Bruce wrote:No, I am a realist. I want to see Alfa survive but their current cars, apart from the 159, are sh!t.
Without doubt, the Mazda MX-5 is a good driving car and similar in spirit to the old Alfa Spider, the current Spider is flabby and overweight.
Automatic? If you look around you will see mostly women driving coupes and convertibles, like Merc, BMW & Audi. You will find they are automatic, even the current Ferrari California was designed with women in mind!
What do I want? I want a car that looks like an Alfa 159 but has sophisticated rear suspension and driveline, like my Alfa 75!
The whole concept of this fictitious thread is, in my opinion, to have a drivers car 1st, 2nd and 3rd. Creature comforts, niceties and "Look at me, my car doesn't have a roof.", come much much further down the priority list.
There are plenty of 'hairdresser' cars out in the market already. Yes the MX5 is an excellent car (from all accounts) but a Lotus Exige is a 'real' petrol heads car and this is (in my opinion) the type of car the should have the Alfa Romeo badge firmly affixed to it.
As you have stated, Ferrari are attempting to cater for those who aren't exactly in it for the thrill of driving a car on a track or deserted back road.
Automatic Pagani Zonda maybe
Rude, crude (well actually, well engineered and lightweight) driving thrills at an affordable price.