Re: "they should only sell overtly sporting cars."

[Gary Stark <redbakstark@domain.elided>]

John, 

>>Alfa always was a sedan-building company, which could also sell
appreciable numbers of 2+2 coupes and modest numbers of Spiders, and
their US image was totally out of synch with rest-of-the-word
realities. <<

This is just so true.

I've been back in Sydney for a little over a week now, and am finally
starting to catch up on my ADs. I've acquired a brand new 99 Barina
hatch, which is wheels, until I can find something with some style.
The Barina is a Spanish built Opel baby car (think GM Metro in the US).

But two things have impressed me about the cars here since my return.
The first is the wide variety of makes and models that are available
here, and the second is the number and condition of the Alfas I've
seen to date.

On the first point, I've seen Peugot 306s (including Pinninfarina
bodied convertibles), Seats and Daewoos (yeah, I know), Citroens, a
TVR, new MGs, Mercedes A-class, a Maserati Ghibli, and of course
several of the new GTVs and Spiders, including one of each on my first
day back. 

When I left here 7 years ago, my view of the market here was that it
was a closed shop, and very few cars of interest were permitted to
enter. That has certainly changed ...

And the size of cars that people are now driving ... the market has
certainly downsized over the years too. Baby cars abound: the Barina,
Suzuki Swift (GM Metro), Toyota Starlet (think 89 Tercel), Pug 306, VW
Polo, and so on.

But Oz still has a very aged car population too. I see a far greater
number of older cars here than I've been used to seeing in Dallas. 

The cost of cars and car ownership here is very high too, especially
in comparison with the US. A full tank of gas for my 2.6 Benz in
Dallas would cost around $16. Think 16 US gallons, approx. A not-quite
tankful of gas for my Barina yesterday (40 Litres, maybe 10 US
gallons?) cost me $30! Even allowing for currency differences, that's
one hell of a difference!

To the Alfas ... :)

I see several different cars each day, and I don't think I'm seeing
the same cars every day either. On a typical day I may see a couple of
each of a 164, 75(Milano) and 33, plus perhaps a GTV6, a 105 series
GTV and a sud. 

Pretty well all of them seem to be very well kept, and the attitude of
the general public here towards Alfas is so different from that
encountered in the US. 
They're not just a "foreign car" or an "Alpha Romero", but they're an
"Alfa :) ".

And on the way home yesterday afternoon, I spotted a beautiful
metallic grey new GTV heading towards the spit on Military Road ... :)

Oh yes, the major prize on one of the game shows on tv here is a new
spider ...

g.
Gary Stark              99 Holden Barina
gstark@domain.elided  No Alfas :(
http://redbacksWeb.com  
Back down under in Sydney, Oz, where the cars are so small, the
streets so narrow, and the traffic is as bad as in Boston.


_________________________________________________________
DO YOU YAHOO!?
Get your free @domain.elided address at http://mail.yahoo.com

------------------------------

End of alfa-digest V7 #517
**************************