2006 Alfa Romeo 147 2.0 Ti auto 4 seater Hatchback Hire Nelson

Our version of a Toyota Corolla hire car….that’s definitely something different from the yawn. A pleasantly perky practical hatchback. 5 doors. 5 seats. A decent sized boot. Now throw in Italian styling and an Italian 2.0 engine and you and your passengers can make pleasingly planted powerful progress. 

What are we thinking? A hatchback that seats 5 adults and a decent amount of luggage? Have we gone all sensible and middle aged? Well yes….and no. For those who prefer to proceed in a fashion no less briskly and entertaining than the rest of our fleet but a lot more discreetly with more practicality, this is the car for you. At first glance it looks like a coupe but then you notice the outline of the rear doors and the hidden recessed door handles. So it’s another 5 seater rental car then, ho, hum.

But we don’t do ordinary at RentAClassic. This is a mini Italian stallion, with enough horses to make things interesting and enough character to make you very glad you didn’t opt for that same ol same ol hire car. 

Being a wolf in sheeps clothing and reining it in probably. You’d think it might feel flimsy and insubstantial but whilst the steering is light and responsive, the car itself feels seriously reassuringly solid and planted on the road. Otherwise it’s all a perfectly normal car with hardly any Alfa idiosyncrasies, apart from the usual one of the lock to access the boot hidden under the rear Alfa badge. But it’s even got a boot release lever sensibly positioned by the drivers seat along with one for the fuel cap for goodness sake.

Yes it is an Alfa Romeo and this one is regularly serviced and has to pass the Certificate of Fitness (CoF) test required for all rental cars every 6 months. You have ABS brakes, driver and passenger airbags, high level brake light and side impact bars, along with very predictable and sure footed handling.

Really good. Everything works as it should and it’s very smartly presented inside and out. 

The boot can swallow a lot, including a full size solid suitcase and lots of bags. Plus if you’re only two up there’s a lot of extra space on the back seats. For exact dimensions, refer to the Seating & Luggage tab above.

Bit past my time but for 2006 the best driving tracks are:

• Cool Me Down – Black Seeds
• Another Place to Fall – KT Tunstall
• Understand – George Michael

Now we acknowledge driving music is a very subjective thing, but clearly here, we’re right. So download, hire our Portable Bluetooth Speaker & enjoy! 

Quite fast enough.

” No-one can be a true petrol head until you’ve owned an Alfa…”

” …though renting one is a good start….”

Different strokes for different folks….

Do you want sensible things like comfort, luggage space, affordability (OK….)….

or more indulgent stuff like luxury, handling and powwwwerrrrr (yeah)?!

We think all our cars are totally brilliant, but here’s how this Alfa compares to our other cars on some key rental criteria.