LAFORZA DEL DESTINO

Soprano Ashley Putnam in a new four-wheel-drive U.S.-Italian co-production

Cars

MARK GINSBURG

'You really could take this Laforza to a ritzy function and feel that it's presentable," Ashley Putnam said, climbing out of the two-and-ahalf-ton, four-wheel-drive jeep. The Laforza is classified as a sport/utility vehicle, but its creators like to think of it as "the most versatile luxury automobile in the world." Putnam had been test-driving it between appearances as the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier at the Sante Fe Opera. "I've been in a lot of four-wheel-drive vehicles," she said. "I was with a guy who had a Chevy Blazer for a while, and then he bought a Jeep Cherokee Limited. I've seen them work, and I've been in some pretty precarious positions—hanging off of cliffs and things like that. So it was fun to have the Laforza. Probably the only thing I would compare it to would be a Range Rover."

The $44,000 Laforza was very much at home in tony Sante Fe, where it could rub fenders with gray-market MercedesBenz Gelaendewagens and Land Rovers, Range Rovers, Jeep Grand Wagoneers, and Toyota Land Cruisers. "This is a classy car," said Putnam, "but I wonder if it's a good idea for Italians to get into off-road vehicles. I wonder if they have that sort of expertise, or if they should stick to speed and luxury." The Laforza, like the Cadillac Allante luxury roadster, is a hybrid: bodies are manicured on the Pininfarina assembly line in Turin, next to Allantes and Ferrari Testarossas, while Italian artisans stitch up leather interior sections. These parts are then shipped to Brighton, Michigan, where they are mated to a Ford engine, transmission, and platform, and a Chrysler four-wheel-drive system.

"There were a couple of days when every time I got into the car I found a screw on the floor," Putnam reported. "I haven't owned a new car in quite some time because I travel so much, so I don't know if it's par for the course. But things just rattled away." Putnam's career has taken off primarily in European opera houses, and she will make a longawaited New York Metropolitan Opera debut in Faust later this season. She's become inured to the unexpected in Italian theaters, so had a relaxed attitude toward the Laforza's quality control. "Italy is mayhem in terms of the logistics of putting on a production. People are always going on strike, and it's somehow a little haphazard and slapdash. Orchestras even go on strike at intermission. It s amazing." Bits of errant scenery in our Torino Grey (exterior) on Ricco Black (interior) production included a vent that fell off, doors that wouldn't shut tight, trim pieces that buckled from the heat, and loose speaker covers. It wasn't clear if the blame lay with the props department making the stuff or the stagehands who actually put it together. The test car, number fiftyone off the line, a very young Laforza, was further ignobled by the New Mexican altitude, which zapped its passing power on the highway.

These teething problems are not surprising. While Range Rovers were churned out for fifteen years before coming here, early Laforza owners are destined to be pioneers. Robert Oliver and Joe Monterosso, founders of the company that makes the Laforza, discovered the basis for the car, the Rayton-Fissore Magnum utility vehicle, at the 1985 Geneva auto show. They thought it could compete with the Range Rover, which was due for a U.S. introduction after years of impressive European sales. Oliver, who was a major investor in Anne Klein II, and helped launch Donna Karan, is a marketing man. He gathered $15 million and joined with Eagle Trust, an English group with such diverse interests as defense equipment and stage lighting for rock shows. They ultimately bought and modified the tooling and die equipment for the Magnum, which they renamed Laforza. The body assembly was contracted out to Pininfarina, which had extra production capacity because of the disappointing demand for the Allante.

I'd have a better idea of the performance if this engine were adjusted for the altitude, but I love the fact that getting into the four-wheel-drive mode is fully automatic," Putnam said, referring to the fact that one needn't hop out and lock up the front-wheel hubs. "We tried it several times on steep hills and it works—you don't have to wait until you're on the straight and narrow and absolutely lined up to engage it. You just push a button and it has its own delay system. In other words, I could push the button way on top of a winding hill and it wouldn't engage until the car knew it was in the right position to do so. It worked like a charm."

"The Laforza has very, very sensitive steering, which responds immediately. You have to get used to that," Putnam reported. The small turning circle of the car makes it a gem for downtown driving; parking is quite effortless, and U-tums can be executed easily anywhere. "The size of the rearview mirror bothers me, however," she went on. "It's small and gives you a poor view of what's behind. The side mirrors are good, though, and easily adjusted with the power controls." The Laforza's cabin is very wide, and the power-operated mirrors and windows are not frills—they do away with long reaches to the opposite side. "I loved opening the back hatch with the remote-control unit on the key chain," Putnam said. "I only wish it worked properly for the doors too— it's just kicky." The infra-red system is hooked up to an electronic alarm too, so if you're being followed by a thief, or a bear, aiming the pillbox-size remote unit at the car will set off a siren. "The radio/cassette player sounds a little tinny, and I adjusted it a lot. I find that normal with these [Blaupunkt] radios. Most men prefer them because they like higher frequencies. There was a study done and it showed that men buy speakers that are heavy on the highs and women tend to buy speakers heavy on the lows." The system was removable and even had a carrying handle on it.

The Laforza interior is as handsome as the exterior is sharp, but there's still work to be done. For example, grasping the handle to close the door from the inside will lead to smashing your hand against the seat. The lever to adjust the seat back is so close to the floor that you have to bend forward to grab it, and therefore can't lean back enough to make the seat less vertical. "In general, I was very comfortable in the Laforza— and I have really long legs—but I had to stretch my arms out to reach the steering wheel," Putnam noted. The tiresome hands-out driving position is typical of Italian cars, and is especially unwelcome here. One needs full control of the wheel for off-road driving.

"I hate it when seat bottoms only reach mid-thigh, but these are long enough and are very comfortable," Putnam said. "The cup holder that's cut into the top of the dashboard is O.K. by me, although I must say that I did put a soda in there and went over a bump and it was on my lap. But I've been driving on rough terrain. The sunroof is super, and the rear seat seems pretty easy to remove if you need the extra space. You know, there aren't many jeeps with this much room inside."

Some may argue that only the wellheeled will buy a $44,000 jeep that they can toss around in the fields and dales of Greenwich or Boulder, but that would be to miss the Laforza's practical side. It really is comfortable on the highway and in the city, and it drives almost like a regular car, with very few of the irregularities of the larger jeeps. It doesn't roll from side to side or jolt passengers over bumps and pits. It's far more aerodynamic than the Range Rover, and doesn't look as bullish. Laforza Automobiles, Inc., advertises a rather impressive eight-thousand-pound towing capacity, which should give the car added appeal for horse and boat owners— although eight thousand pounds is probably a liberal figure, because the Ford Bronco, deploying the identical engine and transmission, lists a somewhat lower towing capacity.

The Laforza is civilized and contemporary, and eliminates the need for owning both a luxury car and a jeep. Unless, of course, it's in the shop all the time. (Under warranty, the engine and transmission can be repaired at Ford dealers if a Laforza dealer isn't nearby.) But most of the problems with the Laforza were minor, and nothing suggested that this endearing car was going to abandon one in the forest. It handled the transition from the rocky, precipitous trails of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains down to the western-chic Rancho Encantado resort impressively. And when it reached the highway stretching out past the Santa Fe Opera, the Laforza pulled itself together and marched into town with a great urban flourish that's totally unexpected in this sort of machine.

MANUFACTURER'S

SPECIFICATIONS

1990 Laforza

• Vehicle type: front-engine, five-passenger, four-wheel-drive four-door sport/utility vehicle.

• List price: $43,850 (conies fully equippedl.

• Engine type: 5.0-liter,

302-cubic-inch V-8.

• Transmission: four-speed automatic.

• Estimated E.P.A. fuel economy:

11 m.p.g., city; 16 m.p.g., highway. .