There I was. I showed up at my parents' doorstep one day, struggling to get out of the stork's knapsack. Certainly, there were signs of my arrival but no one expected this newborn to rush towards dad's new Giulia Super immediately upon getting a fresh set of diapers. Dad was new to Alfa Romeos back then. His friend had bought a snazzy new GT Junior which mummy had been eyeing. Not to be outdone, yet being the practical man that he is, he settled on the four-door brethen. We'd go for afternoon car rides after dad came back from work, which according to my mum, I loved. There were no baby seats back then, and I was content on being on mummy's lap, watching dad blow away Volvo 144's. Seen here in my world famous "Michelin Man" outfit, I was truly enamored with dad's car.
Well, soon enough the 1.3 litre twin cam engine, producing 103hp (quite impressive by any stretch of the imagination) was just not good enough. Dad wanted "more power". Rather than modifying the Giulia, his master mechanic at the time recommended he upgrade to the bigger brother. This seemed reasonable to dad (well, more reasonable to him than to mum). As my mum put it to me, "one day, we were at City Motors when your dad came out of the showroom stating that we were going to buy a new car." "In the same breath, he said 'come on dear, help me move all of our stuff into the new car.' Just like that! He had bought the Berlina 1750 on the spot." And so it was to be our next Alfa, which I just had to pose in front of.
		The 1750 Berlina was the fastest Alfa we'd ever had, and continued to be until the mid-80's. However, with new additions to the family (I was joined by my sister and a couple of years later by my brother), and no thanks to the mid 70's gas crisis, the Berlina had to go. Still, not having an Alfa was not an option. Luckilly, Alfa had just the car for us, the Alfasud L. I even remember following my dad in the Berlina's final voyage to pick up the brand new Alfasud at the regional distributor. As nicely as it handled, boy was the original 'Sud s-l-o-w. It also rusted quite a bit just a few years after ownership.
It wasn't until 1982 before dad recovered from the initial financial shock of having a new family with all the rights and privileges. That year, he showed up unannounced with our Alfasud's successor, the Alfetta 2.0. My brother, Zamani, had also got caught up with this whole affair the family had with Alfa Romeos. His instincts were dead on when he innocently mentioned that it was odd dad would take a plane to a city 400 miles away and then not ask us to pick him up at the airport later. A year after that, dad presented my mum with Sprint Veloce 1.5 (the twin-carbed version). My mum really loved her Sprint Veloce. It was a hit with all the her co-workers at work. I remember a male friend of hers ask if "she was prowling again, now that the kids are all grown up." Sure, mum was prowling alright, but it ain't for men. Mum, I swear you have the heaviest right foot available in a size 5 women's.
		Five years passed before anything eventful happened again in the stable. I was in High School, and my sister had just begun Jr. High, when dad summoned me on a secret mission. "We need something faster," said dad. The over-boring and headwork on the Alfetta was not quite enough, he continued. So unbeknownst to the rest of the family, my dad and I met up with a 1984 GTV6 in KL, and spent the better part of the evening driving it back home. Boy was this sucker fast. It sounded glorious. It was red. Dad, you're TOO COOL. This was also our first fuel injected Alfa, and truly, we'd never heard of a rev limiter, until we tried to do 7,000rpm passing a really slow truck on a windy country road. The V6 howl was so much smoother than the rasp of the 2.0-litre four than we didn't realize how fast the engine was turning!
The GTV6 quickly became my mum's, graduating from her two door coupe into a VERY FAST two door coupe. And while the GTV6 easily ferried the 5 (yes five) of us - we are, uh, petite people - on long distance excursions, dad still didn't have his new Alfa. We sold the Alfetta to my uncle Joe, and the Sprint to a neighbor, to welcome a 1984 Giulietta 2.0. The Giulietta was a bitter buy for my dad. While he did find a good example, the car was a disappointment overall. It rode harshly, had continuous electrical problems and when I myself "borrowed" it on prom night, I found that it topped out at 100mph (161Km/h) - 5000rpm in fifth. Even our old Berlina could do 118mph! Dad sold the car just a year after buying it.
With all these Alfas in my past, especially in my younger days, it's hard not to see how owning and driving these automobiles have become an obsessive hobby for me (and my brother as well). In the nineties, the Alfas that continue to make way into our garage(s) would be rightly paid by and owned not only by the original culprits, but by their offspring as well.