Readers Drives – Chris Woodhouse and his Alpina B10

Readers Drives proved rather more popular than we expected and due to popular demand we still have stories coming in. Thanks to Chris for reminding me about his lovely Alpina B10 3.2. I sold the car to a very great chum of mine a few years ago and its lovely to hear that the car is still being cared for to the same standard. I was amused watching one of my very old films I made about this car. No grey hair!

The funny thing is I didn’t know much about these cars until I pondered upon buying this one. My feet were itchy, there is no doubt. Whilst I had owned a classic Merc 280SL for 5 years (and continue to do so) and later on a BMW 840ci this car had me intrigued. I travelled 320 miles to see it! Driving it back was a joy until I was unfortunate enough to hit the M25 rush-hour with my new 3.2 manual. Ouch that left leg! After that the drive home to the North East was sublime, I smiled all the way.

 

Is it perfect? No. Is it nearly perfect, almost! The car is exceptionally clean, when you drive it you feel spirited and engaged. You’d be forgiven by modern day standards for thinking that the power steering didn’t work, it is beautifully weighted as you push the car confidently into turns, knowing precisely where you are every step of the way. You really smile when you drive this car. The engine sounds glorious and loves to rev, and it’s very fast despite being the baby of the Alpina engines in this era

The Hero Motor Company have twice sold this car, Barney will know the car very well. I’d like to think over my last three years of ownership, and as it clocks up 2 decades in age and less than 74k on the clock, I’ve kept it in great condition. Would I part with it, I would be hard pushed. Here is a video of the for sale with Hero Motor Company and a few pics, hope you enjoy.  Note Alpina Channel called this the 3.3, it is the 3.2.