Return To US, Alfa!
Return.The agony of being cut off suddenly from an historic affair that began during the days of the Marshall Plan… too much to bear.
She was a tempermental Italian beauty that graced America’s roads.
And God, how we adored her.
In the 90s, the Japanese showed us that our cars ought to start every day. And the Germans taught us the meaning of true performance.
With this dawn, the grand affair proved too much strain for the heart. The charming spell that came with a set of four-leaf clovered keys evaporated. Her crime was treating us, the Alfisti, with disdain. How could our hearts go on breaking?
And so, America and Alfa Romeo parted.
Sure we’ve heard word from time to time. In her native Europe, she’s been hailed for all that style and grace that she displayed for us, that which we loved her for. But, we’ve also heard of poor residuals and reliability reminding us how we cannot fully miss her.
Every once in a while, she teases us.
A call from Italy! Alfa says that she’ll come back!! It’s as if the Alfisti immediately run to the gym, purchase a new suit, and have the florist and the best restaurant in town on standby. We can’t help ourselves, she’s an addiction, and once again we think we’re ready to pay.
Still, uncertainty and tragedy kept her from us. Beseiged for years, it seemed that her native Europe grew tired of her and parent company Fiat. All we could do was sit this side and watch, sadly. Our hopes for her grand return continually dashed.
Give the flowers away to the first girl on the street. Cancel the reservation – our apologies.
And then one day, another who’d also left us – Maserati – came back to America. With her arrival came sweet words of fond regard from sister Alfa. And a hint from Maserati that Alfa may herself come back!
Finally! At last! Spring 2009? How ’bout tomorrow? Dinner for two? Our old place by the waterfront? Call the florist – make sure the roses are tutto rosso!
Years of tortured practicality and vanilla style have taken their toll on America, Alfa. Return to US!
[Source: MotorAuthority]
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About the Author: Gunnar Heinrich is publisher of Automobiles De Luxe online and is executive producer of the Automobiles De Luxe Television series on PBS member station CPTV.
J | Jul 3, 2007 | Reply
What tempers my enthusiasm for the return of Alfa is that we will not be getting the wonderfully quirky, but relatively affordable Italian automobiles that we remember, but luxury exotics for hedge fund managers and the trust fund set. Interesting and attractive vehicles priced between Porsche and Ferrari rather than priced similarly to the BMW 3-Series or Z4.
Jim
Gunnar Heinrich | Jul 3, 2007 | Reply
Jim,
I’d be very surprised if the Alfa Spider and GTVs proved to be more costly than a Z4. What a mistake that would be.
Nikolai H | Jul 3, 2007 | Reply
Here in NZ, the FWD Brera is roughly equivalent to the lower range Audi TTs in price. The 159 is more beautiful and a better drive, and priced at about NZ$60,000 (US$47,000)….
Anonymous | Jul 3, 2007 | Reply
out of all the people that whine about this car, in reality, none of them would be willing to put a deposit on it.
That’s the real misery -the meaningless outcry of poseurs.
Anonymous | Jul 5, 2007 | Reply
I’d drive an Alfa … if they’d sponsor it!
I wouldn’t even step in an Alfa Romeo dealership, let alone pay for one. Sorry. I happen to know some former owners who loved their Alfa’s sportiness etc, but got burned bad by it’s poor build quality. The “initial” quality wore off really quick when their cars literally started to fall apart around them.