2017 Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio on 2040-cars

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These 'blind' automotive world record stunts have to stop

Drivers setting world records "blind" – wearing a blindfold or with something obscuring the windshield – is the new thing for some reason. First it was an Alfa Romeo Giulia setting a blind lap at Silverstone with help from a spotter trailing behind, and now this: a stunt man doing a J-turn within a narrow path with nothing but a Nissan Juke's cameras guiding him. He matched the "sighted" J-turn record, flipping the car around in a space about 7 inches longer than the car. I have two issues with these stunts. First, there are just too many world records. Yeah, I said it. Are these meaningful? Is someone else likely to ever attempt this feat? No, because it's just marketing, both for the manufacturer and whoever's still trying to sell those annual books. Stuff like the fastest production car is fine with me. Heck, I'll even take unofficial Nurburgring times – the kind where the drivers can actually see. Second, I'm all for stunts, but do something cool! And preferably something that could only be performed with that particular car, if you're going to make an ad out of it. Yes, the Juke has an Around View Monitor system, which stitches together feeds from four cameras to make it look like the car is being filmed by a drone hovering overhead. I happen to love 360-degree cameras – they let you see things that are just not visible from the driver's seat and make parking and low-speed maneuvering really easy. But the Juke isn't the first car to offer one, and the feature isn't even new to the car. Nissan was at least forthright enough to admit that this professional driver (on a closed course!) had a bunch of practice. But this really says more about his precision driving skills than about the car, or the camera. And just so we're clear, you really shouldn't try to park a car without looking out the windows, even if you have fancy cameras. So what's next? Pretty soon there will be a record for blindest blind stunt. Let me know when someone actually does something interesting. Related Video:

2021 Alfa Romeo Stelvio and Giulia get revamped trims and pricing

After a major interior and infotainment update last year, the 2021 Alfa Romeo Stelvio and Giulia get a more mild update consisting of a smaller trim lineup and a couple of extra features for some trims. The update also includes small price increases across the board. Four new colors are available, too, including Ocra GT Junior, Verde Montreal, Rosso GTA and Rosso Villa d'Este. The first two of those are shown in the galleries. Available trims have dropped from seven to four, with a couple of them simply becoming option packages for the remaining trims. The base trim is now called Sprint, a callback to Alfas of the past. Standard equipment for this trim is unchanged, including standard 10-way power adjustable leather seats, 8.8-inch touchscreen infotainment with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, remote start, proximity key and automatic emergency braking. As such the price only increases by $50 to $40,745 for the Guilia and $42,745 for the Stelvio. All-wheel drive is a $2,000 option on all Giulias and the Stelvio Sprint. Higher trim Stelvios get all-wheel drive standard. 2021 Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio View 14 Photos The Ti and Ti Sport get the most additional standard equipment over last year's versions. They now get dual-pane sunroofs, navigation and HD radio. The Ti Sport also picks up a standard limited-slip rear differential. The Giulia and Stelvio Ti increases in price by $1,300 to $43,995 and $48,395 respectively. The Giulia Ti Sport price goes up by $1,500 to $47,195 while the Stelvio Ti Sport sees a $2,000 increase to $51,595. The Quadrifoglio trim, with its twin-turbocharged V6 is unchanged for 2021. It does get a $250 price increase with the Giulia starting at $76,345 and the Stelvio at $82,345. Related Video:

US-spec Alfa Romeo 4C Spider caught naked at a photo shoot

The Alfa Romeo 4C Spider is getting ready for its reveal and market roll-out, which means it's time to put together broadcast materials, and that means the open-roof coupe has to venture outside. Someone caught a few photos of a yellow example during one such jaunt in Andalusia, Spain during photo and television work, and based on this glimpse we'll happily welcome it to our shores. Yes, we felt the same way when we saw the concept introduced at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this year, and except for two small changes, it's the same car. This production version has an air inlet on the driver's side just ahead of the rear wheel said to improve cooling for the dual-clutch transmission, and the centrally mounted exhaust pipes on the concept have moved to the corners. It also wears the concept's wheels and the conventional headlights, instead of the arachnid units best suited for getting the attention of mating wolf spiders. We shouldn't have too much longer to wait for information on the car's weight gain and performance, as well as its roof panel operation. Until then, head over to www.autoblog.it and Carscoops for a few more on-location shots.