Alfasuds and 33's online in the UK, have emailed me that the Alfa ARNA, which used a series 2 Nissan Pulsar body with Alfasud / 33 Mechanicals are setting up an ARNA club known as the Arnafisti.
The Alfa ARNA was also marketed as the Nissan Cherry Europe, was built between 1983-1985 in the Alfasud/33 Factory at Pomigliarno De Arco in Southern Italy, using Alfa Mechanicals in an Italian made Nissan Cherry body.
Only 5 examples of this dismal failure are known to exist in the UK, if you know of any, please let Peter know at Alfasuds online, are there any in Australia?.
When Fiat took over Alfa Romeo this marriage ended, the Nissan body panels still rusted, must have been still using that Russian steel, had a distant relative who had one in Italy, she was pleased to see the end of it, Colin.
Colin I saw one about ten years ago in Bendigo the people were poms and brought it in with them, they are a pulsar in every way except for the single carb sud motor and gearbox, just didnt look right
Ray, i am sure they used Alfa Romeo suspension, because they had to change the suspension pickup points to get it to handle like an Alfa Romeo, not a Nissan Pulsar, it was Alfa Romeo's way of making a car that didn't rust, [it did], and it was a way of Nissan getting into Italy's protected open market, like with General Motors getting into the Italian market with their Benzina Engines powering Alfa Romeo 159's, Colin.
Colin I think you are right steering rack and struts were sud , I think but it was a long time ago
We talked Arna in another thread recently, so I looked it up. All the front suspension including the front crossmember was from the Sud/33. I believe they added a box section in the engine bay like the Sud. Rear axle remained Nissan.
I do remember having this conversation with Alfasud driver Stephen Thomas, that he told me about, when it was Nissan and it became Alfa Romeo they changed the pickup points on the suspension, and when the Pulsar in 1983 become the Holden Astra, they left the suspension pickups where Nissan put them, in Italy they got an Alfa 33 motor and gearbox, in Australia, the Nissan Pulsar and Holden Astra got the Family 2 Camira motor, then about 25 years later the 159 got the 2.2 petrol motor that was developed from the Camira, Colin.
With the Nissan - Alfa Romeo ARNA experience being a total failure, due to it having poor quality control and [still] rusting issues, i wonder how the Mazda MX5 - Alfa Romeo Spider project will go?
With the MX5 being a great car and it being built in Japan, it should tick all the right boxes, but will Alfa Romeo drivers accept a Alfa built in Japan, its a pity they couldn't have arranged CKD assembly in Italy, as the build quality is much better now, than in the days of shipshod days of the ARNA, but you have to remember, in the days of 83-87, Alfa Romeo nee the Italian Goverment were broke.
Alfa Romeo Dealers must be hanging out for some added product to sell along the MiTo and Guilietta, Colin.
Colin, rusting aside did the Alfa Romeo ARNA drive ok?
It was like a series 2 Nissan Pulsar or 83 onwards Holden Astra, not a bad car at all for its day, they didn't rust like the Italian cars, in Australia we got the Camira engine for local content, missing out on the Japanese Nissan engine, the ARNA was actually a little quicker than the same Alfasud or 33 with the same motor as the ARNA was a little lighter than the Alfa's, having the boxer motor would have been better than the Family 2 motor as it has a nice beat and engine note to it, some say it was the worst Alfa Romeo ever, i would love to see one in the flesh, or see one turn up at Spectacolo in November, Colin.
The people in the commercial were very excited about the ARNA even if no one else was.
Quote from: Garibaldi on June 20, 2013, 08:25:40 PM
Colin, rusting aside did the Alfa Romeo ARNA drive ok?
In a word, no. I drove one in NZ, while it might have been lighter than a 33 it felt heavier on its feet and didn't handle as well with none of the brio or precision, just felt soggier. Yet it looked like a Pulsar. Worst of both worlds, it was a bad idea executed badly. Engine was still Alfa flat-four zingy though.
And another oddity - I'm prepared to accept I'm wrong here, but I'd swear that it had Sud column stalks :-\
Interesting piccies in this thread: http://www.alfabb.com/bb/forums/boxer-engined-alfa-romeos/183489-last-arna-1-5-ti.html
L40ROMEO, i looked at an interior picture of a ARNA, and it looks like it has SUD Steering wheel and combination switch, steering wheel good, combination switch, disaster, the switches start to give trouble after about 12 months, i used to recondition the Sud switches and always had a changeover one ready to put in mine, they should have used 33 switches, reliable and well built, but the Sud didn't run relays and the switches would carry the load and the contacts would burn and spark, you could tell when one was on the way out....by the smell, Colin.
Yeah that's right Col, it did have the deep-dished wheel with the flat inner-edge from later Sud/Sprint models. And if I remember correctly the switches were indeed sagging....
The sagging was a minor problem compared to those combination switches, and to replace them on a Sud, you have to pull the instruments out as the multi pinned plugs, connect behind them, and they do too many things, such as horn and heater fan controls, used to drill the rivets out and replace them with mushroom head screws, it was because you couldn't buy them new anymore, and i used to buy second hand ones, you can now buy them new, they sometimes come up for sale on ebay, for about $400, 33 switches are much better and easier to replace.
Back to the ARNA, seems there are about 3 left in the UK, rust ended their life,as most Alfa Romeo's of that era, i wonder apart from the one in Bendigo, that Ray mentioned, are there any in Australia?, Colin.
From one of my favourite books, 'The Worlds Worst Cars', by Craig Cheetam.
Under the title of 'Misplaced Marques' and badge engineering, we look at the Alfa Arna.
Alfa Romeo is one of the finest names in motoring history. Steeped in romantic tradition, the Italian firm has produced some of the most beautiful cars of all time. Unfortunately they also produced this. The Arna is pherhaps the biggest blot on the company's copybook, and was a classic case of desperate times meaning desperate measures. With huge depths and a reputation ruined by the Alfasud, which crumbled at the first sign of rain, the Arna was the last - ditched attempt to win back customers.
Alfa kept the 'Suds' boxer motor and decided the best place to house it would be the bodyshell of a Nissan Cherry, assuming that the Japanese firm's reputation for reliability would win favour. Sadly it forgot about the cherry's awfull dull styling, and engine and electrics still came from Alfa, the car broke down with alarming regularity. It was also sold as the Nissan Cherry Europe, which was even worse, Colin.
I had a vague memory that an Arna was class winner in the UK Alfa championship. Took some googling, but here's a reference.
Quote"Most people take the view that the Arna was a project that Alfa should never have
embarked on. Basically, the idea was to find a home for an over-production of 1186cc,
and later the 1351cc and 1500cc flat four engines. Nissan had a suitable shell in the
Cherry Europe and the two were put together for final assembly at the Pomigliano
d'Arco plant near Naples. The car was sold through both the Alfa Romeo and Nissan
dealer networks, and by the time the final version - a 3 door 1.5 Ti came into being in
1985 the balance had switched to more being sold as Nissans than Alfas.
What nobody might have expected was that the Arna would become a quite
successful race car in the UK, notably winning the Alfa Championship outright in 1997
and 1998 with Dave Streather at the wheel. Other successful Arna drivers included
Nick Baughn and Shane Crumpler. Nick enjoyed a season long battle in 1993 with the
33's of Martin Parsons, Paul Smith and the Sud Ti's of Graham Heels and Phil
Snelling to take Class F while Shane won Class C in 1999. Former champion Ian
Johnson switched to one for a short while before it was badly damaged at Oulton Park
early in the 1994 season. Ian Wilson and Phil Snelling also raced examples at various
times, Phil having a lone run at Cadwell with a 1.3 version."
from http://www.alfaracer.com/Michael_Lindsays_Notebook/Michael_Notebook_May_2012.pdf
What a ripper! Crumpler isn't a bad name for a race driver I must say.
When the ARNA was produced there was a voluntary limit on the number of Japanese cars sold in Europe. So cars like the ARNA allowed Japanese manufactures to bypass these. Another example was the Triumph Acclaim (Honda Ballade) produced in the UK.
And from the book, The Worlds Worst Cars, more quotes about the Arna.
"The Arna's cabin was no more exciting than the dull bodywork, the dashboard was standard Nissan Cherry fare, made from cheap feeling plastic, the only saving grace being a sporty Alfa rev counter".
"Power came from Alfa's proven boxer engine, which at least had some sporting charcter, Italian buyers dissaproved, though, beliving that an Alfa engine should only ever appear in an Alfa car, and many of the cars were stripped to restore rotten Alfasuds".
"Part of the reason Alfa teamed up with Nissan was to avoid the rot problems that had plagued the marque throughout the 1970's, but it turned out the Cherry bodyshell was little better than Alfa's own, and rust problems were still rife, especially around the doors and wheel arches".
"The back of an Alfa Romeo Arna, was something many owners were glad to see after they owned one for a couple of years", Colin.
And here is some more evidence for the prosecution, from the excellent book, 'TOTAL LEMONS', One hundred and eleven heroic failures of motoring, by Tony Davis.
Alfa Romeo Arna - The odd Coupling.
Despite anything you may unkindly think, Arna was not the Roman God of poor panel fit or popped engine seals. It was an acronym of Alfa Romeo and Nissan Automotive and was the name given to a car that looked like a Nissan Pulsar with a Alfa grille. The year was 1983 and Alfa and Nissan each thought they had a good reason to jump in the sack and spawn this unique Japanese - Italian 'thorough - hybrid'. The Arna gave Nissan access to Italy's car market, [which was then mostly closed to imports], while the financially challeneged Alfa gained finacial assistance from the Far East plus metal you couldn't see through after six months. But the car itself, which promised to bring together the best of both worlds, instead managed to combine Nissan's flair and road manners with Alfa's build quality and reliability.
The body panels - many of which were produced in Japan - were screwed together in Italy and the vehicle was fitted with an Alfa grille and a 1.2 litre version of the Alfa boxer engine. The Arna had a English sister, too, the daftly named Nissan Cherry Europe, which 'benifited' from Alfa power.
So successful was the venture that Arna became a household name. The household in question was located next to the Arna plant in Pratola Serra near Avellino, Colin.