Re: Autoweek vs.originality

[Carscribe@domain.elided]

In a message dated 9/25/01 11:35:21 AM Pacific Daylight Time, 
johnhertzman@domain.elided writes:

<<I don't know how long Paul Mitchell may have been lurking, but he seems to 
be
a relatively recent (and certainly welcome) participant on the digest,
apparently dating from June 2001.>> 

I first joined the digest in 96 or 97, but under a different e-mail nic 
(which I can't remember). 

<< I suggested that if any GTV6s last long enough to become cherished as
vintage cars we will see their owners paying premium prices to Coker Tire for
reproduction 195/60-15 Pirellis to mount on their OEM-style 6J15 wheels>>

Pirelli must have been anticipating this, as you can now again get new 
Pirelli P6 195/60/15 tires again finally at www.pirellip6.com. No need to 
bother coker, who's in Michelin's back pocket anyway.

<<My own low-priority GTV6 project car, if I ever get to it, will not be
totally stock mechanically (perhaps light gears in a probably 
isostatic-shifted transaxle, etc) and it won't have blue upholstery, but 
tires, wheels, suspension, and ride height will all be a lot closer to 
factory than Paul's project car was>>

The impetus to modify the project car was from Greg Brown, the editor, not 
me. My original plan was to focus improving reliability and livability. 
Reliability was improved in most areas (with the exception being Zat's Fast 
Cat), but the suspension mods severely impacted livability negatively. It did 
corner like crazy once we finished setting it up on the skidpad at EVOC. Joe 
H. do you still have the car, and if so, how's it doing? My choice of wheels 
was heavily influenced by what fitted and was available and my own sense of 
aesthetics but surprisingly not by the publisher and our advertising dept., 
who usually hold sway in most project car equipment decisions. I was off the 
hook since few Alfa sources advertised in EC. 

<<The things I certainly will modify are all things he left stock - mostly 
cosmetic details which Alfa introduced to 'modernize' the aging original 
Alfetta design, which wasn't perfect but was still a diluted reflection of 
Giugiarro's original design, which did have some merit.>>

I agree that the original design has much merit. Lorenza Cappello of 
ITALDESIGN has gone on record officially stating in 1998 that the design and 
redesign of the Alfetta and the GTV-6 derivative were 100% Giugiaro. Their 
brochure dated 97 shows the updated design as an example of the type. She 
attributes the story of  ITALDESIGN seeking to be absolved for the design to 
confusion with the Alfasud, also designed by ITALDESIGN and which actually at 
one point Giugiaro and Montovani wanted their names disassociated with, 
particularly the wagon version (page 114, ITALDESIGN, Thirty Years on the 
Road, by Luca Ciferri), but the issue was later resolved by personal 
intervention by Alfa's Hruska. I myself slightly prefer the uncluttered 
appearance of the early Alfettas with the cursed stainless front and rear 
window trim, but also appreciate the aggressive look of the GTV-6, 
particularly the hood bulge.

<<That involves debatable judgment-calls; I would accept 1969 buttress-seats 
in a 1971 hanging-pedal GT Veloce (YMMV) but I would not want five-star 
Daytonas or even Turbinas (or Spica injection) on a Giulia Super or a Duetto, 
let alone a Giulietta, any more than I would put a Formica top on a Stickley 
table.>>

I couldn't agree more. But what about orange leather on a Barcelona Chair. I 
actually have one, and it's fairly hideous, though I'm told a period-correct 
special order. It's gotta go, just like your blue leather interior. I agree 
that at times there are limits to originality, and palatability can be the 
overriding issue.

Cheers All,
Paul Mitchell

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