1983 Alfa Romeo Spider on 2040-cars

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This Alfa Romeo Spider is a four-wheeled fountain of youth

For some, the only real way to experience a direct connection with nature while driving is to be piloting a convertible. Keith Helmetag is one such individual. His 1969 Alfa Romeo Spider fulfills his desire to commune with the outdoors on the road, while simultaneously reminding Helmetag of his youth. The Spider's flowing lines especially appealed to Helmetag's eye as a designer. He loved the nose's pointed shape and the boat-tail rear's downward arch to the narrow taillights. To make it his own, he removed the badges and added plastic headlight covers to bring the Alfa's look closer to the original clay model it was styled after. Helmetag's design tweaks pair with a few engine modifications to create a roadster that perfectly fits its owner's relaxed style. Check out this Alfa as Petrolicious takes a drive along tree-lined roads, which are great surroundings to match the Spider's green paint. Related Video:

Stellantis tells UK: Change Brexit deal or watch car plants close

LONDON - British car plants will close with the loss of thousands of jobs unless the Brexit deal is swiftly renegotiated, Stellantis has told the UK parliament, the latest in a series of warnings from the industry since the country left the European Union. The world's No. 3 carmaker by sales and owner of 14 brands including Vauxhall, Peugeot, Citroen and Fiat said that under the current deal it would face tariffs when exporting electric vans to Europe from next year, when tougher post-Brexit rules come into force. "If the cost of EV (electric vehicle) manufacturing in the UK becomes uncompetitive and unsustainable, operations will close," Stellantis said in a submission to a House of Commons committee examining the prospects for Britain's EV industry. Stellantis urged the government to reach an agreement with the European Union about extending the current rules on the sourcing of parts until 2027 instead of the planned 2024 change. In response, a government spokesperson said the business secretary had raised the issue with the EU. "Watch this space, because we are very focused on making sure that the UK gets EV and manufacturing capacity," Britain's finance minister Jeremy Hunt said on Wednesday at a British Chambers of Commerce event. The potentially existential problem facing Britain's car industry is closely tied to the shift to EVs. Under the trade deal agreed when Britain left the bloc, 45% of the value of an EV being sold in the European Union must come from Britain or the EU from 2024 to avoid tariffs. The problem is that a battery pack can account for up to half a new EV's cost. Batteries are also heavy and expensive to move long distances. Experts have been warning since Britain left the EU at the end of 2020 that the country would need a number of EV battery gigafactories or potentially lose a hefty chunk of its car industry. Only Japan's Nissan has a small EV battery plant in Sunderland, with a second one on the way. Cost of failure Britishvolt, a startup which received UK government support for an ambitious 3.8 billion pound ($4.80 billion) battery plant at a site in northern England, filed for administration in January after struggling to raise funds. The company was then bought by Australia's Recharge Industries, which has yet to unveil plans for the site.

We're not getting the Alfa Romeo Giulia Veloce, and that's fine

Alfa Romeo revealed today that a special edition of the Giulia sports sedan called "Veloce" will make its debut in Paris. It's only slated for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, but before you start lamenting that the US will once again miss out on a cool Euro-spec sedan, we have some good news: it's nothing special. The Giulia Veloce is just a normal Giulia with an appearance package and a fancy name. It comes with either the 280-horsepower turbocharged four-cylinder gas engine, which we will get in 276-hosepower trim, or the 210-horsepower diesel four-cylinder. From there, Alfa throws in options like Q4 all-wheel drive, 19-inch 5-hole wheels, a tweaked front bumper, sport seats and steering wheel, rear diffuser and black window trim. That's it. Well that, and one of the Veloces at the show will sport a new color of blue, but it's not clear if that's a package-exclusive color or just another option. Many of these components will be available in the US, including the all-wheel drive, wheels, and, based on the American Alfa website, probably the black window trim. It's just that they won't all come in one package. And even if a few pieces of vehicle flair don't make it here, we're still not going to lose sleep over an appearance package. If you really need to be upset about something, perhaps consider the fact that we probably won't see Giulias on dealer lots until early next year. And that's just our best guess since we don't have an official launch date yet. Now that's something worthy of some frustration. Related Video: