2019 Alfa Romeo Giulia on 2040-cars

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CEO says Volkswagen's buying spree is over

After adding Italian motorcycle icon Ducati to its stable and spending $5.6 billion on the rest of Porsche, Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn says he's done shopping for a while.
"We have enough to do at the moment in taking our twelve brands to where we want to be," Winterkorn tells German newspaper Handelsblatt.

Autoblog Podcast #392

Episode #392 of the Autoblog Podcast is here, and this week, Dan Roth, Steven Ewing, and Chris Paukert talk about recent confessions by Autoblog Editors, the unconfirmed rumors that the 2015 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat will show up at the Woodward Dream Cruise, and the release of the North American Car and Truck of the Year long list. We start with what's in the garage and finish up with some of your questions, and for those of you who hung with us live on our UStream channel, thanks for taking the time. Check out the new rundown below with times for topics, and you can follow along down below with our Q&A. Thanks for listening! Autoblog Podcast #392: The video meant to be presented here is no longer available. Sorry for the inconvenience. Topics: Autoblog editors come clean Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat to debut at Woodward Dream Cruise NACTOY long list released In The Autoblog Garage: 2015 Jaguar F-Type Coupe 2015 Subaru Legacy Limited 2015 Audi S8 2015 Alfa Romeo 4C Hosts: Dan Roth, Steven Ewing, Chris Paukert Runtime: 01:48:05 Rundown: Intro and Garage - 00:00 Editor Confessions - 34:48 Hellcat Charger Unveil - 59:56 NACTOY Long List - 01:09:51 Q&A - 01:25:43 Get the podcast: [UStream] Listen live on Mondays at 10 PM Eastern at UStream [iTunes] Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes [RSS] Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator [MP3] Download the MP3 directly Feedback: Email: Podcast at Autoblog dot com Review the show in iTunes

Abarth 1000 SP is a retro-styled Alfa Romeo 4C

With the whittled-down Fiat lineup in the U.S., you might've forgotten about the brand's sporty division Abarth. But the brand is still active, still selling sporty Fiats in Europe, and now it has created a one-off roadster to celebrate its racing history. It's the Abarth 1000 SP, and it's styled and named after a 1966 race car that won its class at the 500-kilometer Nurburgring race that year. As other news outlets have noted, it's pretty obvious the Abarth 1000 SP is a restyled Alfa Romeo 4C (also disappearing from both the U.S. and overseas markets), even if Abarth doesn't say so specifically. That's not a bad, thing, though, being both an impressive sports car and one bearing the kind of curves that are perfect for the lines of the original car. The 1966 car's low pointy nose, curvy fenders and myriad vents and scoops fit great, and we also dig the exposed roll bar and cut-down rear cowls. The rear bumper maybe looks a little awkward, but overall, we think it's a well-executed car. Mechanically, it seems unchanged from the 4C. It has the same 1,742-cc turbocharged four-cylinder making 240 horsepower and sitting in the same carbon fiber and aluminum chassis. As such, it should probably be called the Abarth 1740 SP or 1700 SP rather than 1000, since the original was named after the displacement of the modified Fiat 600 engine it used. The car is just a one-off, so you won't be able to purchase one, but you might be able to see it at a European car show or museum someday. Related Video: