Because

["Kim Boydell" <boydell@domain.elided>]

There are lots of reasons why I am driving an Alfa, but I guess the biggest
2 reasons are that I appreciate excellence in machinery and the car says
something (good I hope) about me.

The excellence in machinery is not limited to just cars or motorcycles, but
to all finely crafted machines.  While a summer student working at Stelco
(Steel Company of Canada) there was a set of brass pumps locked in a small
room used for pumping fresh oil to one of the machines, can't remember which
one.  The quality of the machining was apparent just from looking at those
pumps.  I also appreciate "hand-crafted" far more than computer controlled
design and manufacturing, I think they have more soul or personality.

I have always been attracted to fine motor vehicles and at one point my wife
pointed out that we had owned more vehicles than years married.  I think she
was giving me a hint.  Other than my current Alfa, the most interesting were
the BMW 2002 and the Moto Guzzi 850 Le Mans.  The Legend Coupe was also
nice, very fast but it had no personality.  The biggest mistake was a Fuego
G5.  A beautiful car to drive but the repair costs exceeded the original
price of the car.  The f'ing computer died a regular death, the mechanical
sunroof never lasted more than a year, plus all sort of other sundry
electrical problems.  I ended up selling it for just $600 to another Fuego
own who was trying to put together one running car.  To this day I fear
flying on Air Buses because they have French computers and electrical
systems and I won't buy a Chrysler because of the shitty way they treat me
on warranty work.

When I was in high school I loved all European sports cars, Alfas, Lotuses,
Jaguar E-types, etc.  Now the E-Type is no more and the XK8 doesn't have a
manual transmission, and Lotus doesn't have anyone to work on them in Ottawa
(and have gotten too expensive).  The Alfa spider is the perfect car for me
(if I could get the roof to stop leaking).  It is sexy without the negative
image associated with the gold chain crowd, relatively inexpensive, common
enough that if it gets trashed in an accident I can find another, I can park
it anywhere in town without worries and, most of all, it is a blast at red
line, in any gear.

What the car says about me is that I am fun-loving, I like things that are
slightly off the beaten track and exotic without the image the Boxster and
Z3 crowd (see gold chains) have.  Now if I could just find a way to get the
wife and two kids in the car all at once life would be great.

Regards

Kim
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