Spider on the twisties, not the 164????

["Schafer, Dan" <dan.schafer@eds.com>]

Wow, Robert!  You may want to rethink an assertion you made in your
discussion of the 156 fun factor.

You wrote:  "In that case, the 164 was just too refined.  It makes a great
luxury car.  But I can't imagine it being the car you'd hoose to drive
through some twisties, if you had a spider sitting in the garage, next to
it."

Well, I can speak from experience on this as I have the exact situation you
mention.  I am lucky to have a beautiful 164L and a mint 85' Spider.  I got
the Spider first, and it hooked me on the Alfa aura.  I had my Spider for
about 4 years as my "fun to drive car" before I got my 164.  I had other
daily drivers.  The last of which was my 95' Cadillac Eldorado ETC w/300 hp
Northstar and active suspension.   Once I got the 164, I got rid of all
other cars except the Spider.  All I wanted to drive was the 164 or the
Spider.  All other cars were dead to me.

I can attest that while the Spider brings a smile to my face every time I
drive it, the 164 can do the same very easily.  The 164 can dive much deeper
in the corners, sweep around a corner with more grace, instill much more
confidence in most driving circumstances, and is much more powerful to boot.
I do loose the raw roadster type of feel with the 164.  It is more refined!
This is a great thing, that does not mean it is less "Alfa-ish" to drive.

Alfa-ish does not have to mean a suspension designed and kept fundamentally
constant since 1966 like with the Spider.  The Spider has a nostalgic old
style sports care feel and charm.  I enjoyed my MG for just such a reason.
However, if I were put in the position of having to chose which car to run a
any type of race, I would chose the 164 every time, no question.  

Bottom-line, if I drive the 164 like a sports car, it responds with sports
car like capability.  Plus, it a mechanically refined, carries 4 passengers
in relative luxury, and on the same track, it will trounce my Spider not
just in speed but in handling capability as well.  Proof?  When my friend
make comments like:  "Dan, can you drive?  It feels so quick and agile when
you drive, I don't know what it is, but the way you drive, it is a riot."
This is in the 164, and it is not necessarily how I drive, it is how the 164
allows me to drive it.

It is the Alfa aura. . .

DS
91' 164
85' Spider