Gwen finally gets "her/our" Alfa

Something like 25 years ago Gwen really wanted a cute little Alfa. I was of the mind that we no way would own one of those crazy Eyetalian cars, cuz everyone knows they’re so unreliable. We make all our car buying and selling decisions together, and if one of us has qualms, we move on to the next toy. So we ended up with a very nice little BMW (and a mustang, Mazda RX7, VW window bus, hell, we had a fleet of really reliable cars!), and she never forgot that Alfa. And more to the point, has never let me forget that I made several disparaging remarks about Eyetalian cars. Really hard to side step whislt tooling along the road in our Ferrari, not exactly historically known for reliability. But she’s pretty good about only ribbing me about my wrong opinion every now and then.

So I was wrong. She was right. Alfas are cool. Italian cars are awesome. We both love them now, with no (or maybe few) reservations.

So thank you Tino, Roberto, Pasquali, Rob, Mark, oh hell, everyone at FoS for helping to make Gwen’s dream car finally materialize.

More background: We were just passing through town, and thought we’d stop in to say hi and happy thanksgiving to our friends at FoS yesterday, only to learn that a truck was due to arrive in just a couple hours with Gwen’s new ride. OK, scratch the plans to catch the 3PM ferry. We did a little more chatting with friends, then grabbed a lunch next door after doing some grocery shopping. Just before the lunch check arrived, Tino calls to say “eric, the truck is here”.

Of course, I left immediately, camera in hand. Gwen stayed behind to pay the bill.  We believe in equality, with me being far more equally crazed about red cars. She tends to be a bit more rational about not running out on restaurant checks.

I ran around the corner to the most amazing site of 5 gorgeous Italian works of art neatly stowed aboard the Horseless Carriage truck. All I could see was two rear-ends, but it was enough.

This car is drop dead gorgeous!!! Then the driver started one up. OMG!!!!! (OK, I’ll stop with the exclamation marks. Suffice to say there should be at least twenty after each exclamatory sentence or fragment therein used to describe this car).

We spent the next two hours watching the driver carefully unload the cars. Ours was last to come off the truck. And of course, we think it was the prettiest. Purely subjective, but this is just the cutest, smallest, prettiest car we’ve ever seen. They were all amazing. And all lined up inside the shop, it was site I could hardly believe. I wanted to sleep there in the shop, but it is a working garage and as nice as everyone is, I’m sure it was easier to get things done with us out of the way.

And for the coupe de grace: I fit in it. Well, mostly. Leg room is a bit snug, but knees fall below the steering wheel with room to spare. Headroom will not be an issue, with even room for a helmet: If Gwen ever lets me have the keys.

Can’t wait to actually get a chance to drive it. That’ll have to wait for a while as family issues take priority right now. But what a great break in an otherwise tough month!

Thanks FoS gang.
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Don: Its F1. Wasn't an option, not that we'd have chosen differently if it was...
Sid: yes, still have the Beastley. Its our long distance runner for now. Too many miles on it to bother even thinking of trade-in, and it is a nice car for long trips. It gets replaced in maybe a year when we get another 612.
John: Metallic Red is what the sticker says. I'm sure it has a fancy italian translation, but don't know it off-hand. It was one of the four standard colors offered. Looks a lot like Candy Apple Red in the sun. Even more sparkly than the Rubino Micalizzato was. It was hard to capture the true color with camera. As for family stuff: this too shall pass, and we'll come out the other side eventually.
All: Happy thanksgiving to you too! We're thinking we'll probably be more able to join in club activites this spring, if you'll allow a humble 8-cylinder Alfa to join in the activities. We think it should be able to keep up with most of the gang, and we promise to get another Fcar soon...

 

Picture is worth a couple words in this case. OK, so that says "8C Competizione". You figure out how to pronounce it.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Thanks, Mike! We can't wait to get it out there and put some miles on it. Needs some stone guard first.

Not mine to say. There were five Alfas on the truck. Ours was one of them, and mostly I'll only share the pics of ours and let the other owners decide if and what they choose to share. I figure the one pic of the two rear ends is fair game as it was out there for a few dozen passersby to see and snap pics.

 

This is a one-off model released to a limited number of Maserati/Ferrari dealerships. The actual return of the Alfa Romeo brand to the US is still some time away. Some seem to think its next year, others wonder if ever. As far as I know, no offical dealership network has been announced or probably even decided. Rumors abound, periodicals have published many different "facts", but I've not heard any that strike me as actual fact. As with most things Italian car related, I'll believe it when I see it, and rejoice that day. I'm hoping it happens sooner than later, as I'd just love to get my hands on a Brera.