Si, un viaje en el tiempo... Y el espacio...
Desde la visión del lujo en 1956 de Estados Unidos, hasta la visión del lujo en 2007 de Italia...
¡Todo un viaje y me estoy sintiendo como Volver al Futuro IV (donde IV significa dosis Intra Venosa de seudo-comedia de ciencia ficción majadera, de los 80s =PPPPP)!...
Detesto Volver al Futuro y no tengo ningún reparo en decirlo...
La única cosa rescatable en dicha película es el auto (basado en un DeLorean DMC-12), el resto es...
Bueno, no hablaré de cosas fastidiosas en mi blog, a menos que sea absolutamente necesario...
Italia tiene una industria automotriz fuerte, con una larga tradición (desde principios del siglo pasado) y varias marcas exquisitas de carros nacieron allí, sólo para tener una idea mencionaré: Abarth, Bertone, Bugatti, De Tomaso, Ferrari, Fiat, Iso, Lamborghini, Lancia, Maserati, Pagani y la lista continua...
Alfa Romeo es una de ellas y fue independiente hasta que fue adquirida por Fiat Group Automobiles S.p.A. en 1986.
Afortunadamente, hay todavía algunas compañías que, siendo conscientes del prestigio e historia de ciertas marcas, deciden mantenerlas vivas por el bien de los entusiastas de los coches o al menos eso parece...
Uno de los modelos recientes creados por Alfa Romeo es precisamente el 159, que reemplazaría al anterior 156, pero fue en realidad un paso adelante.
El 159 tuvo una vida más bien corta, de 2005 a 2011, pero aún es mercadeado en algunos países.
En un mundo donde todo parece cambiar rápido, las marcas / modelos de vida corta son comunes, pero llámenme vieja guardia si quieren, porque prefiero las marcas de "largo aliento".
El auto estaba destinado a atender el segmento de lujo de tamaño mediano, pero puesto que fue desarrollado durante una joint venture de Fiat-GM, la plataforma fue cambiada a la Premium (que supongo es la equivalente a la Serie 5 de BMW o la Clase E de Mercedes-Benz).
Esta plataforma es más larga y más pesada que la del modelo anterior así que, el nuevo modelo 159 fue ampliamente mejorado en seguridad pasiva, pero el desempeño fue ligeramente "castigado".
Eso podría ser una desventaja para Alfa Romeo, puesto que tiene una gran reputación en las carreras de autos y en la fabricación de costosos coches deportivos, pero deberían recordar que este es un carro de la Clase Ejecutiva por lo que, las prioridades son la comodidad y la seguridad.
Como un auto italiano, de Alfa Romeo, presenta un diseño soberbio de Giorgetto Giugiaro, que es suave como seda, pero feroz como pantera.
Tiene disponibles dos estilos de carrocería: la Saloon (sedán 4 puertas) y la Sportwagon (camioneta 5 puertas).
El surtido de motores comenzaba con uno de 1.75 L, I4 t/c gasolina (TBi) y terminaba con uno de 2.4 L I5 t/c diesel (JTDm), pero dado que esta es la sensual Station Wagon de Lujo de Tamaño Completo Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon de 2007, la opción obligatoria para el motor debe ser uno de 3.2 L, V6 petrol-gasolina (JTS), con 4WD (tracción en las 4 ruedas) y mejor con la caja de cambios de 6 velocidades.
Aquí vamos con otro modelo de Kyosho, en la forma de una camioneta deportiva.
Estoy nuevamente muy complacido con el extraordinario nivel de detalle en esta escala, logrado por esta marca japonesa (¡incluso los limpiabrisas están moldeados!) y la silueta de esta Alfa está fielmente retratada.
El trabajo de pintura en plata y la tampografía son inmaculados, lo que es muy difícil de encontrar, también los interiores en negro y los rimes son extremadamente precisos (¡si ellos pudieran ofrecer apertura de puertas o capó, serían sencillamente perfectos!).
Obviamente incluye llantas de caucho, base de exhibición con el nombre del modelo marcado y una grandiosa tarjeta coleccionable a todo color.
Dan 2:20-22: "Y Daniel habló y dijo: sea bendito el Nombre de DIOS de siglos en siglos, porque suyos son el Poder y la Sabiduría. El muda los tiempos y las edades; quita reyes, y pone reyes; da la sabiduría a los sabios, y la ciencia a los entendidos. Él revela lo profundo y lo escondido; conoce lo que está en tinieblas, y con él mora la luz."
Y las maravillas continuarán... =)
ENGLISH
Yeah, a travel in time... And space...
From the 1956’s vision of luxury in united States, to the 2007’s vision of luxury in Italy...
Quite a trip and I’m feeling like coming Back to the Future IV (where IV stands for Intra Venous dose of silly sci-fi pseudo-comedy, from the 80s =PPPPP)!...
I hate Back to the Future and I don’t have any qualms into say it...
The only thing salvageable in such movie is the car (based on a DeLorean DMC-12), the rest is...
Well, I will not talk about bothersome stuff in my blog, unless it’s absolutely necessary...
Italy has a strong automotive industry, with a long tradition (since the beginning of the last century) and several exquisite car brands was born there, just to have an idea i will mention: Abarth, Bertone, Bugatti, De Tomaso, Ferrari, Fiat, Iso, Lamborghini, Lancia, Maserati, Pagani and the list continue...
Alfa Romeo is one of them and it was independent until it was acquired by Fiat Group Automobiles S.p.A. in 1986.
Fortunately, there are still some companies that, being aware of the prestige and history of certain brands, decide to keep them alive for the sake of the car’s enthusiasts or at least it looks like...
One of the recent models created by Alfa Romeo is precisely the 159, which would replace the previous 156, but was indeed a step forward.
The 159 had a rather short life, from 2005 to 2011, but it’s still marketed in some countries.
In a world where everything seems to change fast, the short life brands / models are common, but call me an old school if you want, because I prefer the "long breath" brands.
The car was intended to cater the medium size luxury segment, but since it was developed during a Fiat-GM joint venture, the platform was changed to the Premium (which I guess is the equivalent to the 5 Series by BMW or the E Class by Mercedes-Benz).
This platform is larger and heavier that that of the previous model so, the new 159 model was greatly enhanced in passive safety, but the performance was slightly "punished".
That could be a drawback for Alfa Romeo, since it has a great reputation in the car racing and the manufacturing of expensive sport cars, but you should remember that this is an Executive Class car so, the priorities are the comfort and safety.
As an Italian car, by Alfa Romeo, it features a superb design by Giorgetto Giugiaro, which is smooth like silk, but ferocious like panther.
It has two body styles available: the Saloon (4-door sedan) and the Sportwagon (5-door station wagon).
The assortment of engines available began with a 1.75 L, I4 t/c petrol-gasoline (TBi) and ended with a 2.4 L I5 t/c diesel (JTDm), but since this is the sensual 2007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon Full Size Luxury Station Wagon, the mandatory option for the engine must be the 3.2 L, V6 petrol-gasoline (JTS), with 4WD and better with a 6-speed manual transmission.
Here we go with another model by Kyosho, in the form of a sporty station wagon.
I’m very pleased again with the extraordinary level of detail in this scale achieved by this Japanese brand (even the wipers are molded !!!) and the shape of this Alfa is faithfully portrayed.
The silver paint job and tampos are immaculate, which is very difficult to find, also the interiors in black and the wheels design are extremely accurate (if they could make opening doors or hood, these would be plain perfect!).
Obviously it includes rubber tires, display base marked with the name of the model and a great full color trading card.
Dan 2:20-22 "Daniel answered and said: blessed be the Name of GOD forever and ever: for Wisdom and Might are His. And He changeth the times and the seasons: He removeth kings, and setteth up kings: He giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding. He revealeth the deep and secret things: He knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with Him."
And the wonders will continue... =)
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6 comments:
Alfa Romeo brand is really quite a "niche" in South East Asia and usually not many people would want them because after the 3rd or 4th years of using such cars you will end up in deep shit try to look for the spare parts and accessories replacement. You end up have to order it from overseas and it's gonna cost your arms and legs. I'm not a big fan of "wagon" or "estate cars" (as the British call it) with the exception of a model from Subaru Imprezza STi simply because it has 4 wheel drive and powerful turbo engine which is quite pleasing for a speed lover like me. I guess for typical family man who wanted to go out for a picnic or travelling with his dog, this kind of car should be fine. As for the die cast model, I think it's pretty nice and neat, nothing to complain what so ever.
i didn’t know that the after-sales service of this brand were so disappointing in the asian countries... and even worse, because Fiat (the owner of Alfa Romeo) is a big multinational company and this is a luxury brand... but if you want exclusivity, you should pay the price and the owners of these cars must have a fat wallet anyway... on the other hand, this is a luxury sportwagon, but actually has a more than decent powertrain so, is not lazy at all, it has the option of 4WD as well and its design is quite more exquisite than that of the Impreza... if i had the money (big money) to afford it, i would buy one of them gladly, since it has direct representation here in my country... =)
In fact the case is almost similar for all European brands except for the big/popular names like Mercedes, BMW, Audi and maybe Porsche. Brand like Alfa Romeo, Maserati, Arbath, Skoda or anything else can be quite tricky unless of coz if money and time is not a problem to you. Sometimes even the American brand can be the same.
The problem in South East Asia is that they tend to have only "sales agent" who are only interested to sell the car, get rid of the stock ASAP and make profit but they never ever think about after sales service and support
For example, let's say we use South America as a model...
You probably can buy this "ABC car" from the sales agent in Bolivia or Peru or Chile but in fact the main authorized agent who have the actual after sales support is in Brazil or Argentina.
So 3 or 4 years down the road, you need to replace the timing belt for example, so you go back to the sales agent and they will act like you are asking for NASA rocket parts and if you are lucky maybe sometimes they will say, they can help you order the parts from Brazil or Argentina - asking you to pay all the charges up front (and in which they will marked up the price anyway), and then you have to wait till the items arrived and then once you have it, you may have to find a workshop that willing to do the job and sometimes they screwed up and your car get worst LOL
Which is why in here, Japanese brand can be like heaven, you can still get spare parts for Japanese cars of 1980's far more easily than to get a parts for a more modern European cars.
But lately, the Korean cars, Hyundai and Kia seems to be doing well that they slowly stealing the market share of Japanese brand and if the Japanese stay boring as they are, someday, the Korean can be the king in here.
Nowadays, it's more than just about reliability, consumer also demand great style, looks and long list of featuresas well as after sales support while the Japanese still stick to their 1990's module of "reliability" is the most important thing above anything else....
it seems you know a lot about the car market in your region, HUH !!!... you made me remember the case of brands like Volga (russian), some models by Fiat and even a few models by Dodge here in my country... they imported and offered models which not only lacked of a good after-sales service (or they had not any after-sales service at all), but their cars had a poor/very poor QC and hence, these were more under repair than working... probably for that very reason, Fiat returned to our country, after a hiatus, taking care both of the quality of their products and the after-sales service, not to mention Dodge, Volga never returned (their cars are very outdated in comparison with the global market and i think that’s the case everywhere)...
i can afford to say that we have a varied offer of brands from different regions, except by the cars from Australia, countries from the ex-U.S.S.R. and some countries of Europe...
i have seen a few european super sport cars rolling down our streets, but these are imported by order and as far as i know, the post-sales service is limited to a few years (5 or so)... i guess it must be a matter of big money and extravagance, because the costs to buy them and pay the maintenance are astronomical anyway...
our market has matured and we demand quality products and a reliable post-sales service, like everywhere else... recently, cars from China arrived and most buyers were reluctant to invest in products with little longevity in the market... it seems that the representatives of these brands were careful enough to invest both in the cars themselves and the spare parts so, in general terms, the chinese vehicles are gaining certain reputation for reliability... =)
Nice even paint job and the sleek design. I always think Alfa Romeo logo is attractively cool. But heard from friends that their car gets overheated easily at areas of warm climate such as my country.
the hot and humid climate is always an issue for almost any kind of cars (except those made of fiberglass or carbon fiber, i guess) and the engines of the sport vehicles usually work at a high temperature which, along with the hot weather is an "evil coctel" LOL... the italian cars are renowned by their exquisite design and Alfa Romeo definitely is not the exception, this Kyosho diecast truly does justice to the original model !!!... =)
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