Re: alfa-digest V8 #1083

[Will Owen <nashwill912@domain.elided>]

Steve Schaeffer said:

"Wow, I have to disagree a bit.  I'm surprised the Sports
Car Market Letter's price guide for the Berlina is so
low.  In my opinion, any decent, rust free pre'75
105/115 series car is going to fetch $5k. I cannot say
this for the transaxle cars that followed afterwards.
This particular Berlina was a very good buy at the
selling price."

Well, I'd say Pat knew what he was talking about; among other things, he had two
Berlinas among his yardbirds, one 1750 like the eBay one (only of course not so
pretty!) and a '72 or '73 2000. The 2000 was not for sale, being Mrs. B's
favorite car, but I believe he wound up giving the 1750 away...to someone who saw
it before I did, dammit. For all its cosmetic challenges it appeared to be a
good, sound car.

Americans never seemed to "get" Alfa sedans, a fact which always baffled the
people who were trying to market them, as it continues to baffle me. However good
they were and are, they were never what most of us were looking for when we
wanted either an Alfa or a family car. How sad and strange it was that Alfa Romeo
essentially invented the "sports sedan" category but never made it fly here, and
then BMW, in a valiant attempt to come back from the verge of bankruptcy, pitched
their do-or-die 1500/1600/1800 sedan directly at Alfa's (European) market
category, and not only did OK there but succeeded brilliantly in our market!
Succeeded so well that if you were to ask a moderately well-informed car
enthusiast which marque had originated the "sports sedan" concept, he'd more than
likely say, "Oh, that was BMW."

Although there are plenty of folks like me and Steve that really DO like Alfa
sedans, and will probably go to our graves wondering why they're scarce while
SUVs are everywhere, the plain fact is that we are a minority subset of a
minority subset (Alfiste) of a far-from-universal enthusiasm (weird-car freaks).
And while there may be some place on this Earth where cars are priced according
to their intrinsic goodness, I haven't ever been there. All the places I've been,
a damn good Berlina can maybe fetch the same as a pretty decent 2.5 Milano:
$2500, or $3500 tops. Good runners can be had for a whole bunch less. I know, I
just sold one.

Will Owen
Pasadena, CA
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