The Alfa Thread

[LateFan]

There are so many things I dislike about that rendering that its not funny. The front end is too high and blunt, the windshield too raked, the windows too high and too small. Rearward visibility is nil. Thanks, I'll take a 105.51 GTV or 101 series Sprint over that any dayl

I don't disagree with everything you're saying, although I think it has some nice lines and proportion (except for that nose).

There are reasons for some of that - the euro union pedestrian rules are forcing the high front ends these days. Side impact safety regs are part of the reason for the high sills for containment of teh humans. The Milano had really high window sills and I felt sort of closed in the first time I drove one. That nose / grille / lights looks like they let someone from Dodge have a crack at it- that's a concern I have, is that there might be Chrysler influence on Alfa designs because they're sharing platforms with future Challengers or whatever...

No, it won't come with 22" wheels a 5-series tires - that's normal design sketch style they all do.

No, it's not a 60s 105.

Here's what looks like an Alfa Romeo JettaAudi….yuk…why even bother rendering it?

[LateFan]

A Franco Sbarro design exercise with an unfortunate name, but I think it had a lot going on. Especially a mid-mounted Busso V6 with that snarl and hardly any exhaust. A lot of influence from the 33 Stradale as well.

It was a functioning, driving car, and sounded great.

[LateFan]

For some reason, I've always liked Alfettas…

[BlackbirdM3]

I don't disagree with everything you're saying, although I think it has some nice lines and proportion (except for that nose).

There are reasons for some of that - the euro union pedestrian rules are forcing the high front ends these days. Side impact safety regs are part of the reason for the high sills for containment of teh humans. The Milano had really high window sills and I felt sort of closed in the first time I drove one. That nose / grille / lights looks like they let someone from Dodge have a crack at it- that's a concern I have, is that there might be Chrysler influence on Alfa designs because they're sharing platforms with future Challengers or whatever...

No, it won't come with 22" wheels a 5-series tires - that's normal design sketch style they all do.

No, it's not a 60s 105.

Here's what looks like an Alfa Romeo JettaAudi….yuk…why even bother rendering it?

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[ATTACH]96745[/ATTACH]

There are reasons I have no interest in owning any car built after about 1991. Certainly nothing built in the last 10 years with the exception of a Lotus Exige. Even then, I don't like the fact that I can't see what is behind me. "Safety" crap? Don't want it. Give me 5pt harnesses and an internally reinforced greenhouse anyday of the week. All the computerized electrical crap on modern vehicles. Thanks, you can keep it. I'll take toggle switches and analog dial switches that can be replaced every time. I don't want distractions when I drive, but all modern vehicles promote distractions now. No wonder so many people are distracted drivers these days, the car is the distraction. (Oh look, I'm getting 35 mpg! Oh someone sent me a text and the car is reading it out on the stereo, I better respond... Hey, WiFi in the car, just what I need to be paying attention to while I'm driving. What? I'm supposed to be paying attention to the road and other cars? No one ever told me that. ) Manufacturers try to make their cars more safe while at the same time adding more distractions to the drivers. The driver is the part that makes a car safe or not. A distracted driver is not safe, yet distraction is what sells cars these days. Do you see a problem? I do.

Yeah, give me a 50 year old Alfa any day of the week.

Will

[Wschnitz]

I really like the late 70s alfretta's, reminds me of the simplicity of the E30's design.



Side note, Alfa owners need to take more nice pics of their cars, Im having a hard time finding a sweet 67 Stepnose wallpaper.

[LateFan]

[QUOTE=BlackbirdM3;4403170]Hey, WiFi in the car, just what I need to be paying attention to while I'm driving. What? I'm supposed to be paying attention to the road and other cars? No one ever told me that….QUOTE]

Exactly.

Also, I can't afford brand new stuff anyway. And what happens when these extremely complicated electronics get 20 years old and stop working right. Now I sound like an old fart…Get off my lawn!!

I like and need to fix my own. So my "new" car is an 01 A4 Avant…I had to replace the engine myself and rebuild the turbo due to VW/Audi sludging (long after VW stopped replacing engines for people). Made me mad and I don't trust it now. But unbelievable winter / ice car.

94 Volvo 850 turbo wagon. Fast. comfortable, hauls a ton of stuff and bikes and goes camping. Fairly simple to work on actually. Bought it because someone totaled our 240 turbo wagon (now that was a jalopnik car).

95 Land Rover D1…son's car. Reliable? Simple? sort of… You can work on it with a crescent wrench.

86 BMW E30…other son's car. So fun. Easy to work on. HUGE enthusiast community here to help with experience and advice and parts.

67 Alfa Duetto….3rd owner, since 1985. Just a used sports car at the time. I sold a Fiat 124 Spider to buy it. The only one of the bunch that will likely never get sold. 4 plugs and a coil, tach / speedo / oil / water / fuel gauges, shifter handle is connected directly to the transmission shafts… simple? Yes. Beautiful? Yes. SO great to drive? Yes. Only one within 500 miles? Yes.

[LateFan]

I really like the late 70s alfretta's, reminds me of the simplicity of the E30's design.

Yeah, like an Italian 3-series. Always liked the sedans. If they didn't rust to shit, there would be a bunch around. Great suspension, comfy, quick, stylish. These looked really good with Ronal A1 wheels with the ring of holes. I looked a long time for one of these but none were in very good shape. People didn't take care of them like a special model.

Something else I noticed - maybe not anymore now that they're old and rare, but Alfa people never really treated their cars all that well. Dirty, faded, squeaky, not kept up except mechanically - they were always tuned well. They just drove them hard, all the time. Rain or shine.

[DEV0 E30]

A Franco Sbarro design exercise with an unfortunate name, but I think it had a lot going on. Especially a mid-mounted Busso V6 with that snarl and hardly any exhaust. A lot of influence from the 33 Stradale as well.

It was a functioning, driving car, and sounded great.

:: SEXUAL IMAGERY ::

That is a beautiful car. I love the rear, the ducati-like-trellis-frame thing that's going on.

If that could be made to be an "affordable" baby exotic, I'd love to have one.

[LateFan]

I love the rear, the ducati-like-trellis-frame thing that's going on.

Yeah! What a great kit car it would make, with a used Alfa V6.





EDIT - found this info….

"Among the too many show-cars unveiled at the past Geneva Motor Show there was this “Alfa Romeo Diva”. The running prototype has been conceived and developed by Elasis, a high-ranking research and development centre based in Italy and owned by Fiat. (Elsais is the company that first developed and engineered the Common Rail fuel injection technology. The managing director of the company is Ing. Nevio di Giusto who has been Director of Design for the Fiat Auto group and subsequently was in charge of Engineering at Fiat Auto.)Diva was first exhibited on the Sbarro area, among several other cars built by the Italian genius and his teams. Indeed the Alfa Romeo Diva has been built by the international team of students attending Franco Sbarro’s Espera school of automotive design and construction located at Yverdon, Switzerland. The design came from the Centro Stile Alfa Romeo. There it certainly made an impression with its unique double-deck spoiler at the front, but did not shine as brightly as it deserved."

http://www.carstyling.ru/ru/car/2006_alfa_romeo_diva/

[rloewy]

Alfettas are lovely cars with the exception of the gear-change which is less than ideal. I do not think they really nailed this down until the 1985 model of the GTV6

[LateFan]

Side note, Alfa owners need to take more nice pics of their cars, Im having a hard time finding a sweet 67 Stepnose wallpaper.

Maybe these aren't big enuf...

http://www.motorclassiccorp.com/67-alfa-romeo-gtv-step-nose.html

[Wschnitz]

Nice, Im just picky so when im stretching 1024x768 pictures onto a 1080p or 1440p monitor they look silly.

[LateFan]

oh, gotcha..

[rloewy]

I really should take my car someplace nice to take good pictures of it.

In the meantime, here are two large images that are not too bad - but are taken at our local C&C

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7640/16934253616_8a23009a1b_o.jpg

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8591/16425016338_40a564a999_o.jpg

[BlackbirdM3]

I really like the late 70s alfretta's, reminds me of the simplicity of the E30's design.



Side note, Alfa owners need to take more nice pics of their cars, Im having a hard time finding a sweet 67 Stepnose wallpaper.

That is an Alfa Sud. You want rust, yeah, the reason you don't find many is because these are the epitome of rust monsters.

As for Stepnoses,

They don't get any more special than this one, the very first GTA.












Do those work? The full album is here, everything uploaded in full size unless I cropped it: https://www.flickr.com/photos/473099...h/15174353482/

Will