Alfa Romeo 2300
Car of the Day #232: 1974 Alfa Romeo 2300 – Imported from Brazil
On one hand, you're looking at an enlarged Alfa Romeo Alfetta that was developed by the company's Brazilian subsidiary, FNM.
On the other, you have a car that was once the most expensive Brazilian-made car in Brazil — the early ’80s were a strange time — that some pundits said was just as well-built as that era’s luxury cars from Germany.
I have chosen the car because, as you may imagine, I am especially attracted to the losers of the automotive industry.
Seeing the potential in offering cars for the Brazilian market, Alfa Romeo hatched a plan to design a model in Italy, test it in Brazil, and have local production figure out the rest. From prototype (1971) to production (1974), project 102/12 was then unveiled as ‘The imported manufactured in Brazil’, (‘O importado fabricado no Brasil’).
Its engine is based on one from the Alfa Romeo 1900, which at the time was old enough to vote; the 2300 was first marketed in 1974. Ouch. As with many of the examples from Brazil, the car was found on the wrong side of a government ruling…this time, fuel.
European import Alfa Romeo 2300 ‘RIO’ • via Alfa Romeo
Ethanol was beginning to take hold as the fuel of choice in Brazil, and though the Brazilian-made 2300 was exempt from a number of the restrictions placed on its mid-sized near-luxury competition, its gasoline-only powerplant and high price was a barrier to many, despite the car’s gargantuan 100 liter (26.4 U.S. gal) fuel tank!
Eventually, a version called the Alcool/Ti was unveiled. Didn’t help.
Ever hopeful of, well, selling more cars, about 600 2300 models were given an additional ‘Rio’ badge for the trunk lid and shipped to customers in Europe, putting the importer in between a rock and a hard place.
- First, against its competition, the vehicle was undesirable.
- Second, the shipping cost from Brazil to Europe wiped out some of the profit margin.
- Third, the cars were so unpalatable as to sit, unsold, for years next to the sea.
“About 600 cars were shipped over to Holland, and only a handful of 2300 RIOs were ever sold. The remaining stock of unsold examples stayed with the importer for three years. Parked next to the coast, the constant salt and wind buffeting did not aide the 2300 RIOs already lacking allure.
“For the cars that did sell, there were no spare parts, which was maybe a good thing. This gave the importers the opportunity to strip some of their stock for spare parts backup. This at least resolved some of the problem, but there were still hundreds of examples left.”
OK, the 2300 does look like a fun racing car, despite its size. • source unknown
Is this why we, as humans, build cars?
To produce undesirable product that amounts to, simply waste: wasted time, wasted resources, wasted talent — and for the poor schmucks that bought an Alfa Romeo 2300 Rio when new — wasted money.
“Better them than us,” quoth the auto execs?
To think that we can put a great industrial production line into motion and spit out objects that few want is…unfortunate.
(Pour one out for anyone still spelling K-I-Z-A-S-H-I at the parts counter.)
Marketing materials for the Alfa Romeo 2300 • Alfa Romeo
Back in Brazil, it received a number of updates, and ended up known as the Alfa Romeo ‘85’, with the trim designation (ex. 2300 Ti4) denoting the car’s engine and options. The 2300/‘85’ was made until late in 1986.
Imagine that: a mass-market car somewhat related to Alfa Romeo's first mass production design (first built in 1950!), exported back to Europe as a total failure, nevertheless developed into its most highly evolved production form as the Brazil-only 2300 Ti4.
