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Alfa Romeo's limited Quadrifoglio Carbon Editions start at $86,470 this fall

Alfa Romeo, which is generally fairly conservative about offering upscale “special” editions of its mainstream cars, is giving its customers in North America an exclusive opportunity to order a limited-edition 2024 Giulia or Stelvio Quadrifoglio Carbon Edition. Limited to 130 units combined (!), the Carbon models are essentially a bit of decoration: on the exterior, thereÂ’s a carbon fiber V scudetto grille, mirror caps, gold calipers and black badging. Interior enhancements include sporty interior design touches, such as exclusive red leather sport seats and carbon fiber interior trim. Paint color options are Vulcano Black, Alfa Red or Rosso Etna. Engine specs are borrowed from the recently updated standard models, featuring a turbocharged 2.9-liter six-cylinder engine with 505 horsepower, routed through an eight-speed automatic transmission and standard adaptive suspension. This suspension technology is designed to read the road and quickly adjust shock valving to deliver greater handling characteristics at speed while maintaining a comfortable ride. The models will begin arriving in Alfa Romeo dealerships this quarter with a manufacturerÂ’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of $86,470 for Giulia sedan and $93,870 for Stelvio SUV, including a destination fee of $1,595. “WeÂ’re excited to offer our North American consumers further customization with the new Alfa Romeo Carbon Edition, which enhances our sporty-Italian style with a unique and head-turning appearance on top of an unrivaled driving experience,” said Larry Dominique, head of Alfa Romeo, North America. “This limited edition elevates the passion of Alfa Romeo with a beautifully crafted design combined with the unsurpassed performance from our legendary Quadrifoglio models.” Related video: 2020 Alfa Romeo #Giulia Quadrifoglio vs. 2013 Dodge #Challenger SRT8 392 #exhaust comparison

Alfa Romeo Giulia SWB Zagato briefly teased, could be a coupe

Earlier this month, Alfa Romeo and Zagato teased the upcoming Alfa Romeo Giulia SWB Zagato with a single image of an unbroken LED taillight outlining what looked like a Kamm-back rear end. Zagato recently published a few more teasers to its Instagram page, but someone might have pressed the Send button too soon — the video and images are gone from the source. No matter, because this is the internet. The new shots hint at something that could justify Alfa Romeo boss Jean-Philippe Imparato's assessment that the vehicle will be "very exciting, very selective, and very expensive." The image with the carbon-backed driver's seat contains a new rear window shutline and a crossbar. The redrawn glasshouse leads us to believe this will be a coupe, making the most of that Short Wheelbase designation. Some have called the crossbar a roll cage, but it looks to us like the kind of brace used in some cars that omit their rear seats, like the original Bentley Continental GT Supersports. The engine shot doesn't give anything away except the Quadrifoglio badge. The twin-turbocharged 2.9-liter V6 could come with the same 505 horsepower and 442 pound-feet of torque as the Giulia Quadrifoglio, it could be uprated to the 532 hp and 442 lb-ft of the special edition Giulia GTAm, or, as buyers would hope, it could go beyond that. We'd expect the output to be sent through Alfa's eight-speed automatic transmission to the rear wheels through a limited-slip differential.  Zagato standards like new mesh vents and a vented hood make their appearances elsewhere. The grille gets printed with a stylized version of the red cross and crowned viper in Alfa Romeo's logo between the tri-section headlights that should debut on the facelifted Giulia. In back, a closer shot of the taillights gives away segments between LEDs, so the rear end won't be a continuous clamshell piece like the vintage Giulia TZ and Giulia TZ2. Detail bits like a carbon fiber front splitter and another take on the five-leaf-clover wheels from the Giulia GTA will make for dark and shiny jewelry.  The Giulia TZ debuted in 1963, the Giulia SWB Zagato will be the 50th birthday present to the original. Market launch is rumored to come in March next year, an official debut should come not long before that.  

CAR adds details to Alfa Romeo's five-year plan

Much of this month's issue of CAR Magazine is devoted to Alfa Romeo and what we can expect from it in the next five years. Of course, they unfortunately went to print before FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne died (and it took a while for it to land in my mail box), so certain elements are bound to change in light of new leadership. Nevertheless, there are plenty of interesting tidbits to chew on. First, there are a few more details regarding the Alfa Romeo 8C super car, which was confirmed during FCA's recent five-year plan announcement. Unlike the last front-engined, rear-drive 8C, the new one would be mid-engined with the rear wheels powered by a version of the Quadrofoglio turbo V6 brought up to the 600-horsepower range, and some amount of electrification added to the front axle. CAR indicates a total output of around 800 hp and 660 pound-feet of torque. A carbon fiber monococque would help keep the weight down, and to keep cost down, reporter Georg Kacher posits its production will be farmed out to a third party like Dallara. Both pricing and performance will be interesting with the 8C: how much does FCA want Alfa Romeo to compete with Ferrari? Without Marchionne leading both, perhaps it won't matter. View 19 Photos Then again, how much it wants Alfa to compete with Maserati might, as the future Giulia-based GTV coupe could do just that. Apparently, the coupe and convertible range is intended to compete with the entire breadth of the German two-door catalogue, from 4 Series and M4, to C- and E-Class Coupes. Presumably it'll therefore be more than just a Giulia coupe. Regular, high-performance and plug-in hybrid versions are mentioned. Finally, as was part of the previously announced five-year plan, there will be SUVs introduced on either side of the Stelvio. Apparently, it was originally thought that the smaller of the two would be produced on the cheaper Renegade/500X platform, but that has been nixed in favor of the Giulia's "Giorgio" platform to maintain a higher degree of engineering sophistication. If so, good call. The bigger of the two new Alfa SUVs would also be on the platform, and since it's been rumored that the next Jeep Grand Cherokee will be as well, it'll be interesting to see how similar those two mid-size SUVs will potentially be. There are many more Alfa insights from CAR, but as it's restricted to print and not on their website, we can only urge you to swing by your local magazine rack and pick up the latest issue. They do good stuff.