Jilted Italian woman 'vandalised 60 Alfa Romeos to get back at ex'

ananova ^ | 2-4-03

[Dan from Michigan]

Jilted Italian woman 'vandalised 60 Alfa Romeos to get back at ex'

An Italian woman has been arrested for allegedly vandalising 60 Alfa Romeo cars because they reminded her of her ex-lover.

Police say the 28-year-old woman told officers she damaged the cars because her former boyfriend drives the same make and model.

She is accused of going on a two month wrecking spree, armed with a pair of scissors and scratching the bodywork and slashing the tyres of the cars.

Officers arrested the woman after setting up surveillance on Alfa Romeos parked in the town of Rovereto, near Trento, in northern Italy.

Police say she claimed she did it because the cars reminded her of her former boyfriend, and it was her way of getting even with him.

Prosecutor Marco Gallina says the woman has been placed under house arrest, and will be charged with damaging the cars as well as attacking the officers who arrested her.

[wardaddy]

Good for her!!!

I owned a Milano Verde in the late 80s....absolute P.O.S....and that's saying something....I now have a land Rover Discovery so I KNOW about er...."problematic cars".

[Eric in the Ozarks]

You went from Italian to English ? Painfull move, eh ?
(the old Alfas with Magnetti Marelli ignition were pretty good)

[CommerceComet]

Out of 60 Alfas, probably only 2 will run at any given time. They sure make some pretty cars in Italy, even if they run like garbage.

[battlecry]

Come on, along with the grief (and believe me, I know) you must have had more smiles with the Verde.

[zlala]

Reminds me of the time when the ex-wife of one of my high school's vice-principles beat the crud out of his corvette with a baseball bat...while it was parked at the high school. This was when she wasn't beating up women (who she thought was having affairs with her then hubby) in the bathroom of the grocery store she worked at. What a gal! Can't remember how many ex-students he's been married to now. Oh, the good ol' high school years.

[billorites]

Hell hath no fury...

[wardaddy]

I owned spartan old Land Rovers in the third world and loved them and acquired an emotional attachment to them. The new Discos are not the same animal although my 95 model gets around the mud at deer camp very well. One simply resolves to keep them running forever or sell them and buy another. I wish I had a Defender ragtop or an older Series model....maybe later.

I bought the Alfa for my wife....a major lemon.

[wardaddy]

Indeed, if offered my choice of a nice Porsche or a sexy Italian roadcar, I'd opt for Teutonic engineering and reliability anyday...even if a wee bit slower.

With 4 kids....I'm just daydreaming on that btw.

[FourtySeven]

Something about those Italian women......I'll tell you what.......I don't know if it's the marinara sauces or the years spent in Catholic schools, but get them just a LITTLE bit angry, and watch OUT!

[Cicero]

Well, I wouldn't be too critical of her if she smashed up her ex's car in the heat of passion, but it's a bit extreme to wreck 60 other people's cars just because they happened to drive an Alfa.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

I recall the old Land Rovers from the 1960's. Someone said the front and rear axels were interchangeable but I never saw proof of this. In the late 1960's, we started seeing Toyota Land Cruisers, the Japanese version of the Rover. What an improvement it was over anything from the UK or Jeep. Towing capacity was a little light but otherwise, it was everything the Rover wasn't.
A friend in high school had a horse farm and they always bought V-8 Jeeps Wagoneers to pull their four horse trailer. His dad's standard line when shopping for the next Wagoneer was to ask the salesman, "they haven't cured the water leaks and wind whistles on the new ones yet?" "OK, gimme a blue one."

[firebrand]

I thought it was over the top when my cousin slashed the tires on her husband's girlfriend's car.

[dighton]

Something about those Italian women . . . . get them just a LITTLE bit angry, and watch OUT!

I've heard rumors to that effect.

;-)

[FourtySeven]

hehe

[joebuck]

"Something about those Italian women......I'll tell you what.......I don't know if it's the marinara sauces or the years spent in Catholic schools, but get them just a LITTLE bit angry, and watch OUT!"

Having been married to an Italian woman for 26 years I can verify that the above statement is absolutely true. The good part is that they (or at least my wife) get it out of their system after the temper eruption and move on, rather than stewing over things for weeks or months.

[muleskinner]

the front and rear axels were interchangeable but I never saw proof of this.

I own a '62 Series 2A. The differentials are interchangable. The axel shafts are not. The rears are straight, one side shorter. The fronts have a U-joint in them for steering.

I used to own GTV-6 - O.K but hi-maint., Milano Verde - looked goofy, but ran fine,stuck to road. '82 Spider - O.K., '68 Giulia Super - Great car, shouldn't have sold it. A 5-speed and 4 wheel discs in '68. years ahead of others.

[Kenny Bunk]

Wardaddy,
never, ever buy a car with the same name as a chocolate cookie!

After all, Nabisco didn't name any of their cookies "The Alfa Romeo," even if major components snapped in two when wet and had a certain crumbly quality.

However, the facts cause me to disagree with your assessment of the Alfa Romeo. I have owned several Alfa Romeo vehicles, many FIATS, Jaguars of all kinds, several MG vehicles, a Renault, and a newer model Land Rover! The horrible mechanical reputation these fine machines have in America is entirely undeserved and the work of nativist chauvinist know-nothings.

Each and every one of these brilliant examples of Euro-Engineering was capable of running for many, many days out of every month, and literally many dozens of miles without requiring service or major parts of any kind beyond the normal daily maintenance as recommended in their owner's manuals.

It is obvious your problem with the Alfa was you, Cookie.

[TC Rider]

I bet you sleep on broken glass and razor blades too!

[Eric in the Ozarks]

I liked the old Alfas...64-67 Gulia's, but never owned one. I have owned three Jaguars, a big Healy and a couple of Limey bikes. Two of the Jags were from 1966. A blue roadster and a white coupe. Also briefly owned a 1960 XK 150 S with the gold head engine and Moss-Lycock deNormanville 4 speed-overdrive transmission. I learned a lot about mechanics from these old dogs.