You guys need to lighten up.....

 

It was known to me, and I thought it was as widely known as "Lucas, Prince of Darkness."

I wanted a GTV when they came out. A Swiss friend had a 159 wagon last I saw him (ten years ago). Made me wish we got them here.

I haven't yet driven any of the new crop of Alfas. It's on my TODO list, but things have been pretty busy.

 

I love Italian cars, had a Maserati in the 80's- when folks were scare to death to own anything that exotic with no dealers. I love the philosophy of putting passion before reliability- that's why its not a Toyota or BMW. There was a certain pleasure in owning that misery that never ran, but when it did, there is nothing even today that compares.

This is for others who may be considering moving to Italian cars. You have to have nerves of steel. This Alfa has the Ferrari California V8 shrunk to a 6. That California which was a direct competitor to my car had a total recall due to engine seizures. In other words the problem was proven to be in the design. It was totally redesigned. No Jaguar has ever had anything that extensive occur to it.

 

I understand that all too well. Fortunately, my luck has been pretty good.

I have had more than a few Italian motorcycles, and every one of them was bought new and daily-driven for at least 28,000 miles. All but one I still own. Three of them were raced and then returned to street duty. The one I sold was the first regular production model from the resurrected MV Agusta, and I was deemed insane to get it, let alone ride it everywhere. It was a 49-state F4S that I got registered in California (eventually), and was chassis #68.

 

As a former (and hopefully future) Alfa owner, I wish you best of luck on the Giulia.

My first car was a '62 Giulietta Spyder. Talk about getting the good with the bad. What a learning experience for a high school kid! My second, many years later, was an '87 Milano Verde (Quadrifoglio) which I ran for 17 years. Many would have called it unreliable but in reality it was maintenance-intensive. That is, required more attention than a Toyota, but if you stay on top of it, a rewarding and even reliable experience. Which is why I kept it so long.

I expected the Giulia to have its share of problems as a clean-sheet (and yes, Italian) car. I do want one, but won't buy any car in it's first year of production. In the case of the Giulia, I'll skip at least the first two years.

 

Lizzard, one of the finest art exhibits I have ever seen was one of Italian motorcycles at the Museo Italo Americano at Ft Mason circa 1985. Ducati, Aprilla, Agusta , Bimota, Moto Guzzi. Simply breathtaking. I can still see them.

 

Did everyone miss that we bought a '17 Maser. The vino quip came from the service director on the nite we took delivery of the '14. He was referring to Ferrari also! It came in the context of have patience and he would figure every thing out. Obviously we are car people or we wouldn't have a Ghibli and an F Type. The Italian experience is made better or worse by the dealership experience. Which goes back to my concern of having to buy an Alpha from a Fiat dealer. Most of unhappiness with Ghibli's come from having bought them from Chrysler dealers who had no idea what they were getting into. I like the new Alpha but you have to be a real enthusiast to go thru the early adopter stage of an Italian car. My '17 Maser is great!

 

+1 as my experience has been the same. The master mechanics are typically at the factory trained dealerships. +1!