Re: 156 at Concours Italiano

[Nizam Zambri <nizam@xxxxxxxxx>]

Well,

My dream almost came true.  I came, I saw, and I was impressed.  The 156 does
look very handsome in person.  Once I get my photos processed, I'll post them
on my web page.

The 156 stole the show amongst most of my friends here in the Bay Area.  The
pearlescent paint job was one of the wacky features of the car that caught our
attention.  What I also have to mention is that the build quality of the show
car was no different to my brother's 155V6.  The doors closed with a solid
"thunk" usually associated with higher-priced BMW's.  The gutters between body
panels were unmistakably even from start to end.  The interior didn't look as
cheap as I thought it would be after reading postings on this digest (the show
car was the bottom-of-the-heap 1.6 T Spark model), and in fact looked as good
as the current-day mid-level 2.2-liter Honda Accord's interior.  All in all,
the 156 was very much adored by the crowd at large but alas none was to be had
by the general public, and Walter made no indication - not even a teaser - if
Alfa was ever returning.

The other star of the show, to me at least, was the Alfa SZ/ES30.  I'd seen
them in Europe and in Asia, and even sat in one while mulling around in a
dealership in London.  However, I was very excited to see this particular
example being displayed on the field that I couldn't help myself examining its
undercarraige, under its wheelwells and its engine bay.  After seeing this one
in person, I'm convinced that there's really not *that* much I have to do to
my 75 to make it more mechanically SZ-like.  It also helps that I have access
to the SZ microfiche.

I saw too many dream machines at the concours, and even more that night at the
auction.  The next day at Laguna Seca was also a lot of fun at the Alfa
Corrall where I met some of you digesti and made new friends.

Actually, it's not over yet, I might just bomb down to Laguna again in a
coupla hours in the 164 ...

Hell, I'll go right now.  Bye.

Nizam

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