Wherefore Art Thou, Romeo?

Coming back to the United States, if you believe the chattering motorpundits. Depending on which source you trust, Alfa Romeo will be back with 2007, 2008 or 2009 models, sold through your local Maserati dealer.

Alfa began with the traditional Italian corporate alphabet soup: Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili (Lombardy Automobile Manufacturing Company) acronized to ALFA, later Alfa. Begun by Cavaliere Ugo Stella in 1907, the company built its first Alfa car, a 24 hp machine, in 1910. In 1915, the Neapolitan industrialist Nicola Romeo took charge to build weaponry. In 1919, when automobile manufacture resumed, he added his name to the cars.

Alfa owes much of its reputation to engineer Vittorio Jano, responsible for a generation of Grand Prix cars driven by the likes of Tazio Nuvolari, in a team headed by Enzo Ferrari. Road and competition cars of the 1930s included the Zagato-bodied 6C1750 and 8C2300, considered timeless designs today.

Its factories laid waste in World War II, Alfa retreated to small mass-produced cars when peace returned. The 1300 cc dohc Giulietta series, introduced in 1954 in sedan (Berlina), coupe (Sprint) and roadster (Spider) models, became quite popular. Production reached some 200,000 per year. In 1962, the Giulia, with 1600 cc engine and five-speed transmission, replaced it. My cousin Woods had a Giulietta Sprint and later a Giulia Spider, the first Alfa I ever drove.

In 1966, the Spider was given new Pininfarina-designed sheet metal, which became iconic from its role in The Graduate, the 1967 film starring Dustin Hoffman. The Spider stayed in production until 1993, the name "Graduate" given to a barebones model introduced in 1985. Other coachbuilders bodied Alfas to order, like this 1955 Ghia 1900 CSS Speciale, whose owner insisted on special provisions for his dog. A new 1750 sedan was introduced in 1968.

Other notable Alfas were the 1970 V8 Montreal coupe, named for its first showing at the 1967 Expo in that city, and the Naples-built Alfasud of 1971, using an un-Alfa-like flat four with front-wheel drive. The Alfetta, available as a rear-wheel drive sedan or coupe, was built from 1972 to 1984. The Milano, a V6 four-door sedan, arrived in 1986.

The last Alfa to be sold in the United States was the 164, sharing a platform with the Saab 9000, Lancia Thema and Fiat Croma. A V6 front-wheel drive sedan, it stayed in production until 1998, three years after Alfa left the US market. The last 164 I've seen was parked in the woods, where it served as a beehive.

Until Alfa returns, with the 8C Competizione, 159 or Brera, this Alfa carnival car, spotted by Wayne Graefen, could be a pacifier for the Alfa male. It would probably prove unsatisfying, though. No true Alfa male would ever share the driving.