Thursday, October 08, 2009

Alfa Romeo Arna: Second Worst Idea Ever


What is it about weird auto partnerships? First, we saw the Mazda Roadpacer, a huge Australian sedan with a teeny Mazda rotary engine. I now present to you, the Alfa Romeo Arna. ARNA stands for Alfa Romeo Nissan Automoveicoli. You read that right. It's a cross between a Nissan Pulsar and an Alfasud*. The stylish exterior of an anonymous Japanese econobox is mated with the build quality that can only be found in Naples. Italian reliability and Japanese styling spell a recipe for commercial disaster. During its mid-80s run, barely 50,000 units were sold. According to my Observer's Book of Automobiles (1986), the highlight seems to be the folding rear seats.

*Alfa was forced to partner up with another car company because it was struggling financially. It was struggling financially due to the Alfasud's poor quality.

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