The rising sud

My Days  at  Cambridge Place were superb  although  we only remember the good  bits  the bad we have no spare  capacity to absorb, one  marque that Don Moore  always held in high  esteem  was Alfa  Romeo,

 

Our  visits  to  the motor  show in this era were always rounded of  by us all meeting up at the Alfa  Stand, the purity of thought  that these crafted  cars  represented encapsulated evrything that Don Moore  had held dear,  engineering masterpieces  that held  a magic of their own, although  not always  an adequate  apreciation in those  days of  the  needs of the car to  withstand  the rigours  of a British winter.

Arthur Taylor came to see me one  day at  the Tonge  Moor  workshop in Bolton he had found  an  article  with sneak previews  of the new small  car  from Alfa.taken through a hole in a fence “  as the petrol head “paparatsi do.The  car was heavily  disguised but is general size and shape was very close  to the eventual product,

 

 

It  was  his  opinion  that  this car should  sell well  in the UK and if the expertise that Alfa obviously possessed  was focused on this project it should be  a roaring success.Time  passed and as such  the current workshop was  not  suitable if  sales  were to be seriously contemplated .

To  this  end  Arthur  Taylor put forward a proposal that if an agency could  be secured  he would 

Like  to fund  the relocation to a purpose-built operation.  He  would  run  this as MD using the expertise and knowledge of the rest of the “Westune team  for  support 

The wheels  were set in motion and negotiations commenced with Alfa GB  as it was then at Staples Corner,London.  A  location selected and designs discussed and finalised . from the taking of the decision the whole thing was up and running in app  12 months.

 

 

 

Traditionally  we always  got new models app 12 months after the Italian launch  several reasons  were put  forward  I  think It was the  relative annoyance that the RHD  cars presented  to the factory that caused  this delay.The  alteration of all  production   systems   for the physical  production of cars that had a potential of being such a small  proportion of the total  numbers produced.was  rather an  annoyance to  the factory

The  unit  in  North Manchester  built by Arthur Taylor specifically for the sales & service of Alfa Romeo cars and spares The newly imported Alfa Suds on the forecourt along with Berlina and Bertone Gtvs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.The Sud  however was one of the first Alfas  designed with  ambidextrous operation in mind at the inception.The first cars were in the pipeline and duly  arrived , in time  for the National launch  at the  Alveston Manor Hotel  Stratford –on- Avon.  From where we  were to bring back our  demonstration models.