By 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…)