Re:What a Situation

["Tim Hancock" <timhancock@domain.elided>]

Leonardos comments make very interesting reading and there are comparisons
that can be drawn with the decline of our motor industry here in the UK. In
the early 60s the only foreign cars you saw in any numbers in the UK were VW
Beetles, with Mercedes,Renaults, Citroens and Fiats being seen in small
numbers and no Japanese cars at all. You could buy a Mini with an Austin or
Morris or Wolseley or Riley badge on the front! How things have changed !

My view on FIAT/Alfa-Romeo/Lancia obviously has a UK perspective, but FIAT in
the UK have never achieved a sales volume breakthrough as they have always had
a bad reputation for rust, for being fragile and for being expensive to
service and repair. They have never been in the company fleet market which has
made up a big proportion of the UK sales market, and which is driven purely on
price/running costs. At times they have nearly made it, but the persistant
indifferent qualities of the ugly medium to larger cars 130, 132, Argenta
(Yeuk!!) Croma (almost Yeuk) Marea (so boring they have to give them away
here) has always given them a poor image. The 124 family 127 and 128 family
were great cars and sold well here, but rusted badly. 131 was quite well
thought of. The Ritmo (Strada) did not deliver its promise as its engines were
awful, and they rusted badly also . The Tipo was a brave move, but could not
compete with the VW Golf at any level except space. Bravo and Brava have sold
modestly here, but have a mixed reputation and have been appearing en-masse in
sell off auctions for some time just to get rid of them before the arrival of
Stilo.

I struggle to find a FIAT that excites my Automotive interest except the 124
Coupe and Spider and recent Coupe and Barchetta (My 75 year old Auntie drives
a Barchetta)

Not a very happy Picture, and I can go along with the sentiments of Eric
Storhok that GM may have bought a bit of a white elephant.

Lancia had a better image here, in a tiny market segment which looked like
growing when the Beta arrived her in the mid 70s, followed by the lovely
looking Gamma kept breaking its engines. Unfortunately Betas rusted so fast
that Fiat/Lancia were forced to buy them back. This led ulitmately to the
withdrawal of Lancia from the UK, though the Delta and Thema made quite a few
friends. Delta quality was poor, but they were fun to drive. Thema quality was
surprisingly good. Owners love them, but nobody else does! Seeing Lancia
abroad these days I see a brand struggling to find a market and cars that do
not impress me much visually.

Once again, not a happy picture.

I am surprised to see so many of you having a downer on Alfa-Romeo within the
FIAT scheme as Alfa seems to be the one ray of sunshine from where I stand.
You may sing love songs about your 75s (I had a 75TS for 2 years) but sales
figures were very very poor and you cannot run a volume car production
facility with these sales figures (ask John Hertzman for precise figures, but
total 75 production was only about 100,000 units). The current range of cars
has restored what was a very tarnished image in many eyes. Who cares who buys
them, and who are we to say who should or should not drive an Alfa ! The
styling of the whole range looks fabulous, it looks coherent and has identity,
they go well and are nice to drive.

I am amazed that there are complainers about a situation where Alfa-Romeo has
one of the fastest growing ownership bases in Europe (admittedly from a low
baseline). If you do not have a secure base, how do you expect a company to
develop the niche products I hear all the clamour for from self proclaimed
Alfisti?

An Italian waiter at a local restaurant recently remarked to me that my 164
was "not a real Alfa Romeo" I replied  "You're right, it doesn't break down
and rust" which betrays my irritation at such pointless and ultimately
meaningless comments denigrating what has proved an excellent product in most
respects.

Many youthful car enthusiasts I meet think I am either mad or deluded to drive
an Alfa-Romeo. The same goes for much of the motor trade so there is still
some way to go before Alfa Romeo is a marque that inspires trust here in the
UK, but 164 has built a reasonable reputation here, and 156 has taken it
forward as has 147. They all look great on the road and Alfa is the one
Italian car that people here will now consider as a realistic alternative to
German or Japanese products. Credit where credit is due please!

Tim Hancock  164TS Lusso   Boston UK

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