Car companies always seem to shoot themselves in the feet. Take GM, the chose to kill of the only brand they had which was producing cars which might have been worth a test-drive. A couple of the Pontiacs were starting to look promising and were getting great reviews. (Why, yes, I once bought a car pretty much on the strength of a Car & Driver review: the RX8. It will be hard to unseat it as the finest car I've ever owned.)
Funny thing about Alfas, something fun seems to make its way through to the steering wheel regardless of the model or driven wheels. Here's an example: I am currently presented with choice of two cars to drive on any given day. One is a 1999 BMW 540. This car is a beast...very fast, accurate and with my upgrades to suspension and rubber, quite sporting. The other car is a 1991 164 base with A/T. The car's a bit special somehow with it's 57K miles but it has its share of problems...don't all 18-year-olds have 'issues'? Compared to the BMW, this car has a little more than half the horsepower, it's driven from the wrong wheels, it seems to have a turning circle roughly the size of a mall parking lot. Strange but true, the Alfa just seems more fun to drive. And I'm not the only one who prefers it. I have the opinions of both my wife (who drove nothing but late-model Corvettes from 1997 to 2007) and my teenage daughter who's currently learning to drive...both think the Alfa is more fun. How can this be? The BMW can run circles around the 164. Not only is it in better shape but it has more creature comforts. On a track, I'm sure it would eat the Alfa's lunch in every conceivable way. I look forward to test-driving the new Alfas when they arrive. I'll be in the market for a new car in a year or two and I'm just foolish enough to buy a new Alfa (I bought a new RX8 in 2003, so I'm clearly willing to assume automotive risk!) I hope I find that they're the joy to drive that C & D says they are. - Eric H., Marietta, GA -- to be removed from alfa, see http://www.digest.net/bin/digest-subs.cgi or email "unsubscribe alfa" to [email protected]
