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2024 Alfa Romeo Giulia and 2024 Stelvio will be $1,800 less expensive

A month after Alfa Romeo revealed the 2024 Giulia and Stelvio for our market, both are less expensive than at launch. All Giulia and Stelvio trims bar the Quadrifoglio have had their MSRPs cut by $1,800. The discount appears to be another move by Stellantis brands here to reposition themselves to achieve the kinds of success that has eluded them so far. Cars Direct picked up on the price cuts in Alfa Romeo order guides. When it asked the automaker what gives, an Alfa Romeo spokesperson replied, "The reduction in pricing is a lifecycle direction for Stelvio and Giulia to enhance market competitiveness." Read: We want to give German Three shoppers more reason to give us a better look. The coming model year of the sedan and SUV isn't on the Alfa Romeo site yet. Cars Direct says the entry-level Giulia Sprint will start at $44,075 after the $1,595 destination fee, the Stelvio Sprint will start at $46,370. The sedan hides a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine up front making 280 horsepower and 306 pound-feet of torque, all of that sent to the rear axle. Zero to 60 miles per hour takes 5.5 seconds, fuel economy comes in at 24 miles per gallon in the city, 33 mpg highway, 27 mpg combined, and Alfa provides a four-year/50,000-mile basic warranty. The BMW 330i is also powered by a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder, this one making 255 hp and 295 lb-ft. The stoplight dash takes 5.6 seconds, fuel economy is rated at 25 city, 34 highway, and 29 combined. Thanks to pruning the price, the 2024 Giulia starts off $720 less expensive than the 2023 330i that opens the bidding at $44,795 after the $995 destination fee. The problem is that once you start comparing like-for-like, it's not clear where you'll end up. For instance, the Giulia comes on 17-inch wheels, the BMW on 18-inch wheels. According to the configurator for the 2023 Giulia, upgrading to 18-inch wheels costs $1,725. The Giulia comes with black leather seats, the only alternate interior option a set of red leather seats for an additional $2,000. The BMW comes with Sensatec seats, but buyers have five choices in leather seat colors, four with contrasting stitching, each of which adds $1,500. Point being, if you upgraded the Alfa Romeo to 18-inch wheels and upgraded the BMW to leather, the sedans are only $495 apart.

Alfa Romeo goes hatchback-free after axing the Giulietta

Alfa Romeo exited the hatchback segment by ending production of the Giulietta, a Volkswagen Golf-sized model introduced in 2010. It's planning on filling the void in its range with a city-friendly crossover in the coming years. Honored with a heritage-laced nameplate, the Giulietta made its debut in Milan as Alfa Romeo celebrated its 100th birthday. Executives considered selling it in the United States but decided to keep it on the other side of the pond, though its basic platform underpinned the short-lived Dodge Dart. In its home country, the hatchback was positioned as a premium model that reflected the firm's upmarket ambitions. It slotted beneath the Giulia. Stylists made several visual tweaks to the Giulietta during its 10-year life cycle, and they managed to keep it looking relatively fresh. It's a different story inside, where the 2020 model feels about as old as it is. Alfa Romeo's earlier hatchbacks — including the 147 — spawned high-performance variants that still raise eyebrows several decades after their launch, but the Giulietta never received the full go-fast treatment. Over the course of its production run, engine options ranged from a 104-horsepower 1.4-liter turbo four to a 1.8-liter four-cylinder turbocharged to 240 horsepower. Front-wheel-drive was the only configuration offered. Over 400,000 units of the Giulietta were manufactured in Italy between 2010 and 2020. The final example was made shortly before Christmas, according to French website Caradisiac. We don't know what it looks like or where it's off to. Alfa could choose to put it in its collection, or it might send it to an unsuspecting dealer. The news comes a couple of weeks after news that the slow-selling Alfa 4C Spider was among the cars that won't be coming back in 2021. Alfa Romeo Tonale View 9 Photos What's next? Rumors claimed Alfa Romeo would develop a rear-wheel-drive successor to the third-generation Giulietta built on a shortened version of the Giulia's platform. Had it been launched, this model would have undoubtedly become the enthusiast's choice in its segment, especially because the BMW 1 Series went front-wheel-drive. We don't know if the reports were accurate, but what's certain is that a new Alfa Romeo hatchback is not around the corner. Instead, the Giulietta's spot in the range will soon be occupied by the production version of the Tonale concept (pictured above) introduced during the 2019 edition of the Geneva auto show.

Mussolini-owned 1930 Alfa Romeo race car getting full restoration

One of Alfa Romeo's most controversial race cars is getting treated to a full, concours-level restoration. Modified, worn-out, and incomplete, this 1930 6C 1750 was purchased new and raced by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. Wearing chassis number 6C312898, the 6C 1750 was delivered new to Mussolini on January 13, 1930, and there are several images (one pictured) showing him behind the wheel. He paid 60,000 Lire for it. He entered it in several races across Italy during the early 1930s but didn't keep it long -- his well-known love of Fascism and international invasions seemingly muted the gearhead in him. It then went through several owners before ending up in the hands of a man named Renato Tigillo in 1937. He took the 6C with him when he moved to Eritrea, a country that joined Italian Somaliland and Ethiopia in the Italian East Africa administrative territory in 1936. The 6C was far less significant in the 1930s than in the 2020s, so the different pilots who owned it didn't think twice about stripping it to shed weight. Dozens of parts were removed and likely thrown away to prepare it for a strenuous new career racing under the scorching African sun. Dents, flaking paint, and a little bit of rust suggest life was tough. Precisely when it retired from racing, and what happened to it during the subsequent decades, remains unknown. There's no word on who owns it, either. All we know is that it's about to get completely torn down and painstakingly rebuilt by one of the best names in the business. United Kingdom-based restoration shop Thornley Kelham will return the 6C 1750 to the configuration it was in when Mussolini raced it during the early 1930s. That's a Herculean task considering the list of parts missing from the car is long. The original headlights, fenders, and wire wheels are no longer on it. Simon Thornley, the garage's co-founder, admitted the 6C 1750 is likely the most challenging restoration he's ever taken on, especially considering period images of the Stabilimenti Farina-built body are few and far between. It's worth it, though. "Automotive history like this has to be preserved," he said in a statement. Mussolini wasn't the only dictator that loved cars. Adolf Hitler was an enthusiast, too, and several of his cars -- including a 1939 Mercedes-Benz 770k -- have been sold at auction in recent years. Related Video: