Alfa Pages

[James Granger]

What do you think of Alfa's planned future model line up?

See latest developments on:

http://www.italiaspeed.com/news_2003/news_2003_073news.html

They are apparantly saying ciao to the affordable sporting berlina/berlinetta. A real shame.

Who will buy these cars? A Ferrari V12 - in an Alfa: why?

They will have a tough job of pitting a luxury Alfa saloon against the new Maserati Quattroporte. It makes no sense: what brand would you rather drive? Seriously.

Don't car manufacturers learn from their past mistakes? The reason why Alfa introduced the affordable 1900 was to save their company. Now 50 years on, and under the 'control' of the Fiat fiasco, Alfa is planning to introduce a series of unaffordable performance cars. The Alfa name, no matter how many enthusiasts it has, will never receive the same general following as Ferrari. Maserati has been 'relaunched' but is still arguably overlooked.

Ps. Giugiaro designed the new Evoluta Sportiva, but the production version will probably be built by Zagato. How on earth can Giorgetto live with the TZ3 name-tag?

[Gary UK]

In the recent past(since Fiat took over) a lot of the Alfa concept cars and their design ideas have not gone into production due to the fact that they would compete head to head with Ferrari (even outclassing the prancing horse in some design aspects). That was a Fiat management decision so GM must have changed this ethos. Before Fiat took over Alfa didn't have the financial clout to properly develop cars as they would have wished. As Alfa is now part of a large coropration it is aiming at niche markets using the GM/Fiat parts bin, this is the way of ALL small volume car manufacturers Jaguar/Aston Martin - Ford, Rolls Royce - BMW, Bentley - VW, Lancia - Fiat etc. Alfa is basically a brand like Coke or Pepsi in the global free market.

Me, I think it's great (not the corporate free market economic model) as long as they start to depreciate faster than gravity itself again. Just think of all those goodies for peanuts in six years time (or sooner if the UK car market continues it's current trends, unlucky for you chaps down under though HOW MANY BUCKS FOR A 33 ).

[Errol]

Yeh generally cars are pretty expensive in Australia. Especially european ones. I bought my series 3 16v QV for $10,000AUD which is 4,000 pounds or 5,556euro. It had about 96,000kms on it ( no idea what that is in miles ) and was in pretty good condition. And its 12yrs old! Brand new they were 13,000pounds. Another example. Take a brand new shitbox like a Toyota Echo ( called Yaris or Vitz outside Aust ) . It cost $20000AUD which is 8,000pounds. Has no central locking, no power windows and no power anything really. Its built like shit and would break in any crash. It also drives like shit. Its an 1.3l AUTO with 84HP. Great way to spend $20,000......
_________________
91 Alfa Romeo 33 16v * SOLD*
Lowered 45mm
15 x 7 inch advanti wheels
Falken 195 low profile
K&N Pod filter
Cannon 2inch exhaust from cat-back with 3inch tip.

[James Granger]

Hi Gary,

An interesting perspective, but 10 years on the Alfa SZ cannot be classified as a truely affordable motor. One also has to remember that this model struggled through a period when Alfa was still being relaunched. I doubt that the TZ3 GTA Scuderia Ferrari will right off to a truely affordable level in six years (you can also forget DIY maintenance)...

As an enthusiast I obviously appreciate Bandiera's decision to supercharge the brand's image, but would still like to have the opportunity of owning an affordable new Alfa: as you've mentioned, imagine how much these beautys will cost in Aus !

[dd (not logged in)]

Good and bad points about the expected new A-R range
Bad News:
Penelope Cruz will not buy me the TZ3!
But there again I could not afford the Montreal in the 1970/80s
and would have to had settled for a Sud 1.2Ti
I want the NEW sportwagon 2.8V6 JTS with 4WD, but unlikely
to afford it until it is 2 years old
What you is missing is the 147 1.6!
Which is the cheapest NEW A=R
If A-R is attacking BMW head-on then they are missing
the Mini ONE equivalent, they go Cooper upwards
into the Series 3, 5 and Z4 competition
Will series 3 compact be cheaper then 156 replacement?
Guess I will have to keep the 33 Sportwagon running for another 4 years!
Still I do have another one for nice days (spider)

[James Granger]

I didn't draw up this list of new Alfa models myself, it is merely a link to another website. The 147 replacement shall be the largest car in its class (bigger than both the BMW 3 Compact and Merc SC). This will undoubtedly mean higher prices and, I doubt, a 1.6 engine.

Alfa is trying to shift up a gear in terms of class (which I think is fine at the moment) and, in doing so, are ignoring the true enthusiasts which they have.

Ps. I hate my local Alfa dealer's snobbish policy that it has recently acquired (ACE in Eindhoven). Their customer care is non-existant. They invited me out to check the latest 147 GTA - but I received no welcome whatsoever (despite the fact that we run two new Alfas). They are a real bunch of tossers. Yet no matter how they can offend me, I shall always love Alfa's (just won't buy from the turds at ACE )

By the way both of our new cars were bought from a very decent local garage with terrific customer care, but was shut two years ago due to Alfa's "improved dealer network". Don't the prats at ACE recognise us as current and enthusiastic Alfa customers? A question I would like to ask Alfa NL.

[Admin]