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…)

I used to believe that the hottest place I had ever been was located half a world away in the jungles of South-East Asia, or maybe a certain Middle-Eastern country with nothing going for it but sand and lots of oil.  But I don’t believe
that anymore.  As if trying to prove that one doesn’t need to go very far away to experience extremes, the weather gods saw fit to turn up the heat control to 11 as we visited Philadelphia for the weekend of 7 and 8 June.

Being the intrepid types, Kathleen and I decided to kill two birds with one stone and spend a little time visiting my exceedingly long-time friend and fellow ex-pat Canuck, Dr. Jon Druhan who resides near Philly, and also attend the Italian Car Show at Head House Square in support of ‘Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer’ on Sunday, 8 June.  We knew that the weather was going to be warm, but nothing could have prepared us for the humidity-laced heat we encountered that weekend! (more…)

“Curse you, Red Baron!” I yelled – with fist raised high - from the driver’s seat in Kathleen’s Spider towards the little tomato-soup red Lancia Fulvia Sport Zagato in front of us.  Like Snoopy in his imaginary First World War Sopwith Camel, I was day-dreaming.  The only difference was that my day-dream was about chasing a young Tazio Nuvolari in some long-ago ‘Mille Miglia’!  I giggled audibly as our much more powerful Alfa Spider…and car after car following us, danced a rubber-souled ballet around one of many well-banked 160 degree corners.  These were typical of the ‘twisties’ which peppered the ups and downs of the beautiful Western Virginia mountain roads selected by David and Susan, our planners and hosts extraordinaire.  This year’s ‘Giro di Campagna’, held in the historic and very picturesque wine-growing region near Lexington, Virginia marked the 2nd year for this successful and fun spring weekend event.  And what an event it was!

Beginning with a small group of Alfas and other ‘lesser’ cars gathered at a gas station just to the West of the nation’s capital, our hosts led the way for the long drive out of the city and on towards Lexington.  This particular group of road-trippers included our leaders, David and Susan in their very red, pristine Bertone GTV 2000, Jack and Terry in their newly restored ’69 Berlina, Denny and Trish in Trish’s ’89 Milano Verde and Randy and Josie in their red Series IV Spider.  For a variety of reasons, some of the group used other means of transportation.  Harlan, the Capital Chapter’s President (who apparently changes loyalties as easily as Fangio!) switched into his and Garnet’s patina-plated ’67 Lancia Fulvia Sport Zagato, while Dennis and Beth brought their Porsche Boxster, as their ’71 Spider had decided it didn’t want to play.  Dermott and Lois chose a modern Mercedes sedan because none of their other cars were weather-proof, while Garnet drove her MB convertible solely for the commute, as she had to leave early to return to the city for work on Sunday.  Finally, John and Hillary drove their distinctly Italian Rosso-colored late-model Corvette…John should have known better than to bring a knife to a gunfight!  Making the drive independently from Baltimore, were Bert and Judy in their ’61 Giulietta Spider, and Kathleen and I in her ’82 Spider.  Still later, and sneaking in under cover of darkness in the wee hours on Friday night, Michael appeared in his very clean GTV6.  Eventually settling into our headquarters for the weekend, our group was very well situated in an elegant and historic old Inn called Maple Hall, located conveniently near Interstate 81. (more…)