US Milanos

["Leslie J. Singh" <Les.Singh@domain.elided>]

In AD1480 Gary Krumian commented on the relative merits of the BMW 6 and
the Alfa V6 and noted what a superb package (my interpretation!) the
Milanos were in 2.5 and 3.0 form. I may be wrong here, but I cannot recall
seeing any mention of the Milano TwinSpark in postings emanating from the
US. Were they ever sold there?

We now have an Alfa 75(Milano) TwinSpark with a custom front, 4 round
headlights, amber park lights in the front airdam, and a roof light that is
on when the ignition is on (damn!). After driving it on a trip last
weekend, I have to say that the TwinSpark version is the one that feels the
most nimble and handles best. As yet I haven't compared the suspension
settings with those of the 2.5 and 3.0, but immediately obvious is the
difference those wider small wheels make (6 1/2 X 14). Tyres on this car
are garbage, except for the right front which is the directional Uniroyal
RTT-1. 

BMW 6? - we raced one here in Wellington and Auckland and also at Bathurst
in Australia (beat all the M3s the year I prepared the car). Ok car, but
the lesson we learnt, thankfully in practice,  was - don't ever reuse BMW
rod bolts! They're not as good as Alfa ones or Chev ones for that matter.
Also a surprise to me was just how pedestrian the underfloor engineering
was (driveshaft, gearbox brackets etc), sort of like a Holden Commodore
except that the Commodore was slightly better in most departments. The M3
engineering however, is a work of art. Have a look at the driveshaft
sometime if you haven't done so. Beats the Alfetta configuration hands down.

Les in Wellington, NZ  - with a real dislike of Teutonic cars

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