Re: 156 in latest Road & Track (and Paul Frere, etc.)

[JHertzman@domain.elided]

In AD7-641 David Johnson, picking up from Andrew Watry's note about Paul 
Frere's piece on the 156 in 'Road & Track', takes exception to Frere's 
"unjustified snipe at Alfa in the same article?  I think he said something 
along the lines of how good the 156 is, compared to Alfas of the last 20 
years which have lacked quality and character" and adds "I certainly would 
disagree that Alfas cars of the last 20 years are somehow inferior to the 
earlier ones.  Many Alfisti have used this forum to wax lyrical on the 
sophisticated yet sporting luxury of the 164, and the Milano is a sound 
development of a real drivers' machine, the GTV6"

What Frere said was that "the Alfa 156 is a really enjoyable and interesting 
car that should help spruce up the image of a once-glorious make - tarnished 
by some of the very indifferent and low-quality models which the company has 
produced in the last two decades. Even if it is front-wheel drive, here is a 
real Alfa Romeo." That last sentence is a remarkable one, considering some 
things Frere wrote about the end of the Milano ("your last chance to buy a 
real Alfa") and the advent of the 164.

It may- perhaps- mollify David Johnson to consider two things: (1) that Frere 
is writing from a European perspective, not a US one, and (2) how, when, and 
where Frere formed his basic opinions of Alfa as "a once-glorious make".

On the first point, the European vantage point, the total number of GTV-6s 
and V-6 engined 75s produced for both the USA and the rest of the world is 
just under 32,000, while the total number of Arnas, which were the body of 
one of the cheapest and shoddiest Nissans enhanced with an Alfa grill, Alfa 
badges, and an Alfasud engine, was over 46,000. Add over a million Alfasuds 
and another million and a quarter 33s. It is true that the Alfasuds were 
introduced several years before Frere's two-decade cutoff, but all of the 
Arnas and 33s and a good share of the Alfasuds were within that period. 
People who loved them, loved them, but in many markets they were seen as 
somewhat flawed. The Alfetta derivatives of this period also were not all as 
sparkling as the Verde seems to the USA market; the 1.6 liter four which left 
our market in 1967 soldiered on in 417,000 Alfettas, Giulietta Nuovas, and 
75s, which is a fairly large number compared to the 9,000 or so Milanos. Even 
without mentioning the 145, 146, and 155 one should be able to admit that a 
European observer might legitimately see more "indifferent and low-quality 
models" than we Alfa partisans see in this country.

The second point, roughly "Who the hell is Paul Frere and where does he get 
off dissing Alfas?" is worth a note.

Paul Frere was trained as an engineer, but started racing motorcycles shortly 
after the second World War and, at about the same time, started a career as a 
motorsports journalist. In the late forties he switched to four wheelers, 
racing most notably in distance races- the Spa 24 Hours, the Mille Miglia, 
and Le Mans, where he co-drove to an overall first with Olivier Gendebien in 
1960, in a Ferrari. In his dozen or so years of serious competition driving 
he scored many class wins and respectable placings in G.P.s and sports car 
races in Ferraris, Alfas, Porsches, Coopers, Aston Martins, and Jaguars. 
Since then he has made a very respectable career as European editor of Road & 
Track, and as one of three co-editors (with the late historian Griffith 
Borgeson and Alfa's engineer Rudolph Hruska) of the fine Italian motoring 
journal "AM", and as author of the book "Sports Car and Competition Driving". 
Now in his eighties, having lived and driven in an era when Alfa could still 
be considered a legitimate contender for overall wins in races like the Mille 
Miglia, he has a right, (in my opinion) to think that cars like an 
Alfa-badged rust-prone Nissan did tarnish the image of a once-glorious make 
which people like Fangio and Nuvolari would drive to championships.

Cordially,

John H.
Raleigh, N.C.

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