RE: alfa-digest V7 #437

["IDLEMAN, CHRIS x330" <BREEZE/BPOST/CIDLEMAN%Breeze-Eastern@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Sat, 30 Jan 1999, <kt_stevenson@domain.elided> wrote:
> Interesting note.  In 1977, I took a private tour of the Pontiac plant
in
> Pontiac Michigan.  Spotted a small Lancia with full Italian badging on
the
> posteriore with a Pontiac nose on the anteriore.  GM was busy
engineering
> small FWD cars for the first time.

Speaking of Italian badging on wanna-be non-Italian cars:
About 8 years ago I was stuck in traffic a few cars back from a Maserati
Biturbo
(okay, no spontaneous engine external-combustion comments!)... at least
all the
rear badging indicated it was a Maserati Biturbo.  When I finally moved
up to get
a better look it turns out it was a NISSAN SENTRA (one of the older
boxy-body
styles)!  And it actually made the car look like a Biturbo thanks to the
blandly-
styled rear ends of both cars!  All I can guess is that some Sentra owner
was
feeling pretty inadequate when he stumbled upon a wrecked Biturbo in a
junkyard.
Ironically, the front of the car was stock Nissan (the Biturbo's front
trim must have
been unsalvagable -- no doubt cooked or something....)   :-)

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