Standing quarter mile 16.7sec, 83mph Top speed 130mph Economy 22.8mpg

-What happened next?-

The 1.8-litre and Twin Spark 2.0-litre four-pots propped up the range, and the V6 grew to 2959cc in 1989, peaking at 192bhp in 1990’s new Cloverleaf. Left-hand-drive markets received 500 1.8-litre Turbo Evoluzione homologation cars and two turbo diesel variants. Production ended in 1992 with the arrival of the front-drive 155.