advertising safety

[JHertzman@xxxxxxx]

In AD7-250 Eric Storhok  wrote: "Alfa content- does anybody remember that
Alfa's are some of the safest cars on the road?  I know that the 116 and above
chassis are quite good at surviving chrashes, and 164's are extrordinary for
this- but Alfa doesn't advertise this..."

Freudian slips? Alfa doesn't advertise ANYTHING in the USA, but they certainly
did brag on safety at certain times, without successfully grabbing a secure
toe-hold on a significant market share. Witness this from a sales brochure:

SAFETY IS ALWAYS FIRST WITH ALFA ROMEO

Maybe you haven't thought of it, but a racing car must be a safe car in
critical ways. And Alfa Romeo, virtually alone among major car manufacturers,
translates successful racing engineering into production cars. Every Alfa is
born on the race track, where safety fast is the controlling principle. And
the Alfetta exemplifies in the highest degree this continuing interchange
between racing and production. Like its famous namesake, this road machine is
built to go fast, steer fast, hold fast and stop fast. Alfa Romeo's constant
guiding concept divides safety into two aspects:

PREVENTIVE and PROTECTIVE. Each complements the other; together they create an
advanced automobile in which you and your family feel secure and confident at
any speed, on any terrain, in all weathers. 

PREVENTIVE SAFETY

DRIVER COMFORT. Anti-fatigue measures start with the orthopedic-designed seats
that adjust for personalized comfort. Driving controls are all close at hand;
headlights, turn signals and windshield wipers can be controlled without
removing hands from wheel. Horizontal visibility is 90 %; road surface is
visible less than 14 feet ahead. Instruments are clustered in non-reflecting
surfaces directly ahead of driver.
STEERING is fast, precise and effortless due to light front end and rack-and-
pinion steering.
ROAD-HOLDING reaches new levels of tenacity and directional stability in the
Alfetta because of its perfect weight distribution, DeDion rear axle and
sophisticated suspension features.
HANDLING is race-car quick- the Alfetta does what you want exactly when you
want it. Evasive maneuvers are easily executed - the car stays in shape on
hard corners and lane changes.
BRAKING, critical for traffic and high-speed driving, is via 4-wheel power
disc brakes. Developed in racing, Alfa Romeo brakes stop you fast and
straight. Dual circuits. Automatic pressure modulator prevents rear wheel
lockup on strong braking. Parking brake operates on rear disc brakes, holds on
1-in-3 slope.
TIRES are high-speed belted radials for maximum adhesion on all surfaces.
HEADLIGHTS are designed for high-speed driving, lighting up the road far
ahead. Rear lights are large and located for high visibility even in fog.

PROTECTIVE SAFETY

PASSENGER COMPARTMENT is rigid for maximum protection in collision. Safety
zones front and rear crush with increasing resistance under impact to protect
passenger compartment- pioneered years ago by Alfa Romeo. Steel safety beam
strengthens doors.
TWO-SECTION STEERING COLUMN deflects away from driver on forward impact.
Padded steering wheel is deep-dished; spokes are also padded with energy-
absorbing material. 
PADDED INTERIOR surfaces absorb impact energy. Dash is covered with soft,
flame-retardant absorptive material, as are sun visors and door panels. Rear-
view mirror falls away on light impact. Even the roof ribs are located to
avoid contact with passengers' heads.
FRONT-SEAT protective head-rests. Combination seat and shoulder safety belts
with pushbutton buckles. Childproof rear door locks. Safety arm rests. Low
profile or soft control knobs. High-strength front seat anchorages; high-
strength rear seat retention.
PERMANENTLY BONDED WINDSHIELD, eliminating conventional rubber gasket and
preventing "pop-out" on collision.
PROTECTED FUEL TANK located ahead of trunk compartment and over rear wheels.
Sealed tank cap. Flame-arresting battery vent caps. Sealed radiator. Rear-
opening hood. Impact-resistant bumpers front and rear.
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The safety message is interwoven in the rest of the text; the section on the
engine, with horsepower and torque curves and plots of speeds in the gears in
headed "To Alfa Romeo performance IS safety."

The brochure stress on safety had begun (in my sales literature) with the 1750
Berlina, with sections on Preventive safety and Protective safety, heavily
stressing the front and rear crumple zones, short steering column w/box well
back, dished wheel etcetera. None of this was mentioned in any literature I
have seen on the Giulia (TI, Super, etc) which share everything except the
cosmetics.

By the mid eighties the brochures had ditched this talk in favor of Alfisimo,
Adventure, and black-on-black glamour shots with a languorous, presumably
female, hand holding a red rose out the passenger window. Tango, anyone?

Somebody could write a sad dissertation on how Alfa's successive cost-
constrained promotional efforts got whipsawed by the market's tepid response.
There was a period in the late sixties and early seventies when Alfa produced
lavish brochures, copiously illustrated with beautiful renderings of
suspensions and sectioned engines and other enthusiast-oriented material,
trying to explain the performance/pleasure/safety(etc) continuum without
winning a sustainable position in a niche-market. Miss them, but don't say
they didn't try.

John H.

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