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And You People Think I'm the Only Alfa Nut in the World
Not only are there more of us out there, some of us are chicks:
When people find out that my husband and I own three Alfa Romeos, none of which we currently can drive, they assume that I’m simply tolerating his quirks. The truth is, I’m as obsessed as he is.
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I discovered the adrenaline rush of maneuvering through slalom courses and putting my car into a skid to explore options for recovering. I never drove very fast, even though the [driving instruction] took place on a racetrack. But I learned the limits of my car and improved my driving skills. Most importantly, I had a blast doing it.
Ellen and I were once hardcore... all we owned were Alfas. If I'd had my garage then, we'd probably still just own Alfas. As it turned out, we just couldn't keep up with two of them going to $85/hr mechanics once or twice a month, so one had to go. To this day Ellen will tear up looking at pictures of our dearly departed Milano (although her reaction to the Alfa Romeo SZ, a sports car based on the Milano platform, bodes ill for our child's college fund). I can't help but think once we have a place to put one, another will take its place.
If all this sounds completely nutty to you, you obviously haven't driven an Alfa. My spider even put a smile on the face of an inveterate Honda nut. You may find them weird and too unreliable, and I'll accept that, but you'd have to be seriously lacking in the soul department to think they're not a barrel of fun.
What-everr, '76 jag is the only car on the road, 80 miles an hour your little go cart goes to shit.
Jag's cruisin', willing for more.
Posted by: smoke on June 7, 2004 10:35 PMha ha.
Eighty five dollars an hour???
I think you best buy a little go cart, to go with your toyota.
Posted by: smoke on June 7, 2004 10:40 PMYo Ellen, here ya go.
:D
http://www.gaspumpclassics.com/find/fbmmcc.cfm?CarID=RFXPH3B1GXFWGGQ1813D3OSW3AK526HNM9
Hmmm - the new Alfa kinda looks like a BMW when you don't have your contacts in...
That and while Jags are nice cars, they were purchased by Ford. This isn't a good thing. In fact, I'm thinking that soon we'll have the Jaguar Focus...
Posted by: ron on June 8, 2004 08:12 AMThat, and 70s-era jaguars are (reliability-wise) to Alfas as Toyotas are to 70s-era Fords. They were so bad a conversion from jaguar's excellent inline-6 to a small-block US V8 was once considered desirable. Since this essentially destroys much of their character, such conversions nowadays destroy the value of the car compared to a well-preserved (and maintained!) stock model.
No surprise the car linked by smoke is one of these conversions. A Chevy with a fancy body is still just a Chevy. If you like Chevies (I like Corvettes quite a bit), that's great, happy for ya.
But a Chev-uar is just sad.
Posted by: Scott on June 8, 2004 09:10 AMThe early 1960s Jag XKEs were and still are some of the most beautiful cars I have ever seen. I dated a guy, yes Scott your mom actually dated at one time, simply because he owned a midnight blue convertible. The car was glorious he was not.
Posted by: Pat on June 8, 2004 10:20 AMOne of the staff doctors at the VA drives a white Alfa SX. I will stand watch while you hotwire it when you are here this summer. He parks in the same lot. lol
Posted by: Pat on June 8, 2004 10:38 AM"That, and 70s-era jaguars are (reliability-wise) to Alfas as Toyotas are to 70s-era Fords. They were so bad a conversion from jaguar's excellent inline-6 to a small-block US V8 was once considered desirable. Since this essentially destroys much of their character, such conversions nowadays destroy the value of the car compared to a well-preserved (and maintained!) stock model.
But a Chev-uar is just sad.
Posted by Scott at June 8, 2004 09:10 AM
All true, I found that car w/ a quick google, didn't notice at the time how the guy had hacked it up, he even had the bad taste to add a chrome jaguar to the hood! And it's a coupe, too!
Still, gorgeous car, and the smoothest, most in control ride at speed I've ever experienced.
Posted by: smoke on June 8, 2004 02:32 PM