Re: Alfa SUV

[Gary Stark <redbakstark@domain.elided>]

Zak,

> > For the vast majority of what's currently
> available,
> > you're absolutely correct.
> > 
> > But Alfa has already done this, in the early - mid
> > 80's, with the 33 Quattro.
> 
> OK, I have to admit that I do not hold all-wheel
> drive estates in the
> same contempt as SUVs. SUV is more than just an
> estate version of a
> saloon car. The Allroad quattro and Volvo Cross
> Country would be
> examples of this class of vehicle. 

Exactly. But for marketing purposes, might these also
be called SUVs ?


> They to me are less useless than the
> higher up, more pretentious, heavier, less stable
> wannabe off-roader class... ;-) 


To you? Absolutely a valid viewpoint.

What about everyone else in the world though? Might
they have different needs and priorities?


> > What if an engineer created a design for a very
> high
> > performance AWD wagon? Jeffery Weiss drew my
> attention
> > to the Audi Allroad Quattro, and this is exactly
> the
> > sortof thing that I have in mind, and it's exactly
> the
> > sort of thing that Alfa can do exceptionally well.
> 
> Sure. I wouldn't call it an SUV though - I think
> Alfa is spot-on eith
> their SportWagon nomenclature. I see absolutely no
> reason why an estate
> body would necessarily negate the "sport" aspect of
> the vehicle. Take
> for instance the Aston Virage Sporting Brake, or the
> Audi Avantissimo

Exactly my point.

But today, any term will be use and abused by the
marketing people to tag something as fitting into a
particular market in order to boost sales.

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet, right ?


> cars with similar chracteristics as well - the
> Impreza wagon and Toyota

And the forerunner of the Impreza wagon was the Subaru
sportswagon, which, as I mentioned in my initial post
on this subject, was preceded by the Alfa 33 Quattro.

> > Think outside the box. Literally!
> 
> I think you're talking about boxes whilst I thought
> you were talking
> crates! 


Pretty well ...


> > How many of the current range have you driven?
> 
> Zip. I've been in both the 147 and 156 though. To
> call up another hoary
> old chestnut - the "real" Alfas are RWD ;-)
> (ducking) 

I have FWD and RWD Alfas, and both traditional and
transaxle RWD Alfas as well. They are all "real" Alfas
IMHO.

I've driven several examples of the current range, and
would respefully suggest that perhaps you need to go
out and have a play as well. The Selespeed is very
nice, and lots of fun. 


> I agree wholeheartedly. I have an '82 GTV6, which is

But many would argue that the GTV6, being a transaxle
car, is not a "real" Alfa. <g>


> > I happen to believe that they can look at what the
> > herd are doing and come back with a totally
> different
> > view of what the vehicle should be.
> 
> ... great - I'd be all for it in that case. 

Excellent. I just like to keep an open mind on these
things.


--
g.
Gary Stark
gstark@domain.elided
http://redbacksWeb.com
Back down under in Sydney, Oz.

79 Alfetta Sedan
74 2000 GTV
69 1750 GTV (restoring)
85 Alfa 33 Quattro
Try FREE Yahoo! Mail - the world's greatest free email!
http://mail.yahoo.com/

--
to be removed from alfa, see /bin/digest-subs.cgi
or email "unsubscribe alfa" to majordomo@domain.elided