[canguro]

I wonder if these guys were the source of those late model GTV Spiders that you see occasionally at meets or for sale on eBay. I could never figure out how the owners of those cars got them into the U.S. It's too bad they're now stuck with an unsaleable car that will have to be exported or thrown into the crusher.

 

[canguro]

In the efforts to promote a foreign corporation, the US government decided to interfere with the legitimate efforts of our entreprenurial venture.

The question of whether your efforts were legitimate boils down to whether the cars you sold to unsuspecting buyers were DOT and EPA certified. If the cars were so certified, then why are owners facing a government order to have the car re-exported or destroyed, and what are YOU doing to remedy the problem? After what has happened, I can't imagine any informed enthusiast buying a car from your outfit, whether or not it's for off-road use.

 

[canguro]

I doubt that Autodeltausa's troubles stem from having failed to use factory parts, if in fact that was even an issue. As I recall, they imported the Spider/GTV, the 166 and possibly the 156. Each of those models would have had to have gone through extensive DOT-mandated crash testing. As an example, Motorex, which has imported Nissan Skylines and GT-Rs into the U.S., wasted two GT-Rs to obtain the necessary DOT safety certification. Did Autodeltausa put those Alfa models through such tests? They would have had to invest substantial sums of money to crash each model, meaning that they would have had to be able to justify such investments by importing those cars in volume and advertising their availability in an aggressive manner. Judging by the relative few units of each model that Autodeltausa imported, and the dearth of advertising in places frequented by Alfisti, I find it highly doubtful that they did such testing. Since they've now taken the trouble to post on this Board, maybe they can prove me wrong.

 

[canguro]

I'm all for bringing Alfa back... legitimately. I just don't like the idea of a fellow Alfisti being stuck with a black-market car, because it could have been me.

Autodeltausa: If the cars weren't yet homologated for U.S. sale, why were they sold to the public? Why bother to spend money homologating a car for public roads when you earlier claimed that it was only intended to be used off-road? Also, what is the status of the Federal indictment?

 

[canguro]

I wish the Autodelta folks the best of luck fighting this. There is no logical reason to deny people the opportunity to buy these cars. Any environmental impact is minimal and probably less then most vehicles currently sold here. Sure testing may not have proven that yet that but what happened to the concept of innocent until proven guilty? Is there any evidence these cars pollute any more then a new Chevy Cobalt? I doubt it. As for the safety issue it's a matter of personal choice. I am willing to trust that they are safe, I don't need some government test to tell me what car to buy.

Would you feel the same way if you had spent $40k, $60k, or whatever amount it was that they illegally sold these cars for, and you were now facing an government order to re-export or scrap your new Alfa, with no recourse to Autodelta (I'm presuming they're strapped for cash defending this case against the government)? Alternatively, how would you feel if you'd just spent several million dollars legalizing a Porsche 959, while some schmuck decided to back-door the car into the U.S., and the government did nothing to enforce the law? By your logic, each of us should be free to exercise our personal choice whether or not such action was prohibited by law; i.e., promote anarchy. My answer to that is, you're welcome to exercise your choice, including breaking the law, provided you're prepared to pay the consequences.

 

[canguro]

Does anyone remember when a person could import a non conforming car? example= any Zagato Jr. didn't require crash testing, wonder why this was stopped?

Cars from the pre-emissions control era (1968?) are exempt under EPA rules, as are cars that pre-date some of the safety laws (1970's). Some of the Junior Zagatos presumably fall within the exemptions.