Re: Good ole Monty Hall effect; This week's SMH Alfa content

[Gary Stark <redbakstark@domain.elided>]

Michael,

>> Isn't it a two door? My archival sources suggest
the three door was a very rare special edition
commissioned by an Arab Sheik so that his number one
wife didn't have to enter the car through the same
door as the number three...er...concubine.

<<

Nice try Michael, but we all know that this is
patently wrong. 

This of course relates the the Hall Effect induced by
the introduction of CDI into a twin spark Alpha motor.

When that didn't work, they used the second porte to
try it on a Beta; Lancia loved the idea and went to
production with it.

At the same time, Alpha sold it to Maserati (in a
variant of the old three card trick) as a tresporte.
Maserati, being awake to old Al's tricks, worked out
that the odds were even more in their favour with an
extra door, called it a Quattroporte, and went to
production with that.

Al was a bit slow on the uptake, but soon worked out
that he could also play the same game, took a 33 with
an elongated roof, added something called 4WD, and
shortened the name from 33 to 33 Quattro, and went to
production with that.

The rest is, as they say, history.

Lancia no longer sells cars nor doors in the USA.

Neither does Alfa.

Likewise Maserati, although they're slated to return
in a couple of years time.


...


Which brings me to this weeks Alfa (and Maserati)
content in the Sydney Morning Herald: an impressions
drive of the just released 166, plus a story on the
just released Maserati 3200 GT.


Visit 

http://www.drive.com.au/news/ 

and look at the story entitiled "Alfa makes the call
on luxury". This is not the story that appeared in
Friday's Herald, but another one that appeared in
Melbourne's Age. But who cares about details like
that, eh?

There was even a further mention of Alfa in Saturday's
Herald ... plus three full colour ads in at least two
of the weekend papers, plus Alfa is a major sponsor on
a prime time quiz show each weekday evening. It seems
to me that Ateco, the Oz importers of Alfa, are
seeming to focus a certain amount of positive
attention on their products.

This is not a bad thing ...

g.                      79 Alfetta Sedan
Gary Stark              69 1750 GTV (resting)
gstark@domain.elided  99 Holden Barina (POS)
http://redbacksWeb.com  
Back down under in Sydney, Oz.

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