2024 Alfa Romeo Giulia Ti on 2040-cars

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Alfa Romeo Tonale Edizione Bambini concept is a stylish way to parent

Your grandparents' boots were made for walking, and they're still cool. Your parents' minvans were made for, well, you, and now that you're the car buyer, you've made it clear minivans are uncool. Crossovers and SUVs run family bus routes now, and they're simply not as handy for hauling the kiddie army as the playroom-on-wheels that is a minivan. Alfa Romeo has an idea about how to change that. The automaker's UK arm interviewed 2,000 parents to get insights about parent- and kid-friendly features. The results come together in a one-off called the Alfa Romeo Tonale Edizione Bambini — the Kid's Edition, as it were. The biggest gripe parents had was how hard it is to keep their vehicles clean. A spiffy leather organizer that Alfa Romeo should sell for every Tonale, not just the babyfied ones, hangs over both front seats. It's got shaped slots for a drink bottle, a bento box for snacks, and pens. It also protects the seat backs from the repeated kicks that children are known to apply during journeys. A small trash container sits on the floor behind the center console. And because parents today use a thing called a "reward chart," kids can keep track of their progress keeping the vehicle clean so mum and dad aren't embarrassed to take the boss for a ride. There are more cleaning supplies in the boots, these for the elders. They include a battery-powered vacuum charged by the Tonale, and a collapsible caddy with products like a boot cleaning brush, leather cleaner, tissues, and wet wipes.      Move vital parenting duties are aided by the retractable changing station in the cargo area and the baby monitor in the back seat. A survey by diaper brand Huggies found 86% of parents needed to change their child's diapers "on the move." The custom changing station can slide out from under the parcel shelf after the hatch is raised, and is upholstered in an easy to clean changing mat. The video monitor for kids in the back seat can be placed to watch over rearward- or forward-facing baby seats, the feed available in a smartphone app that guardians in the front row can check. The obligatory entertainment needs come courtesy of screens on the seatbacks, headphones hung from the seatback organizers, tablet pockets for up to three children, and a foldable toy caddy. For parents who consider "minivan" a four-letter word, this one-off Tonale is definitely a stylish solution to managing the warehouse of goods so many kids seem to travel with nowadays.

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:    

‘Yee haw’ in Italian - Alfa Romeo Giulia is the Car of Texas

You can't underestimate the visceral pull of the new Giulia Quadrifoglio's 505 horsepower wrapped in Alfa Romeo's sweet, seductive sheetmetal. Autoblog said the hottest Giulia "puts some practical meat on the bone for American drivers bored of the usual Audi A4/Mercedes C-Class/ BMW 3 Series suspects." The Quadrifoglio delivers 60 mph in 3.8 seconds and laps the Nurburgring Nordschleife in just 7:32. This makes it - for the moment - the fastest four-passenger production car around the 12.9-mile circuit. Austin's Circuit of the Americas F1 venue isn't Germany's Nordschleife, but that's where the Texas Auto Writers Association gathered for its annual Spring Roundup - some 50 auto writers, broadcasters and bloggers evaluating 40-plus cars and crossovers in 11 categories, with best-of-class wins such as Performance Car of Texas, Family Car of Texas and – ultimately – best of show, the Car of Texas. In a vote as out of the blue as that one back in November, Giulia got the nod. When evaluating a Car of Texas at a track, the Giulia Quadrifoglio is a no-brainer. Beyond its brute power is a linear dynamic behind the wheel, even if the track's official road speed for this event was 60 miles per hour. Competing against it in the Performance Sedan category were the Dodge Charger R/T and SRT Hellcat, along with a Lexus GS F and VW Jetta GLI. Beyond its surfeit of power is the Giulia's raucous personality and – we'll admit – novelty. Many of the younger journalists at COTA had only vague memories of the brand. This was also, regrettably, a relatively weak grouping of performance machinery. The headliners – such as the Mercedes-AMG GT S and Nissan GT-R – were prominent, but cars most likely to be tagged a Car of Texas, such as a Shelby Mustang or hot Camaro, weren't. Ford brought only its Focus RS, and GM execs have deemed regional press events not worthy of their attention. Also, both BMW and Audi were no-shows, although – in defense of the Giulia – the M3 and Mercedes-AMG C63S were whipped by the Alfa in at least one recent hot sedan comparison. In short, Alfa swept a smallish field. But a win's a win, and every win bodes well for Alfa, even in a market where the first car is a truck, and the second car might be a second truck. Related Video: Auto News Alfa Romeo Ownership Luxury Performance Sedan no ribbon