Alfa Romeo Arna. Exactly the wrong way around

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Purchasing classics there

Still nobody knows exactly what the intention was. Combining the worst of two worlds only worked well at Ter land, at sea and in the air.

Partnerships

Yet at the beginning of October 1980 top executives Ettore Massacesi and Takashi Ishihara got into the soapbox that Alfa ROmeo NNissan Autoveicoli was called and thundered downhill together. The idea behind it was most likely a fruitful collaboration between the two car manufacturers. Quite a good plan. But the result ultimately turned out to be a poorly put together bundling of weak spots on wheels that were too small: in 1983, Alfa Romeo de Arna. This collaboration resulted in something very special: an unreliable Japanese disguised as an ugly Italian. Truly an achievement.

Alfisti

It must have taken a lot of lobbying, extensive fetement and generous bribing to convince the top to combine the deadly dull appearance of a Nissan Cherry with the unreliable technology of the Alfasud and 33. But it worked, everyone happy. "E subito sei Alfistà". Alfa then point to the potential buyer. But if he really wanted to become an Alfist right away, he better get one Alfa Buy Romeo. Because no one believed the poor devil when he tried to propagate from such a faded spot in the street scene that he was a Alfamale was. Not even if the thing was painted bright red. It was therefore not easy to convince enough interested parties that such an Arna fulfilled a long-cherished wish. Gullible buyers explained to taunting brothers-in-law at many a party why an Arna was a good idea. Because that was not entirely clear to the vast majority of humanity. You couldn't even see it.

Successor

Nissan therefore wanted more foothold in Europe, which at the time pursued a rather protectionist policy and restricted imports from the Far East in many countries. And Alfa Romeo was as always looking for solutions to make the rather porous finances leak-tight and looking for a strong partner. However, the result was not a joining of forces, the Arna was more like a residual product. Neither meat nor fish. You could see and feel that in everything Alfa did not want to miss the boat in this segment by offering a successor to the aging one in no time Alfasud ready, but eventually hit a deserted quay. Except for the ship from Japan with Cherry bodies. They were equipped with the 1,2 liter boxer engine and front suspension of the Alfasud and a sports steering wheel. Finished. On the Alfa-badge after, of course, the raison d'être of this flop.

Pros

A flop, despite a number of advantages. Due to its lower weight, the Arna was a bit faster and more light-footed than the Sud. And much less sensitive to rust due to the Japanese sheet metal. In 1985, a fast Ti version was even available, with a capacity of such an 90 hp. The normal versions, available as three-door L and five-door SL, had 63 pk in the front until the same year and now got 2 pk. A later 1,4 liter version produced 71 hp, the even larger 1,5 liter version in the thickest Ti even supplied 95 horsepower to the narrow front wheels. Quite spicy for a boring Japanese. But it all didn't help. The press didn't have a good word for it from the start and the public fearfully avoided this driving identity crisis with fear of failure. In 1986 the curtain fell for the Arna, in our country it was never even officially delivered. It was no icing on the cake.

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4 comments

  1. The writer goes along in the collective memory, probably created by rust
    problems, that Alfasud is unreliable. Shame. The technology and especially the engine were of good quality.

  2. Unreliable engine ????
    Has also been taken off the pot!
    Have two Alfa had boxers.
    Both walked around 300 Km. But I can drive a car a bit, as with every block just warm. And no problem at all. You do have unreliable drivers….

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