Simeon Foundation Celebrates “Cent’ Anni” Alfa Romeo
Posted in Alfa Romeo News on June 18, 2010
The Simeon Foundation will have an “Cent’ Anni” Alfa Romeo exhibit launched on June 19th with a special Demonstration Day featuring an assortment of Alfas, from the oldest Alfa in America to the 1938 Mille Miglia winner. Dr. Simeone will also be putting together a display of extremely rare Alfa literature from his collection. There will be a special display of some of the greatest pre-war racing Alfa Romeos every built, including five rare 8C models. The exhibit of ten great sports racing Alfas will run until June 27th. This is a “must see” exhibit for all aficionados!
More Event Info: http://www.simeonefoundation.org/
100X100 – One Hundred Alfa for a Centenary
Posted in Alfa Romeo News on June 1, 2010
Alfa Romeo: an Italian myth born and raised in Milan.
At the very beginning of the XX century engineering and car manufacturing were no more Turin prerogative, they have landed in the heart of Lombardy with “Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili” (The Lombardy Automobile Manufacturing Company).
Far before being known as Italian capital of fashion and design or for its nightlife, Milan was famous for its industrious citizens, for their strong, deep, confidence in their skills and hard work.
Starting in 1910 Milan entered in the collective thought as “motor land”, the city where Italian’s motorsport dreams came true.
To pay a tribute to Alfa and to Milan, C.M.A.E. (Milan historic motor club) in collaboration with A.S.I. (Italian historic motor club) and Alfa Blue Team, organizes an exhibition to retrace Alfa Romeo history and glory, step by step, one car after the other. An exhibition realized to renovate ancient splendours, to remember the pride and the wonder that Alfa Romeo brought to Milan and to Italy.
C.M.A.E., founded in 1959 (from a group of auto passionate as Angelo “Tito” Anselmi, the Earl Giovanni Caproni di Taliedo, the Earl Luigi Castelbarco) was the second motor club established in Italy, deeply involved in Milan’s social life. Today it counts 2000 members, sharing the same passion and patience in researching, restoring and preserve historic vehicles: technical, scientific and cultural heritage condensed in pieces of machinery as surviving evidence of past designers and engineers genius.
A.S.I., (Italian historic motor club), established in 1966, gained the patronage of the President of Italian Republic and it is the institution representing all devotees to preserve vehicle’s historic heritage, at national and international level. A.S.I. is organized as a federation of 280 clubs and associations, that reunites aver 160.000 members.
Alfa Blue Team founded in 1972 became meeting point and reference for all Alfa Romeo passionate in Italy and in the world, with a special look toward post-war production. It distinguished from the others thanks to some relevant events as “2000, Alfa in Milan” – to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the brand, or “Giulietta 50” a retrospective on this notable model.
During the exhibition “100X100 – cento Alfa per cent’anni”, thanks to collectors from all Europe, more than one hundred cars will be on display to recall Alfa Romeo cars and victories along a century.
From the celebrated racing cars of Nuvolari to the emblematic Giulietta, from the performances of Italian Police “Pantere” (Panthers) to heavy trucks, from the first examples of kitchen’s stoves to the racing speedboats, to the airplane engines exported all over the world, US included!
In addition, a complete section will be dedicated to great Italian coachbuilders where ancient vehicles will be side by side with prototypes and concept cars, a glance at future.. because these are only the first one hundred years of Alfa Romeo.. (more…)
Alfa Romeo Centennial Fine Art Prints Collection
Posted in Alfa Romeo News on May 15, 2010
On the occasion of its centennial anniversary, Alfa Romeo, the legendary Italian car maker, launches its official fine art prints collection in collaboration with Cultwork. The fusion of art, interior decoration and Alfa Romeo.
To mark a century of passion and engagement, Alfa Romeo celebrates 100 years of automotive design and culture by launching its Official Fine Art Prints Collection. Throughout its legendary history artists have recorded and pictured the industrial story of Alfa Romeo and - in celebration of this aesthetic and emotional link between car design and art - Alfa Romeo now offers Alfisti, car enthusiasts and art collectors the possibility to own and collect authentic Alfa Romeo Artworks, created by international artists and fine art illustrators.
The Alfa Romeo Official Fine Art Prints Collections expresses the passion, design and human genius behind Alfa’s legendary cars and achievements through the free language of art.
Official Alfa Romeo Centenary Collection
Posted in Alfa Romeo News on April 11, 2010
As many of you might already know Alfa Romeo is having a centenary celebration this year!! With all of their rich history and automotive heritage there is much to rejoice about. To make sure you do all this in style Alfa Romeo has added an Official Centenary Collection to their online store. To check out all the great collectibles and gear available visit their online store (click here).
Electrifying – A Green Car Geek Drives the Alfa 8C Competizione!
Posted in Test Drive on October 27, 2009By Nick Zart
If you ever found yourself in one of those situations where you were in the right place at the right time, than you will understand my weekend. I write about electric cars these days, and together with a friend, I decided to investigate a little startup called I-DriveGreen that promotes the idea that we can drive green regardless of what we drive. As we were driving in, I was surprised to see a Maserati GT, and even more surprised to see the glorious Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione right next to it. Next to the Alfa was a Lamborghini Gallardo, a Corvette C6 Callaway and a Ferrari 430 Scuderia. I felt it was a cruel thing to show us these beauties when we were to drive boring old modern, soulless sedans. Little did I know what fate had in store for me!
I had been talking to the co-founder, JP Libert, and some race drivers the night before. We chatted about cars and of course, my love of Alfa Romeos. Next morning, before our first run, JP was talking about how we should drive our everyday mules with as much care as we would these exotics. It was becoming very painful to think about treating these floating sofas as anything but special, but I tried. He then turned to me, with a certain smile and said something like: “Nick, you like Alfas? Why don’t you take the 8C for a spin.” It would be hard to describe what went on inside at that moment. It was something like a slow dual reaction of disbelief and complete exhilaration. Take the 8C for a spin? Did I just snooze and started dreaming or is the automobile God smiling at me? (more…)
Mito Sport - A great blend of style and performance
Posted in Alfa Romeo News on October 6, 2009
About 2 months ago, I was helping out fellow club member Adam Davis with a drive story for his motoring website www.lautista.com.au. The brief this time was to drive and compare an original 1960s Mini Cooper S with the recently superseded supercharged version, and the current turbo version. I was lucky enough to have a decent drive in the supercharged model, but more about that later. I’d never had any great love of the later Minis, but I can respect the fact that they are a fun and pretty quick car. Reviews of them are usually pretty favourable, and some of the ones that turn up to our sprint days are indecently fast.
As I started talking to the two blokes who owned the later Minis, both were, shall we say, keen, to point out that the cars belonged to their wives, and that they were practical, stylish and easy to drive cars. That said, they were both also very vocal about how much fun the cars were, and how fast you could hustle them along. The driver of the supercharged car was upset that on one particular stretch of the drive his car was 3km/h down on the turbo car. Suffice to say that both of them were having twice as much fun as legally allowed on the open road. (more…)
Road Testing the 2009 Alfa Romeo MITO
Posted in Alfa Romeo News on August 6, 2009
Based on Fiat’s Grande Punto platform and designed with the exotic Alfa Romeo 8C in mind, the Alfa Romeo MiTo (for Milano and Torino) is the firm’s answer to the Mini. Only available only in a three-door, it’s also the first in a two-part replacement of the aging 147: a new five-door only car rumored to be badged Milano will be introduced in the next few years and the 147 will be phased out at that time.
I recently had a chance to sample a gasoline-powered 120hp 1.4 T-jet MiTo equipped with a 6-speed manual transmission. When I first drove off in the car I was anything but impressed – it seemed slower than my daily driver 1997 Fiat Brava, 200cc bigger but also heavier. I was expecting it to be much faster and briefly wondered if I mistakenly hadn’t released the hand brake all the way. Once I got the rpms up it picked up a bit but as soon as I hit a roundabout and had to build up speed again I found myself cursing the acceleration. (more…)
Bertone Designed - BAT 11
Posted in Alfa Romeo News on July 1, 2009
We just got news that the BAT 11 owned by Gary Kaberle of Michigan will be making an appearance at this years Concorso Italiano. The BAT 11 is an exciting new Bertone designed concept car. The BAT 11 has futuristic styling although the basic design theme is over 50 years old. The show car is based on the platform dimensions of the Maserati Gran Turismo, itself a long-wheelbase version of the Alfa 8C. There is so much more to this car, but you’ll have to see it in person.
Debut of Unique Alfa 8C
Posted in Alfa Romeo News on May 7, 2009
North American Debut of Unique Alfa 8C Scheduled for Meadow Brook Concours
A one-of-a-kind 1934 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 (serial no. 2311237) will make its North American Debut at the 30th Anniversary Meadow Brook Concours d’Elegance on August 2, 2009. This exciting performance car is a one-off alloy Boattail Speedster formerly owned by Angela Cherrett− noted authority and author on Alfa 8Cs, and will be presented in unrestored condition.
“We’re thrilled that the owner of this thorough-bred vintage race car has chosen the Meadow Brook Concours as the venue for its North American debut,” said Matthew de Larcinese, Executive Director – Meadow Brook Concours d’Elegance. “This addition to the show field is certain to be a crowd pleaser!” (more…)
Road test: 1988 Alfa Romeo Milano Verde.
Posted in Alfa Romeo Musings on December 17, 2008
The Alfa Romeo 75 came out in 1985 as a 1986 model and was designed in-house by Alfa Romeo. It was called 75 to mark Alfa Romeo’s 75th anniversary and was available with a whole host of engines, gas and diesel, including Alfa’s venerable twin-cam. They were appreciated by the police and Carabinieri in Italy. It was imported to the U.S. from 1987 to 1989 where it was sold under the Milano moniker and was available exclusively with a V6. A vast majority of U.S. bound cars were equipped with the 2.5 found in the GTV6 and the Alfa6 but in the Milano Verde, this motor was bored out to 3.0, delivering around 183 horsepower. Alfa’s logs are notoriously unreliable and production figures are iffy but it’s estimated that no more than 900 Verdes came to the U.S. This is one of these cars.
Take a gander at it and right off the bat it’s unmistakably a product of the 1980s. Some say it’s reminiscent of a Jetta: the car is very angular, especially the trunk line which sweeps upwards. This is the kind of car that leaves onlookers with a strong impression either way. It was only available in sedan form though a wagon was prototype that never saw mass production was built. On the outside, the Verde stands out from its 2.5 siblings with specific wheels, fender flares and a subtle spoiler on the trunk.
The driving position resembles something found in a yoga manual- the pedals are offset to the right. The clutch is where the brake normally and so on. On that note, the whole interior is an exercise in Italian ergonomics: the handbrake is U-shaped, the window switches are up above the rearview mirror, there is a tray where the glovebox should be and the actual glovebox is a drawer below the tray, etc. It’s quite odd once you first sit in it but you eventually get used to it and after you spend enough time behind the wheel, some of it may even start to make sense. Some interior differences between the Verde and other models include orange gauges, a 160mph speedometer and comfortable Recaro seats. Instrumentation includes a tach, a temperature gauge, an oil pressure gauge and a fuel gauge. (more…)
