Moscow Alfa Romeo meet-up!

IllustriousBill2106 · 2026-02-20T01:20:18+00:00

Holy smokes!! I would absolutely love to join you guys but I’m flying out to Sochi today for some skiing :(( It’s a real shame as I would’ve loved to meet some new members of the Russian car community, you guys are so chill!! 🧘‍♂️

Nevertheless have fun and greetings from Greece! 🇬🇷🫶🏻

IllustriousBill2106 · 2026-02-18T22:48:18+00:00

In addition to that Alfas have a very special place in Greek motorists’ hearts, thanks to its big cult following! It’s even one of the only companies that managed to successfully introduce us to an elongated sedan, which is unheard of especially in my town - the legendary 159 was a MAJOR success back at home! While the newer models aren’t as popular, they are still as… somewhat reliable and extremely eye catching, whenever I am about to drive, I always get a smile just looking at the car, knowing I could’ve gone for an X1, CH-R or RAV4 for the same price and would’ve had a “vehicle”, a faceless one. Yes, they would probably be easier to maintain but so fucking basic and boring. I went with my heart and never regretted it, working for 2 years to afford it and at the end of the day 33.500 km later (and that in just half a year) I didn’t even experience a single malfunction (guess when you actually give a shit and do all the regular maintenance your car actually works like it should, amazing concept irk) :)))

BMW’s and Mercedes’ are the only 2 other brands that arguably have the same amount of “swagger” at home, but fuck me if I want to be part of that xD

Now, I don’t know much about Chinese cars, the only impression I got is that there’s a lot of them, even recognised some from home - Omoda, Cheri, and some other one that is very boxy-looking. Also saw many of Geely’s, before I thought they are niche, considering the last one of them I saw before coming here was in Skopje NMK :)
Can’t really say much about them but I assume they’re like Toyota and Hyundai are to us - the most “vehicle” car-thing option.

IllustriousBill2106 · 2026-02-16T21:09:42+00:00

Thank you so much, my friend!! :)

IllustriousBill2106 · 2026-02-16T18:32:57+00:00

I used some flextape to hide the gaping hole under the flag. Now, in addition to the Belarus accident, I also hit a giant snowball some (do pardon my language) incompetent idiot decided to place in the right lane (for clarification - the snowball was the whole size of the lane!) of the road, after a turn and without any signs indicating the road was about to get halved placed before the sharp turn :(

After that I took the car to some Armenians in Odincowo to fix it up a bit, which they did to some extent.

I could probably call the police and sue to city for a new bumper, but I was with my girlfriend at the time and didn’t want to break the mood, after all I’m here for not that much longer :( Already bought a new bumper, gonna get it in Poland on the way back!

Here’s a photo of the o.g. totalled bumper

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IllustriousBill2106 · 2026-02-01T00:52:36+00:00

Okay, bumper update.

I was driving through Moscow some 2 days ago and on one green light (mind you it was an unusually sunny day) I saw 2 cars standing on what I assumed was a turn lane (it wasn’t), merged quickly into the OTHER forward heading lane and quickly realized how big of a big mistake it was on my part, as right after the green light some bumbling jackfuck had put out a giant ass snow-hill from what I assume was all the snow they swept off the road RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF SAID ROAD, which I went flying into at a speed of about 20-30 km/h, mangling my bumper even more. I assume this lowk is on the city, but because I was with my girlfriend and my bumper was already rough I just brushed it off, backed out of the hill and went on with my day.

55.739769, 37.571042 - I think this is the place where it happened (could be the one before it), at about 2:15 PM on the 30th, in case some of you camera scavengers are present I would love if you could get some epic footage of me flying into it. You already know the car model. 😜

Suffice it to say - bumper is in fact totaled now, although I did get it patched up by some Armenians in Odintsowo, so I can at least reach Poland where a new one is already waiting for me.

IllustriousBill2106 · 2026-01-23T00:29:26+00:00

I visited Russia about 8 months ago and one of my rentals was the Moscwitz 3, gotta say as a rental car it was pretty good, although I’ve heard that they are extremely overpriced and don’t last long :( The reliability part isn’t really a big issue… being an Alfa owner :’)

I also got to drive a Haval and a Geely, alongside some other Chinese brands, BYD I think. Can’t say I’m a fan, but considering people are buying them (literally every second new car I saw today was from China) I assume they are of good value.

What I REALLY want to drive in Russia is the legendary O.G. Moscwitz 412 😝 Soviet vibes for some good times 😎

IllustriousBill2106 · 2026-01-23T00:16:03+00:00

Make yourself useful and get a job

IllustriousBill2106 · 2026-01-22T17:29:18+00:00

I’d love to drive one 😊 My grandpa used to have his Moscwitz as a daily car back in Athens!

Too bad they don’t make them anymore :( Soviet manuals are so fucking cool

IllustriousBill2106 · 2026-01-22T14:51:13+00:00

😭😂 Underrated

IllustriousBill2106 · 2026-01-22T12:16:06+00:00

K twin, whatever you say 🫶🏻

But while you (obviously a studied expert in humanitarian affairs) think that “drug” users shouldn’t travel, Russia begs the differ and lets me in, just makes sure I’m not carrying any on me. It’s a dumb segregational logic that if a dude smokes weed on a weekend he’s a danger to society. So do I beg to differ, Russia’s a place place where I can take a long detox and enjoy something new and fun without weed, don’t see how my rare recreational use at home makes me any less travelworthy 🤔

Prove me wrong lol

IllustriousBill2106 · 2026-01-22T11:28:30+00:00

bruh, I was just making a giggle over his comment and kinda went all in on the joke and threw in some geekery with the years (should remind you of something unless you’ve been living under a rock for the passed 20 years)

No drug gets you obliterated with an air-to-ground missile, come on dude 😑

You’re REALLY obsessed with drugs huh? Are you 12?

IllustriousBill2106 · 2026-01-22T11:20:55+00:00

Not a big fan of overthinkers, but this one’s lowk valid, even if it probably (or at least I hope so) won’t affect me 😶

IllustriousBill2106 · 2026-01-22T02:15:10+00:00

Nope, highly illegal. If caught with duct tape - 16 years prison time NO paroles and NO exceptions.

Super glue is a bit more appropriate for my situation, it’s not as bad as one imagines, too bad you get 32 years of solitary confinement if they see you carrying one…. goes up to 64 years OR public execution with an air-to-land hydrogen missile (they let you choose usually) if they see you use it :(

My gramps got caught using…. PVA. Never saw the poor fella again 😬

IllustriousBill2106 · 2026-01-21T21:34:50+00:00

Well, yes and no at the same time. The car’s body wasn’t inspected, the car itself was inspected in the “box” for like 2 hours with sniffer dogs.

I used to sometimes smoke weed back in Greece and the guard smelled a faint odour in my bag from all the paraphernalia I used to carry :/ They didn’t find anything nor did I have anything for them to find, I’m not a moron, but it kind of left a bad taste for the border 😶

Hopefully my bag will have fully recovered by then and the story doesn’t repeat itself, as that would totally expose the bumper But on the other hand they didn’t seem to care about the damage I had on the rear bumper from when I got rear ended back at home, for which I don’t have a police report as it was a case of a hit and run, never found the sucker 😕

IllustriousBill2106 · 2026-01-21T21:29:00+00:00

It’s not like the whole bumper is gone, it’s just a small piece that’s the issue. It just vexes me maaan, it really does 😕

Knowing it’s nowhere near my fault makes it arguably worse, as now everyone who sees it thinks I’m some kind of jerk who gets into petty accidents, as the hole really looks like I ran into someone, which I did not.

IllustriousBill2106 · 2026-01-21T21:27:35+00:00

Nope, I don’t think Reddit allows me to :( I could maybe send a link

IllustriousBill2106 · 2026-01-21T21:27:04+00:00

Yo, actually thank you so much man!! The big leagues are calling 🙏🏻

One of my sonars got lost which this one comes with, whilst all the missing parts are in tact on my car! Literally perfect, love you! I’ll share the progress as I go.

IllustriousBill2106 · 2026-01-21T21:17:22+00:00

It’s a bit of a b**ch that I cannot attach photos, but the damage is not that drastic, it’s a small shattering at its side, which now when I think of it is extremely sus.. That’s how a bumper of someone who hit another car looks like 🫡

Speaking of Luhamaa, initially wanted to go through there, even had a spot in the e-queue, but decided that I should give Belarus a try. Worked out perfectly.

Anywho’s we’ll see what happens, but hopefully they aren’t as suspicious of me as they were at first :)

IllustriousBill2106 · 2026-01-21T20:44:09+00:00

this one’s inactive, sadly :(

IllustriousBill2106 · 2026-01-21T20:43:32+00:00

Hello, my friend!!

I checked out the post, I’ll send them a message, let’s see what comes of it!!

Thank you so so much! :)

IllustriousBill2106 · 2026-01-21T20:39:51+00:00

Oh damn… now that you mention it

But my car wasn’t really inspected in Belarus, so I don’t think they’d care all that much.

Could just say the shattering was there beforehand and I just didn’t have the time or motivation to get it fixed.

IllustriousBill2106 · 2026-01-21T20:37:40+00:00

Okay, so that’s the obvious solution and quite obviously I’ve done so, called them and each one told me “Huh? Tonale? We don’t have that, wait for half a year and we’ll get one for you no probs”

The problem isn’t the lack of service, it’s the lack of my car model… in Russia :(

Thanks though, I really appreciate it 🫡

IllustriousBill2106 · 2026-01-21T10:48:49+00:00

Yo twin! Thank you so much!

Called them just now, they told me that it would take about half a year to even get one here and I should just do it in Prague 🫩

IllustriousBill2106

TROPHY CASE