Now that we're in an 80s mood, let's keep our Members Only jackets and Vuarnet shades on for one more day! By 1989, Alfa Romeos just weren't flying off the showroom floors (though we can assume they were limping into the dealerships' service bays). In what appears to have been a desperation move, the Alfa marketing wizards decided to capitalize on that really popular Dustin Hoffman movie, swapping out the "Spider" emblems for "Graduate" ones on their North American cars. After all, while the Alfa in the film runs out of gas, it doesn't actually experience any mechanical problems.

Sadly, the rebranding move wasn't so successful, and Alfa Romeo retreated- temporarily- from North America just a few years later.


I wish I could find more street-parked old Italian cars on the island, but (other than the '66 Lancia) all we've got is a few Graduates. I've seen some more exotic Italian machinery roaring around the island's streets, but all of it seems to live in garages.


This car serves as somebody's daily driver, which is medium-impressive for a nearly-20-year-old Italian car.

Send an email to Murilee Martin, the author of this post, at murilee@jalopnik.com.