[alfa] Re: Stirring Up Trouble?

[Darryl Davis <D.N.Davis@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi
 As I had manged to get far enough ahead on w***k, and
 my other plans fell through, I spent last Saturday afternoon
 considering my next car options.
 All the things that have been mentioned as vital to USA
  market were present in the cars at the Totota and Lexus
  showrooms - I did not visit them.
 I am thinking about a compact three door or maybe 5 door.
 - gotta sling the fishing gear in
 I want performance (grunt and handling)
 I want a car I want to drive for fun too.
 I do not want a turbo or supercharger - gonna be a V6 then!
 In fact I visited four showrooms.
  SAAB - they dont do a hatch anymore
  but a second hand 94 Aero was of interest apart from the turbo.
 The VW showroom - dont like the new Golf, and they do not
  do the R32 (V6 AWD).
 The Audi - new A4 (V6 4WD).
 The Alfa Romeo - 147GTA or V6 Sportwagon.
 (That is three or four out of the possible 100s of models)
  - 
 I didn't actually want to be in the Audi after a while.
 - Very there in terms of meeting my requirements on paper
   but kind of sterile. Two years ago I drove the TT
   and found it so uninvolving compared to my millenium Spider.
 The R32 is hard to find since the model change and no new one
   until late 2005.
 The 147GTA  was the car I wanted to be in.
 Yes it had two cupholders - I would prefer it without.
 Yes it requires maintenance - 5 year Cambelt service is
  750 GBP, first and second years 150, 180.
 In fact I could do without the extra switches for cruise control
  too. After all driving in the UK is not where we have
  vast open expanses where cruise control is vital (for instance
  driving Las Vegas to Los Angeles)

 The point is aLfa is never going to produce the Toyotas
  that fit the requirements given. And if they were to
  I am not sure that I would want one. I used to own a T
  for 7 years and it proved ultra reliable in all conditions
  and never saw the inside of a garage until serviced. 
 Why should Alfa aim for the lowest common denominator?
 Alfa should be considering the market that BMW sits in
  - that is their niche.
  Try running a BMW without regular service for a while
   and see what happens.

 As it is I am probably going to keep maintaining my 12 year
  old sportwagon with its 4 cam boxer, use the spider if and when
  and reappraise the whole thing when AR produce a AWD Spoprtwagon.
 And then buy a SZ30!
 Fortunately I have the choice between new and not so new ARs
 - whatever the reason(s) AR are just not present on the
   north American new car scene.
-- dd
 33 Sportwagon CloverLeaf
 Spider-GTV (Millenium Special)
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