RE: brand vs. model

[Stacy Faught <slfaught@domain.elided>]

I'd quote the entire article but you guys are smart enough to read it over again...

Everything in there is just about 1000% accurate as far as the american marketplace goes.

Yes, there is a lack of 2-seat convertibles....the Miata and BMW are your choices, unless you
want to pay over MSRP for the Honda S2000.  Oh yeah....The MR 2 is there also...and
don't forget the Chrysler PT convert, and the Volkswagon Bug convert, coming in a year or two...

The lack of new Alfa product in the states has forces buyers to "settle" for what is there now.

And (I know...bad english to start a sentance with 'and'), people are happy with what they 
can buy.  The Caddy CTS is a good product, as is the Chrysler 300M, the Jag X, BMW 3,
and Mercedes C (UGLY----my own opinion...).  

I wish I could buy an Alfa 147 or 156, but when it comes time to retire the 170,000mi+ Pontiac 
daily driver (which I've done nothing more than oil changes, brakes and rotors, and a water 
pump at 120k), I'll be looking for another just like it to give me hassle-free driving so I can spend my 
money on restoring my '87 Quad, and getting a '74 or so GTV for the same.  

Let's face it---most of us are not necessarily Alfa enthusiasts. we are OLD Alfa enthusiasts...
The current model lineup has nothing on the Alfas of the 50's, 60's, 70's, ect....
Front wheel drive?  In an Alfa?  Please...(ok, it CAN be done...but it's not the same...)
Do you really think Alfa will come back wirth a modern 200+HP version of a Duetto?
Nope...it will not be designed by anybody important...it will be a FWD car based on a GM platform with
a few Alfa-specific design cues, with a GM-based powerplant and tranny.

Smoke and mirrors.

Alfas are designed and meant for driving free on twisty roads without a care in the world....I love them for that.
That is what the words "Alfa Romeo" mean...

American (or japenese) steel is meant to be abused in the daily drudge and on 
nasty dirt roads in the middle of nowhere...I need them for that.

I'm afraid that any "new" Alfa in the states would be a bastard child of a dozen other cars, with a few
unique body panels and interior bits----I'd rather live in the bliss that was the economy of yesteryear,
when automakers had the freedom to produce REAL cars without having to answer to the bean-counters.
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