Re: Berlinas

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

At 06:00 PM 5/29/02 -0400, Jon and Marcia wrote:

> As usual,  Scott captures it in poetic style..  and yes.. one of the
> most fun things about the car (after just driving it) was the "stealth"
> factor..  It looked like some overgrown Fiat, or Datsun sedan (always
> wondered if the 510 got its design inspiration from the Berlina)  but
> drag me at a stoplight..  I can't tell you how many BMW and 914 egos
> were injured..  ;-)  not to mention the late 70's smog choked Camaro's
> and such..  most people scratched their heads thinking "what WAS that
> thing??"  till the silver lettering on the tail became apparent (and
> smaller)  as the car dissapeared down the straight or twisty road..
>
>
> Jon and Marcia
> still Alfaless in Irvine (CA)
>
> ------------------------------
Reminds me of a  1970's issue of the magazine "Wheels" which did an article 
on the Berlina with a subheading something like ....

"Care to match your V8 against a little 1779 cc four? After the first bend 
you won't even know where it went!"

And how right they were; there was just nothing around that was in the same 
class for handling and performance than the 1750 Berlina. We had one, a 
2000 that had been tweaked slightly, pistons reversed for more punch at the 
top end, Koni'd. lowered and to this day my wife reckons it was the best 
family car of the lot. In her opinion, nothing since (Alfa 90, Alfetta, 
Alfa 75/Milano) has come even close in terms of comfort, handling and pure 
driver satisfaction. My 2 cents worth: I love my GTV but have to 
admit  that "as from the factory" the Berlina is a far better and easier 
car to drive. Regret I ever sold ours.... :-(

Ciao tutti

Les in Wellington, New Zealand
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