Re: we're a funny bunch

[Nizam Zambri <nizam@domain.elided>]

Just an observation.

When I first joined this list back in 1992, discussions about "how new Alfas aren't real Alfas" were
material for heavy debate.

Most guys back then agreed between themselves that the last real Alfas were the 101's and 750's and
that the newer 116's (GTV6's) and the 161's (Milanos) were not real because they lacked "feel".
Milanos/75's with their deDion rear suspension and the young-upstart-2.5-liter-V6's were nothing
compared to the classic 4-cylinder twincams.  I felt somewhat hurt by some of these statements but
let them roll off my back :-).

Then came the 164.  More debate about how "dead" the steering was and how "isolated" the driver was
in the [then] new Alfa.  Finally, that front-wheel drive thing was just unforgivable.  Suddenly, the
Milano and GTV6 weren't so bad after all, and as the list membership grew, so were the followers and
believers of those cars.

Now we don't even get new Alfas, and if the last few digests can be held as indicators to a
voluntary poll, I'm sensing that most digesti now say that even the 164's are great Alfas, with just
the right amount of feel and a great deal of character.

In the next few years, most of you would have bought used Audi S4's (a very small number of us would
have bought new ones, prod prod) and we'll all be bitching about what nonsense the industry has
become and how alienated we feel from the open road.  Sense a pattern here?

Bottom line: the market will dictate what manufacturers will provide us, and they cater for the
masses.  Their little "one-off projects", like the S4, the M3 or the S2000, will always be less and
less like the 101's and 750's.

Go ahead, buy something current, when Alfa comes back, you can always trade them in.  The upside to
that is the trade-in value is going to be higher than what you would normally expect :-).

Nizam

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