Am I the first one?

Well I get to be first at something.
What kind of Alfa do you have and where do you live?
I'm in Paraguay and I've got a 1995 164 Q4.
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1357843&a=10118440&p=33880902&Sequence=0&res=high

What do you think of Alfas planned return to the U.S and what should be the first model?I think they should start off with a new Spider(hopefully rwd)and also an affordable ass kicking sports sedan the successor to the 156.

[Edited by alfa1 on 01-13-2001 at 07:27 PM]

yes, a spider to build an image, and something good yet affordable.
But Nissan is doing both with the New Z :)
It's both, very cool and affordable.

True that.I am also a Nissan fan having owned a 1996 Sentra and a 1991 240sx se.I like the direction they are going and I consider them the more driver oriented Japanese brand but they are for better or worse not Alfa and don't have the long legacy or mystic that Alfa does.

I'm sure with a good dealer network in place the 156 would already be selling well.I can't wait for the 156 GTA to come out.It will be beautiful and come with the high performance to back it up.

Before they go to the U.S. Alfa needs to up the ponies in all their cars.Although 0-60 and 1/4 mile times are not what Alfas are about many Americans(unfortunately) buy cars based on these figures.

What kinds of things make these cars truly unique?

Are there any innovative technological features?

Are they known to be very safe cars?

Are they known to be very comfortable/reliable/fuel efficient?

What's special about an Alfa Romeo?

You really need to drop that bad boy quick. It's screaming for a drop.

Yeah, I'd second that . . .

Originally posted by DVSNCYNIKL
You really need to drop that bad boy quick. It's screaming for a drop.
Can't do that,gotta drive the Mrs. and my 10 month old daughter around in it too.Just the other day at the supermarket I was backing out and the front end got caught on the curb and came half way off.That will cost me $15 to fix though because labor is so cheap here-its the parts that cost too much.

What's special about Alfas?Well they are true drivers cars that don't feel mass produced.There is a certain feel to them.

The steering in my 164 feels perfectly weighted.While it is heavy in the parking lot it feels solid at high speed.The 6 speed gearbox shifts quickly and smoothly.

Alfa has a very long and storied history.They have been through many years of tough times but they look to be on a huge comeback.

They look to once again be producing some very desirable cars.

Reliability has always seemed to be an issue with Alfa in the last 20 years but they aren't any less reliable than a BMW it's just that the dealer network truly sucks and should be priority one before they return to the U.S.

Okay, let me try explaining what an alfa really is.

You get in an Alfa for the first time and everything seems different, unfamiliar. But you figure that you've gone this far so take it for a drive. You leave the parking lot and move out into traffic. Your attention gets drawn away from the car and onto your surroundings and driving.

About ten minutes later you realize that for the last eight minutes you haven't looked for anything. The gear shift, pedals, controls, everything just seems to be exactly where it should be. Suddenly you're not driving a new car, this is the one that was actually built just for you. It's like an old pair of shoes, or that t-shirt with the holes in it that you'll never throw away because it's just right.

Right now I'm Alfaless. But once I owned four at one time. I've had Gulias, Guliettas, GTVs, Berlinas and spyders beyond count. If Alfa comes back, and if they still make Alfas and not an Americanized car, I'll be there in line to buy one.

i've got a 91 164L 5sp, Red/tan, full remus exhaust, 140k bout with 60k. have all the service recods.. and video of 4 people inthe car with the a/c on beating a mustang 5.0 (fox body) in the 1/4 at commerece raceway here in ga. 13.8. dyno graph at 193hp. 235lbft at the wheels. :)

i love this car.. but have to many toys and just wreck a motorcycle.. it needs to go.. $2500 kennesaw, ga.

seen many trips through deals gap and 6 sets of AVS Intermediates. on Good year HPs now.. still have the last set of AVSs if you'd like em... (noisey though but DAMN sticky)

and - jar - is right; the ergonomics are perfect...

I don't have a 164, but a nice 156 2.5 :-d

I have a 156 1.6 TS. Of course, every American will be shocked by the low cc of my car, but it makes 120hp and 200kmh at max speed. That's good for this power and the size of the car (category Passat, Laguna, Stratus). Of course, there are more powerfull engines, the 2.0 and the fabulous V6 Alfa, well known. But it's expensive to insure, to buy and to "give drink" (gas is 4 times as expensive as in the US here).

Though, an Alfa, even with the "little" engines is a fabulous engine. With a particular "noise". Alfa are well designed, have an excellent handling.
The reliability of Alfa is good today (maybe not as much as Germans, Frenchs or Japaneses cars). And the price is correct (equivalent as VW for example.... with a real engine and a good handling !).
The built quality is today good, even if VW stays ahead of course.

Alfa in the USA : the 166, GTV and Spider are sold in North America today... under the name Autodelta. But Alfa Romeo is going to come back in the States before the end of the decade.
But be carefull : Alfas are not slow at all even if the biggest engine makes "only" 250hp... the Alfa 156 GTA, moreover the 147 GTA are real sport cars, with a terrible charm.
The funniest thing is that the Americans are the slowest drivers in the world, and they need the most powerfull cars ! :D
A last thing, 200 Europeans HP are not 200 American HP... look at the performances ! ;)

Bonjour Stephane,
What's that Peugeot your showing? It's beautiful.

I had a 164S. It was a beautiful car, but lots of problems. Some were minor and just a nuisance, but I also had two engines burned out because of low oil, which shouldn't happen on an Alfa.

Atlanta : the Peugeot on the right is the Coupé 406 appeared in 1997 and designed by Pininfarina. The one on the left is the new 407, available for few months.
I see in your profil that you've a Xsara, but I also see that you're living in the USA where Citroën is not any more available.... ?? ;)

A bientôt,
Michaël de Villebois

Michel,
Oh... that's a 407? I can't wait to see it next time I'm in France. No, I don't know about the Xsara. I just put down whatever. I actually have a Pontiac. I've only driven an XM.
Amicalement de Atlanta...

What do you think of the 607?

Which Pontiac ?

The 607, I do like it ! I'm thinking to replace my bmw 530d by a 607 HDI or an Alfa 166 JTD. It's quite big, but I like the design. I had already problems with my 156 to park in Paris, now with the bmw 5, it's worse, I don't even think to park a 607 :D

For the 407 have a look there : http://www.407.peugeot.fr/home.html and click also on "les spots tv", good advertisings for the 407.
and there : http://www.automobile.lycos.fr/galerie/berline_Peugeot%20407/

Best regards

It's a Grand Prix GTP...

I had two 505s, a 405 Mi-16 (and a 164S which might as well have been a Peugeot) and my mother had a 505 as well. I have only driven the 406 in France, but never owned one since Peugeot hasn't sold any cars here since the 1992 model year.

The 607 is beautiful and yet lacking something...

The 407 looks attractive from the photos in the links, but it's hard to say since there is no good profile view. Still, I hope it's a big success.

Any news on when Peugeot may come back to the US?

Merci!

The 407 is surprising on the photos, you've to see it on the road.
The 407's sales figures are excellent in Europe. Peugeot can barely follow the demand.

As an American, why did you buy a Peugeot and an Alfa ? And what was exactly, in your opinion, the image of these makes in the USA when it was exported (1980-1990) ?

FOr the return of Peugeot, no year is announced, for Alfa, I heard say before 2010, and for Renault, between 2010 and 2015 (the dealer network of Nissan/Infiniti could help Renault to export their cars).

Why did I buy Peugeots? I'm an American who is half-French, so part of it was to just enjoy something that was a piece of France and reminded me of my grandparents and family. The car that first got me really interested was the 405 Mi16. The ones here were much better than the ones there. They had a "prix interessant" (about $21,000 for a FULLY LOADED Mi-16 with leather, AC, seat warmers, moonroof, etc. vs. about $30,000 for the same thing in France. In fact, they only came fully loaded in the US.

Other than the poor reliability, the car handled very well, had great features, looked beautiful, and had good horsepower for those days. But reliability killed Peugeot over here.

Ok ! so you're half French ! The big problem with Peugeot was the dealer network very poor and the after sale service which was also quite bad.
But I didn't know that the 405 had reliability problems. I knew that for Renault (LeCar especially) but that's all.
THough, today, Peugeots are reliable, as well as Volkswagen (sometimes better : look at the Tdi !) but PSA doesn't want to invest in the USA, they rather prefer invest in China (where the 307 sedan has just been launched) and Eastern Europe (Peugeot/Toyota links).

Yes, poor network and poor after-sale service. But also real problems on electronic things…. Power seats stopped working, motorized belts would zoom up and down, little trim bits were glued on! And could be peeled off easily, coolant problems, moon-roofs that would have problems, etc. It’s a real shame. Also the parts were very expensive.

Also I loved the stick, but American buyers buy 90% automatics. 90% of Corvettes, “America’s sports car”, are automatics. That also hurt the Mi-16. So did very uninspired advertising. The brochures were good, however, and got my interest. I really loved the car when it was working. It was a dream then…

I have mixed feelings about Peugeot coming back. The smaller cars aren’t really competitive in the US market, even if they do work. So that leaves really only the 4 and 6 series. The minivans could come too, but they are horrendous looking (which is astounding considering how beautiful many of the Peugeots are). So it’s hard to sell cars with only two cars in the lineup.

So I agree with you that China is a better bet.

I do hope that a few Renaults get sold here as badged Nissans. To me the new Maxima is almost the embodiment of Renault’s design from the show cars of about seven years ago. I forget the name off hand, but it was to be the big Safrane replacement.

The Safrane replacer is the Vel Satis. This car is wonderful inside, but awful outside.

In the USA, I think some models could really work.
Look at Volkswagen, they sell well in North America. And what are they selling ? The Golf, equivalent of the Peugeot 307 and Citroën C4 (with an equipment better than on a Mercedes C Class), the Jetta (Bora in Europe), equivalent of the Mégane Sedan, the Passat : Peugeot 407, Citroën C5 and Renault Laguna, the Phaeton : 607 and Vel Satis are almost as big, the future Citroën C6 will be as big as the Phaeton.
Plus, the Renualt Espace is a minivan equivalent to the Town & Country, but better build and with an excellent handling and modularity. The Peugeot 807 and Citroën C8 are also available.
I think, by Peugeot, the models which could work well are :
the 307 : especially the SW (with the glass roof) and the CC (convertible with electric hard roof)
the 407 : sedan, Coupé and SW.
the 607 : competitor of E Class, A6, S type, etc.
the 807 : mini van
And why not the 206 in CC !
Finally, the brand new 1007 is very small, but (I'm not sure of that) MCC Smart sells Smarts in New York and San Francisco !

The big problem of French auto makers today is the fact that they don't sell SUVs. Renault is going to sell one for 2006, but for Europe, a mini SUV big as a Toyota Rav 4. It works very well over here (4x4 in big towns, it's very "in" ...!) but in the US, it would be too little.