Alfa Romeo news, and I saw a 146 today…in Florida!

[imageWIS]

From Leftlanenews:

"Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne said during a conference call Wednesday that the Alfa Romeo brand will return to the United States in late 2007. Over the past few months, rumors intensified of Alfa's return, but they were not officially confirmed until Wednesday. The cars are expected to be distributed through the existing Maserati dealer network. The new Alfa Brera Spider and and 159 Sportwagon (and/or sedan) will most certainly be among the vehicles headed for U.S. shores. We also have a sneaking suspicion that Alfa might coincide the U.S. rollout with the launch of the production 8C Competizione."

And, I saw a brand new silver 146 with a Florida plate as I was driving to work this morning; which must cost its owner a fortune to import / maintain.

Jon.

 

[skalogre]

Originally Posted by imageWIS

From Leftlanenews:

"Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne said during a conference call Wednesday that the Alfa Romeo brand will return to the United States in late 2007. Over the past few months, rumors intensified of Alfa's return, but they were not officially confirmed until Wednesday. The cars are expected to be distributed through the existing Maserati dealer network. The new Alfa Brera Spider and and 159 Sportwagon (and/or sedan) will most certainly be among the vehicles headed for U.S. shores. We also have a sneaking suspicion that Alfa might coincide the U.S. rollout with the launch of the production 8C Competizione."

And, I saw a brand new silver 146 with a Florida plate as I was driving to work this morning; which must cost its owner a fortune to import / maintain.

Jon.

Wow. Yet another "yes we will be back" statement.

 

[VMan]

There is a guy at my school who drives a new Alfa - not sure the model (maybe a 156?) - but it's a sharp looking sedan and he's got it in this really cool light green/blue color.

The coolest car I've seen recently was the Maserati Quattroporte driving near my house. Actually, that one is second to the black F430.

 

[imageWIS]

To give you an idea how la-la land Boca is, they have a Quattroporte in the mall. You know how most malls have Fords and Chevy's on display that local dealers use to sell cars? Well, our local mall has a Maserati. In the last years on display I have seen: Porches, Jaguars, Mercedes, and even a Bentley.

But, no Audi's, they are too exclusive.

Jon.

 

[zjpj83]

Originally Posted by imageWIS

To give you an idea how la-la land Boca is, they have a Quattroporte in the mall. You know how most malls have Fords and Chevy's on display that local dealers use to sell cars? Well, our local mall has a Maserati. In the last years on display I have seen: Porches, Jaguars, Mercedes, and even a Bentley.

But, no Audi's, they are too exclusive.

Jon.
Short Hills has you beat then, becasue they have Audis too! (plus Porsches, Bentleys, and Range Rovers). In fairness, they are all from one dealership.

 

[imageWIS]

Originally Posted by zjpj83

Short Hills has you beat then, becasue they have Audis too! (plus Porsches, Bentleys, and Range Rovers). In fairness, they are all from one dealership.

No, actually the "˜mall' that has everyone beat is Bal Harbour Shops in Bal Harbour, FL. They've had cars from The Collection (an ultra high-end car store) at one time or another, and once I was there and they had: Lotus, Ferrari, Aston Martin and Porsche, all at once. When your mall has Ferrari's on display, that says something; and that something is: be prepared to have your wallet ripped a new one when you are done shopping here.

Jon.

 

[alflauren]

Thanks for the info. When the Brera came out, people in the industry pretty much expected that it would be the car that Alfa would use to return to the states. Good for them - I like the brand.

Importing is not as much as you might think, and the costs to convert a Euro automobile to American street standards are not as much as they used to be. Auto manufacturers source globally now, so parts are often made up to spec for every market. You just have to hope that the car doesn't have any problems. That's when it gets expensive.

 

[imageWIS]

Originally Posted by alflauren

Thanks for the info. When the Brera came out, people in the industry pretty much expected that it would be the car that Alfa would use to return to the states. Good for them - I like the brand.

Importing is not as much as you might think, and the costs to convert a Euro automobile to American street standards are not as much as they used to be. Auto manufacturers source globally now, so parts are often made up to spec for every market. You just have to hope that the car doesn't have any problems. That's when it gets expensive.

Crash testing for the US is not cheap. Also, "˜Global' car manufactures means car companies that make the same models for sale on either side of the pond. Alfa is not a "˜global' car manufacturer. They will have to meet US regulations and crash testing before they can start selling them stateside.

Jon.

 

[LabelKing]

I heard that British sportscars are not popular in Florida.

 

[imageWIS]

Originally Posted by LabelKing

I heard that British sportscars are not popular in Florida.

I have absolutely what this has to do with Alfa Romeo, but I have seen my fair share of classic Jag roadsters, Lotuses, and MG's to know that people like to drive open top convertibles in an area where there is enough good weather year round to actually enjoy putting the top down (and hurricane-resistant garages for when it gets a bit windy).

Jon.

 

[SGladwell]

Originally Posted by LabelKing

I heard that British sportscars are not popular in Florida.

Have you seen the roads in Florida? Flat as a pancake and the interesting curves are miles apart. Given that, I've come to understand why Florida doesn't have a car culture beyond drooling at horsepower numbers in magazines and gawking at expensive new baubles.

 

[imageWIS]

Originally Posted by SGladwell

Have you seen the roads in Florida? Flat as a pancake and the interesting curves are miles apart. Given that, I've come to understand why Florida doesn't have a car culture beyond drooling at horsepower numbers in magazines and gawking at expensive new baubles.

You mean except for the classic Bugattis and Mercedes (20's-30's) I've seen driving around on the street from time to time? How about the red 300SL Gullwing I see often times driven on the east side of Boca?

Dude, you have no idea what you are talking about.

Jon.

 

[skalogre]

Originally Posted by imageWIS

You mean except for the classic Bugattis and Mercedes (20's-30's) I've seen driving around on the street from time to time? How about the red 300SL Gullwing I see often times driven on the east side of Boca?

Dude, you have no idea what you are talking about.

Jon.

You have seen a red 300SL Gullwing just driving around? Wow.

 

[imageWIS]

Originally Posted by skalogre

You have seen a red 300SL Gullwing just driving around? Wow.

Yes. And a Bugatti 35 (or was it a 37?) and a MB 1920's SSK, and a few classic Ferrari's. And I saw a new Ford GT 2 days ago.

You see a lot of cars in SoFLA.

Jon.

 

[A Y]

I just saw a silver 300SL Gullwing driving around during lunch --- my first live sighting of a moving one. Are red ones particularly rare?

For some reason, we also see test mules for lots of BMWs here going up and down our main street (State Street in Santa Barbara). I saw the next-gen X5 mule last week, and have seen the E60 M5 and E46 M3 mules among others in the past.

--Andre