Re: Colli wagons (and other Alfa wagons)

[jorn.bereng@domain.elided]

Hello Luca, and thanks for your answer,

The question wasn't for John personally, of course, but for all Digest
readers.
I used his name simply because I was replying directly to one of his
postings.

Your fellow Italian Leonardo Olivari, who has recently joined the Digest,
gave a similar (but more detailed) explanation in AD V8 #246:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Date: Fri, 23 Nov 2001 15:50:23 +0100 (CET)
From: =?iso-8859-1?q?L=20O?= <alfetta82@domain.elided>
Subject: Oh, this "Promiscua"

Hey hey, do you really need to know the translate of
"promiscua"? Oh well, let me explaine.

"Promiscua" and "Giardiniera" or "Giardinetta" are old
terms, used in the '50s here in Italy, to define the
"station wagon". They were also called "familiare" (=
able to carry all the family).

But why Promiscua? First of all please read what about
the italian law about cars and circulation. Wehn you
buy a car, you have to make documents: a sort of
circulation paper, the plate and the proprerty paper.
All these parts are exclusive of that car. If you
dismantle the car, you have to give back all the
documents + the plate. Every car has, here, a
different number of plate and always and only that
number. The circulation paper has written many things
including "use". 90% of normal cars (no pickup, no
jeep or van) have written "uso (=use) privato",
private use. But there are also other uses:
"promiscuo" (male for Promiscua, the "o" is male, the
"a" is female) and "trasporto merci" (=for goods
transport). Promiscuo means "able to transport persons
AND goods". How Italy is burocratical: if Police stops
me on my 75 (Milano) and I've 2 wheels of my Alfetta
inside, I could have many problems because my car was
registered, new - you can't change the use suddendly -
as "uso privato", only for persons and NOT for goods.

To name "promiscua" (a term that also here suggests
you some not good things about sex and so on) a car is
useful to communicate better to the people that the
car is for "uso promiscuo", so for mix. use (persons +
goods) and so you, even if had not seen the car, you
can immediately think to a wagon or pick-up car.

I hope now you can understand: how it's hard to have +
cars in Italy (and expensive, you pay a lot of taxes
just because there's the plate, even if the car is
rusty and not running) and the beginning of the
"promiscua" term about the Giulietta.

There were also minivan built by Fiat named promiscui
(= "i" is plural for male names/aggetives) and they
were the same of the van but with the windows.
Schoolbus here are all "promiscui", the vans are often
"promiscui" or "trasporto cose" (goods transport).

About the Giulietta notice the "promiscua" wasn't the
only Giulietta SW built and realized, but there was
also the "giardinetta" built by Boneschi in few
pieces. Here when you say "Giulietta Promiscua" think
to the Giulietta SW Colli, when you say "Giulietta
giardinetta" or "Giulietta giardiniera" you think to
the SW by Boneschi.

Giardiniera term starts from "garden" (=giardino) but
means the same of Promiscua, Giardiniera,Sport Wagon
and Station Wagon, familiare, break (french), kombi or
familcar (especially used by VW).

----------------------------------------------------
Regards
Jorn Bereng


                                                                                                                   
                    Luca                                                                                           
                    <nodoubt@libe        To:     jorn.bereng@domain.elided                                                 
                    ro.it>               cc:                                                                       
                                         Subject:     Re: Colli wagons (and other Alfa wagons)                     
                    27.11.2001                                                                                     
                    10:57                                                                                          
                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                   




At Wed, 21 Nov 2001 12:25:53 +0100 you wrote:

>Finally, here's a question for John H.;  I've always wondered about the
>meaning of the name "Promiscua" that was given to the Giulietta wagons.  I
>hardly think that it has the same connotations as the English word
>"promiscuous"?

Why asking John?? I think me or other natural born italian, still
living in italy, with italian citizenship and passport :-) can
help you out much better.
And Yes. IT really means that PROMISCUOUS, MIXED.
The fact is that such a type of car is ready to carry passenger
or also big pack/stuff. IT means this car type is a MIX between
people and stuff carrying vehicle.

nodoubt,
crashed 937 landpilot
"I like anything that don't talk." King Benny - Sleepers
937RS2, 75 Turbo, RM250


http://www.geocities.com/twowheels_99

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