The Alfa Romeo Arna is easily one of the biggest automotive mistakes of the 1980s. It was launched at the 1983 Frankfurt Motor Show, and you can imagine the disappointment on people’s faces, as the cover was drawn away from the car.
It is easily the worst and blandest Alfa Romeo ever made and it is unworthy, we say, to have ever worn the Alfa badge. This acute blandness was a direct result of a collaboration between Alfa Romeo and Nissan. The Arna (short for Alfa Romeo Nissan Autoveicoli) was merely a rebadged Nissan Pulsar (or Cherry) - a great sacrilege, if you were to ask ‘the purists’.
However, as Jeremy Clarkson put it, this car was even worse for one more reason: instead of being styled by the Italians and engineered by the Japanese, this car was exactly the other way round - it was boxy, characterless and dull, while also having some of the worst electronics ever fitted to a production car. If you are looking for an Alfa Romeo from the period, stay away from the Arna and get yourself a nice 33, instead.
However, as Jeremy Clarkson put it, this car was even worse for one more reason: instead of being styled by the Italians and engineered by the Japanese, this car was exactly the other way round - it was boxy, characterless and dull, while also having some of the worst electronics ever fitted to a production car. If you are looking for an Alfa Romeo from the period, stay away from the Arna and get yourself a nice 33, instead.