Alfa Romeo Spider Rare Color Combination, Low Miles , Well Sorted Out. on 2040-cars

Auto blog

2018 Alfa Romeo Stelvio Drivers' Notes | Italy's last savior

Alfa Romeo may be beloved by enthusiasts, but the brand has always had a rough go in the United States. Sure, we may look back fondly now at cars like the Spider, Milano and Giulia, but those models never had the impact of their German or British rivals. Slow sales and a reputation for poor reliability killed Alfa in the U.S. more than two decades ago. The automaker is back with cars like the 4C, Giulia and, most important, the 2018 Stelvio crossover. The Stelvio needs to sell well if Alfa has any hope of staying alive in America. Sure, it may not be as sharp or as handsome as the Giulia, but the market demands crossovers, so that's what it'll get. The Stelvio is jumping into a tough and highly contested segment. Rivals like the Porsche Macan, Jaguar F-Pace, BMW X3 and Mercedes-Benz GLC-Class are all strong competitors with handsome styling and sporty driving dynamics. The Stelvio is going to have to really shine to make a dent. Associate Editor Joel Stocksdale: The Alfa Romeo Stelvio feels very much like a bigger, taller Giulia. While this does mean that it feels a bit less nimble and frisky, it also means that it's one of the best drivers in its class. Under the hood is the same turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder making 280 horsepower. It feels just right for this crossover. It's happy to sit at low rpm on the highway, but also delivers brisk acceleration when tromping on the gas. It even sounds good, providing a growly snorty sound when accelerating. It's sort of like a grown-up version of the engine in the Fiat 500 Abarth. Ride and handling are well-balanced, too. Steering is very quick, and the whole vehicle feels remarkably light. It leans significantly more than the Giulia in turns. But as crossovers go, the Stelvio is a great handler. The ride is on the stiff side, but far from punishing. I do wish the steering was a little heavier, and that the weight built up more progressively. It feels a little less communicative than I'd prefer. The Giulia connection continues inside, but this time we wish they weren't so similar. Though the dashboard is an attractive shape, there are quite a few low-rent plastics strewn about. A number of the knobs feel chintzy, too. There's not a lot of knee room up front, either, and the seat could use a few more adjustment options. One thing the Stelvio's interior nails, though, are those wonderful shift paddles.

Stellantis to offer electric versions of most of its European lineup by 2025

Newly merged automaker conglomerate Stellantis will offer electric versions of almost all of its European lineup by 2025, it said on Thursday, as the auto industry faces regulatory pushes in Europe and China to accelerate the shift to zero-emission cars. Formed in January by the merger of France's PSA and Italian-American group Fiat Chrysler, Stellantis is the world’s fourth largest carmaker with 14 brands including Opel, Jeep, Ram and Maserati, and like its peers faces an investor community keen for a road map to an electric lineup to rival Tesla . Speaking during Stellantis' first annual shareholders meeting, Chief Executive Carlos Tavares said that in 2021 the carmaker expects sales of electrified vehicles — that is, both plug-in hybrids and fully electric models — to more than triple to over 400,000 units in 2021. By 2025, electrified vehicles should make up 38% of European sales, a huge jump from the 14% of sales it expects in 2021. Tavares said by 2030 electric models should make up 70% of European sales and 35% of U.S. sales. He said Stellantis will use four electric platforms for passenger vehicles across its 14-brand empire — small, medium and large sizes for cars, and "frame" for high-margin SUVs and pickup trucks. Sweden's Volvo said this month its lineup would be fully electric by 2030, and Ford Motor Co said in February its lineup in Europe would be too. BMW has said at least 50% of its car sales should be fully-electric models by 2030. Sales of electric and plug-in hybrid cars in the European Union almost trebled to over 1 million vehicles last year, accounting for more than 10% of overall sales. Green Alfa Romeo Fiat Jeep Maserati Citroen Lancia Opel Peugeot Vauxhall Electric Hybrid Stellantis

Alfa Romeo celebrates Quadrifoglio's 100th anniversary

This year, Alfa Romeo celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Quadrifoglio becoming part of Alfa Romeo lore. In 1923, team racing driver and eternal second-place finisher Ugo Sivocci painted a four-leaf clover inside a white square on his RL "Corsa" single-seater developed to win the Targa Florio. Sivocci won the race, giving Alfa Romeo its first international victory. A few months later, Sivocci went to Monza to test the P1 for the Grand Prix of Europe. He hadn't painted a four-leaf clover on the #17 P1 he drove, and he died during practice. True, correlation is not causation, but it's hard to find a more superstitious bunch than racing teams drivers. The Italians retired #17 from racing vehicles, and from 1924 every Alfa Romeo featured a Quadrifoglio on the bodywork inside of a triangle instead of a square. The missing point represented the loss of Sivocci. Since then, those green leaves have identified Alfas among the sea of other red Italian single seaters from competitors like Ferrari and Maserati. Of course, sometimes the cars didn't need such help, the lines on models like the TZ and P33 iconic enough to forgo further distinction. The Milanese added Quadrifoglio versions of production cars in the 1960s, but didn't make it part of official production names until the 1980s. Following that, the branding expanded into two clovers, a Quadrifoglio Oro (gold) denoting luxury versions, a Quadrifoglio Verde for sporty variants. Then came even wider use as the single letter "Q" for features like the Q2 locking differential and Q4 all-wheel drive. Centro Stile Alfa Romeo tweaked the logo, the graphic to appear at brand events that will kick off on the official centenary June 25. That's been dubbed "Quadrifoglio Day," host to a "Backstage" conference and parade open to all of Alfa Romeo clubs.    This year is also the 60th anniversary of Alfa Romeo's Autodelta racing division. Equivalent to an AMG or M division for the Italians, predating both German versions, the famous Alfa Romeo racing cars like the 1965 Giulia Sprint GTA and the 1975 33 TT 12 sports car racer emerged from the Autodelta workshops. These celebrations will come first, on March 5, punctuated by a conference at the Alfa Romeo Museum in Arese, Milan. Related video: