Watch the Alfa Romeo 166 reach its top speed after two decades

It’s still there for the old-timers.

Although the Alfa Romeo166 is not the most striking or exciting vehicle the Italian automaker has ever made, it has its own merits. It was Alfa’s executive sedan and it was positioned to be a volume-seller, with a variety of engine options available to car buyers between 1999 and 2007.

The 3.0-liter V6 engine in the TS model was the most powerful of all the options. The pre-facelift model could produce 223 horsepower (166kilowatts) or 203 pound feet (275 Newton-meters), respectively. Models equipped with a five speed manual gearbox can reach speeds of 243 km/h (151 miles/hour) and sprint times of 7.8 seconds.

Two decades have passed since the introduction of the first Alfa Romeo. Does it still have what it takes for its top speed? This AutoTopNL video, embedded above, attempts to answer that question.

Watch the Alfa Romeo 166 reach its top speed after two decades

It is interesting to note that the Alfa Romeo 166 in the video still has it, and nearly reached the top speed of the German a data-inline-widget=”internal-links” data-params=”%7B%22tag%22%3A%22Autobahn%22%2C%22originalTitle%22%3A%22autobahn%22%2C%22alias%22%3A%22autobahn%22%3A%22autobahn%22%22%22%3A%22%3A%22%22%22%22%22%22%22%22%22%22%22%22%22%22%22%222autobahn%22%7D22%22%22%22%3A%22%22%3A%22%3A%22%3A%22autobahn%22%22%22%22%22%22%3A%22autobahn%22%22%22%22%22%22%22%7D1>Autobahn%22%22%22%22%22%3A%22%22%3A%22%22%22%22%22%22%22%22%22%22%22%22%3A%22%22%7D5A%22%3A%22autobahn%22%22%22%22%3A%22%22%3A22%3A%22%3A%22%22%3A%22%22%22%22%22%7D/autobahn/a22%7D7D/a1a5D/a22%7D22%7D22%7Da22%7Da22%7Da22%7D22%22%7D/a22%7D22%7D22%22%22%7D7D22%7Da22%22%22%22%22%22%7D22%22%22%22%22%22%3A%22autobahn%22%3A%22%22%22%22%3A22%22%22%7D/a0/a/a0/a0/a/a/a/a/a The video shows the speedometer reaching around 250 km/h on the German Autobahn. The GPS-based device was only able to display 242 km/h which is a little less than the official numbers. This is quite impressive considering the age of the rather ordinary-looking sedan.

We noticed that the fuel gauge on our instrument panel was increasing as the 166 increased its speed. Perhaps that’s what the 166 is all about, filling up as it speeds. We can’t help but admire the well-maintained Italian sedan. This was no easy feat, especially for an old-timer.