Alfa Romeo In 1968, they purchased the “Fábrica Nacional de Motores” in Duque de Caxias, just south of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Heavy trucks were built in this factory for both the Brazilian and the entire South American market. In addition, they also built a luxury car: the FNM2150, which was actually the Alfa Romeo Berlina. 2000, built under license. The car had a 2,3-liter 130 hp four-cylinder engine, reached a top speed of 175 km/h, and needed 11,5 seconds to sprint from 0 to 100.
The story goes that a German car importer saw something in this distinctive Alfa, unlike Alfa Romeo itself in Italy, and decided to import 1000 examples. These 1000 units apparently sat on a lot for quite some time first, and also spent a while in the harbor where they were exposed to the salty air, before they were actually shipped to Germany. So, ultimately, you could buy an Alfa Romeo Rio in the late seventies, but it had already had a tough time without having driven a single meter. And we all know that Alfas from that era were not built from the finest steel. We do not know whether these 1000 examples actually found buyers among Alfa enthusiasts at the time.
In any case, we have never seen one driving around here, but we think it is quite a handsome model. Anyone who knows more about this model or has photos: please share!
I had one in 1984; it did indeed come from Brazil, from the port.
It was just like a tank
It did have a bad gearbox and rattled when reversing.
I certainly had some adventures with it and attracted a lot of attention.
As an Alfa Romeo representative for the LIAM company in Leiden, I had the opportunity to drive it as a demonstration car. The car had been sitting in a harbor in Brazil for months and was filthy from sitting down, right down to the carburetor. Rarely have I attracted so much attention with an Alfa! For me, the most unique and largest Alfa from my past as a car representative!