Re: factory sunroof, factory air, factory whatever

["John Hertzman" <johnhertzman@domain.elided>]

Paul Witek (in #732) is absolutely correct in writing "It's splitting hairs, I
know, but I'm sure ARDONA or ARI offered or installed options/radios/etc. on
American cars that aren't in the parts catalog", and correct enough with "I'd
call these "Alfa" options, but not "factory" options", and, splitting the hair
a tad finer, "Maybe, if it was installed prior to sale to an individual." My
position is academic, but propelled by curiosity, and the questions could have
implications about the credit or blame which is attributed to the company,
designers, engineers and management (and the culture that produced them) a
decade or two later. Does the big hole in a structural roof affect the
torsional stiffness of the hull after other parts of the system degrade with
age and a bit of rust and perhaps a minor accident or two? Does the resulting
flex tend to crack windshields? Does the windshield-cracking tendency get
blamed on Italian engineering, or on Alfa Romeo, or on the German designers
and marketers of the sunroofs, or on the British and American dealers who
promoted them? Or on Italian products generally?

As in almost everything these days there are slippery slopes. Ardona and ARI
(and national distributors in England, Australia, and elsewhere) marketed
"Special Editions" with the tacit acquiescence of the parent company in Milan;
nobody in Italy has any knowledge of the stripes, badges, spoilers, rear
window shades, Ronal wheels and the like which were used to varying degrees on
the Nikki Lauda, Mario Andretti, Mille Miglia, Velocissima, Balocco, Maratona,
and Commemorative "Special Editions", yet to their owners here they are every
bit as "factory" (and Italian) as the special parts on the "Grand Prix" which
was sold in Switzerland which has no connection to the "Grand Prix" which was
sold in Australia.

A further slip down the slope is the Callaway Twin Turbo. The idea of doing it
was born at ARI, but it was a more radical concept than the cosmetically
tweaked but mechanically stock "Special Editions", so ARI cleared the concept
with Arese, who OK'd it with the condition that the car would be sold as a
Callaway, but not as an Alfa Romeo. Is it 'factory'? Uh - -

So then there is the "Autodelta", with which the concept was NOT cleared with
Fiat. Some will say it is an Alfa, some will say it is not an Alfa. Been
there.

Paul's "Maybe, if it was installed prior to sale to an individual" test hits
another slippery-slope test with the choices of new-Berlina I was offered in
1972: there was the champagne metallic one (which I bought), and the white one
with the optional padded black vinyl roof- not a sunroof, black vinyl from the
base of the A-pillar to the base of the C-pillar, with transverse ridges
imitating a convertible top. It was a fashion then (still is, on upscale cars
in some markets), done for the local dealer, and offered by him as
top-of-the-Alfa-line. The buyer, and later owners downstream, may have
believed it was "factory". Was it? I don't think so. Was it "Alfa"? I don't
think so.

The ARI Accessories Catalog in the Milano years ('accessories' to ARI, but
could a dealer call them 'options'?) included Spider luggage racks (black or
chrome), Spider ski racks, seven different steering wheels, eight different
road wheels, handling packages, window louvers, wind deflectors, mud flaps,
stone guards, bras, carcovers, arctic packages, straw seat covers, air
conditioning kit (for the Spider), dash mats, floor mats (logo, name, or
plain), keyless entry (for Milano), alarm systems, cell phones, luggage,
ground effects, spoilers, racing stripes, block heaters, and lots of other
stuff. Some of it was undoubtedly sourced in Italy, some definitely in
Germany, some definitely in this country, some I believe in Scandinavia. Some
probably was sold by Alfa dealers in Italy with the factory's blessing.
Anything made for an Alfa, or labeled Alfa, or adaptable by a dealer to an
Alfa, can be considered Alfa, to a degree.

My interest is in the cars, as they were conceived by the company in Milan and
by its designers and engineers, and in the culture which produced them (which
is where I draw my own 'real Alfa' line, YMMV, enjoy yours). It is related to
a social history of engineering, of technology, of architecture, of art, and
of taste. Italian cars and typewriters will be different from Swedish (or
German, or British) cars and typewriters, and Florence, Venice, Milan, and
Turin will differ from each other as Munich and Stuttgart will from each
other. The differences may be slight and subtle, and perhaps often
inconsequential, but I find it worth trying to know them. So I will continue
to trust the primary documents, like the parts books and sale literature and
contemporary third-party accounts, and will continue to appreciate the
discussions in which someone makes a convincing case that the conclusions I
have previously drawn are wrong. Thanks for those -

John H.
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