Teatro di Napoli...

... or Alfa Spotting in Naples and other stuff.

It’s nice to know some things never change. The food in Naples is terrific, the streets are terrible, and the traffic is both terrific and terrible. All mass transportation services are plagued by periodic strikes, so combine that with narrow streets that form natural traffic choke-points, the classic ‘Neapolitanic’ yelling with wild hand gestures, and the trash that seems to be laying everywhere and you have what my Italian uncle called the "teatro di Napoli" or, the theater of Naples. It plays out everyday at a frenetic pace. (Just to let you know it’s not all bad, the new tram cars in Naples are a Pininfarina design!)

It is a most difficult environment for cars of any sort, let alone Alfa Romeos. If fact, the most reliable method of getting from point A to B is by motor scooter, and there are a lot of them here. Naples is like the Sturgis of motor scooters and they buzz around the car traffic like insects. Here, smaller truly is better unlike the reverse phenomenon we seem to be experiencing in the United States. The reason why I’m going in to all this is to help explain what I found and did not find while Alfa spotting in Naples.

Out of the cars we would recognize, I saw one series 2 Spider and two 164’s – that’s it. The bumpers, side marker lights and gauges on the Spider indicated it was originally a U.S. car. It had an immaculate red paint job and I think the driver was the owner of a barbershop, where he could keep an eye on his baby all day while it was parked next to his business. Of the 164’s, one was very beat up – the other in decent condition. There were no Milano’s, GTV-6’s, any other Spiders, old or new, nor any European model Alfas from the 80’s or earlier. What you did see were a slew of very, very beat up 33’s, a slug of moderately beat up looking 145/146’s, mostly nice looking 155/156’s, and a good majority of 147’s. There is no surprise that the 147 is the Alfa of choice in Naples since it is the most compact, but what did surprised me was that just about every one was silver in color. Most were the diesel engined "JTD’s". I saw one GTA, but I did not have my camera ready. The 156 is the sedan of choice and it is nice looking. I saw a handful of 166’s and they are very nice looking and my favorite. I also saw one or two GT’s, but again never had my camera ready. Everyone there was eagerly awaiting the new 159 model. One the whole, the new Alfa models are extremely distinctive and attractive and stand out like pearls among the turbid sea of traffic in Naples. I also managed to spot a Ferrari F-360 Modena parked in the heart of Naples. I guess you have to assume that someone that ‘foolish’ is a Mafia Don or something (not a scratch on the car!). Another car I saw in surprising numbers was the original Fiat Cinquecento. I guess if you want to make it to vintage car status in Naples you need to be small, cheap, and have large build numbers.

I guess the most important thing I learned on my Alfa spotting adventure in Naples is that the cars we all own and love back home are virtually non-existent here. I know there are many areas of Italy much more conducive to the preservation of an older Alfa and they may have a lot of them scattered around, but I couldn’t help but feel a bit of a time warp effect coming home. Sort of like going to Cuba and seeing 1957 Chevy’s everywhere. Makes you think that we need to look after the cars we have just a bit better.


Ciao Napoli...