2018 Alfa Romeo Stelvio Ti Awd on 2040-cars

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Alfa Romeo Quadrifoglio trims leaving North America this summer

Larry Dominique, Alfa Romeo senior vice president and head of North America, used a LinkedIn post to set the countdown clock on the brand's Quadrifolgio models here. He wrote, "The opportunity to order a 2024 Giulia Quadrifoglio or Stelvio Quadrifoglio will close to North America at the end of April 2024. The last internal only combustion powered Quadrifoglio models for U.S. and Canada will exit the Cassino plant in June 2024." That gives shoppers about 10 weeks to place an order for the hottest versions of Alfa Romeo's sedan and midsize SUV, and until late summer to find a fresh example on a dealer lot. It's possible the internal-combustion-only Quadrifoglio is dying in the U.S. on its 101st birthday, Italian racing driver Ugo Sivocci having had the four-leaf clover painted on his car for the 1923 Targa Florio. Today, the clover represents models powered by Alfa's twin-turbocharged 2.9-liter V6, an engine said to be inspired by Ferrari's twin-turbo 3.9-liter V6. The six-cylinder makes 505 horsepower and 443 pound-feet of torque in typical form, the limited-edition Quadrifoglio Anniversario models produced last year making 520 horsepower and picking up the mechanical limited-slip differential derived from the sold-out, 540-horsepower Giulia GTA. This is just another step in the automaker's transfer to an all-electric lineup, all of the brand's launches from 2027 and thereafter meant to be electric. This isn't the end of the Quadrifoglio, Dominique himself writing in that post, "I look forward to presenting the next chapter in the four-leaf clover’s journey." Successive iterations will get some sort of electric assistance at the least, and perhaps turn into the 1,000-hp battery-electric 2026 Giulia Quadrifoglio that CEO Jean-Philippe Imparato hinted at last year, with an 800-horsepower Veloce trim below and a 350-hp base trim. Or, with PHEVs coming into fashion as a more affordable middle ground to the fully electric promised land, it might be time to take a little more inspiration from Ferrari — now a separate company — and poke around the underside of the SF90 Stradale. Alfa noises and pure electric driving on demand? Si, certamento.          

Alfa Romeo SZ, the brutalist 'Il Mostro,' restored by FCA Heritage

Nicknamed Il Mostro — "the Monster" in Italian — because of its unusual, almost brutalist design, the 1989 Alfa Romeo SZ was meant to showcase all the technological prowess of the Milanese firm at the time. It was also meant to plant a stake in the ground and return the revered marque to its rear-wheel-drive roots. Though it was an evolutionary dead end, the SZ is still considered among the most distinctive cars in a brand filled with distinctive models. It should, then, be no surprise that FCA Heritage, the classic car and history preservation arm of Stellantis (which, apparently, was not part of the name change) has just restored one. The SZ began life at the 1989 Geneva Motor Show as the ES-30 concept, which stood for Experimental Sports 3.0-liter. The production car was named SZ for Sprint Zagato, but the design is credited to Robert Opron of the Fiat Style Center, while Antonio Castellana did the finishing details and interior. Zagato used its coachbuilding expertise to build the cars, whose bodywork was formed from a composite thermoplastic material called Modar, made by Italy's Carplast and France's Stratime. Alfa Romeo also claims it was the first car to be produced using computer-aided design (CAD/CAM). Beneath the sci-fi exterior lay a 12-valve, 3.0-liter V6 plucked from the Alfa Romeo 75 3.0i Quadrifoglio Verde. With 204 horsepower and 181 pound-feet of torque, it was the most powerful Alfa of the time. Output was fed through a 5-speed transaxle and the suspension, Koni-designed shocks, and brakes reportedly tuned by Fiat and Lancia rally driver Giorgio Pianta and transplanted from the Alfa 75 1.8 Turbo Evolution Group A racer.  The original run was intended to span just 1,000 cars, but some sources say 1,036 were produced. That run ended in 1991, after which a roadster version called the RZ was built from 1992-93.  The example restored has been in Alfa Romeo's possession since the beginning. It served as a test car on the Balocco proving grounds and was used in promotional photos. There are several details on it that differ from production models, so much so that Alfa Romeo says it could be "considered a prototype." Unfortunately, as history shows, the SZ failed to usher in a real-wheel-drive renaissance at Alfa Romeo. After its end, there wasn't another rear-drive model until the 8C Competizione in 2007.

Alfa Romeo Stelvio Interior Spied | Autoblog Minute

We have the latest spy shots of Alfa Romeo?s new SUV. The Stelvio is expected to debut in late 2016 or early 2017 but we now have our first peak at its interior. Alfa Romeo SUV Autoblog Minute Videos Original Video alfa romeo stelvio