Maserati 5-Speed (a teeny bit of Alfa content)

[Paul Witek <pwitek@domain.elided>]

I've always liked the Maserati 5-Speed - somehow it's cool that Maseratis have a "M" shift pattern.

The first car I looked at to buy after graduating college was a hail-damaged Biturbo.  Everything mechanical was solid, and the price was right - the car had basically been totalled by insurance due to the cost of fixing the bodywork from all the hail dimples.

I was set to go - I figured I could take on the dinks one at a time on my own.  That was, until I thought to call and get some insurance quotes.  Being 21 and having a less-than-stellar driving record, I was actually laughed off the phone.  I would have paid more for 6 months of insurance than I would have paid for the car.

This was why I first started looking at Alfas after a suggestion from a friend.  The relative obscurity of Alfas paid off then - call to get a quote, the agent would ask, "Who makes that?"  I'd tell them it was like a Fiat.  You could almost hear them shrug their shoulders over the phone, and say, "Well, it's not on our list of high-risk or forbidden vehicles, so..."

(In a similar vein, I had to explain what a Lancia Beta is to insurance agents by saying it was basically a Fiat, and Lancia and Fiat were like Ford and Mercury.)

- Paul Witek


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