1992 Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce on 2040-cars

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2015 Alfa Romeo 4C Spider First Drive [w/video]

New cars are getting, to quote Alice during her Adventures in Wonderland, "curiouser and curiouser." Take the Alfa Romeo 4C, a car from a mass-market European brand with supercar-like construction at a price that starts under $55,000. The exotic looks on the outside are countered with an almost pre-war era lack of frills on the inside, but the 4C drives like a street-legal go-kart when you put it to work. That price is either a bargain or a ripoff, depending on your priorities. This oddity now has a topless variant in the 2015 Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, which is almost identical to the coupe at first glance. On the stat sheet, two numbers separate this open-top car from its closed-cabin sibling. The first is ground clearance, which goes down in the Spider: 4.4 inches here compared to 4.5 inches in the coupe. The second number is 22. That's how many pounds the Spider gains by losing its roof, for a claimed weight of 2,487 pounds. Alfa Romeo senior product planner Fabio Migliavacca says none of that mass comes from body reinforcement. The 4C's carbon fiber tub was engineered for convertible duty from the go. Alfa Romeo engineered the 4C's carbon fiber tub to handle convertible duty from the beginning, so the roof on the coupe – made of the same sheet-molded compound as the rest of the body – isn't a structural member. The Spider's canvas soft top accounts for an extra 14.3 pounds, making it heavier than the roof on the coupe. And yes, you read that correctly, the Spider comes standard with a canvas top. The optional carbon fiber roof panel costs $3,500. In fact, the options list is so full of woven composite accessories that, during the presentation, one journalist asked if the $1,595 charge for destination and handling could also be had in carbon fiber. The other 7.7 pounds comes from small alterations. The Spider gets larger mufflers – 11-liter cans here, as opposed to eight liters on the coupe - for a richer exhaust note. The car's rear haunches are reshaped to be fuller than those on the hardtop, and the engine cover is now a single solid piece, without the coupe's revealing clear insert. A few changes on the Spider will come to the coupe, including a pair of cellphone pockets, one next to each seat. The awful Parrot stereo goes away, replaced by a more friendly Alpine unit. Some coupe options are standard features on the Spider, like the full leather interior. Two of the six seat styles and four of the six available wheels are exclusive to the Spider.

Alfa Romeo turns it up to 11 with Harrison guitars and Marshall amps

To American enthusiasts, nothing might say rock n' roll quite like a classic muscle car. But that doesn't preclude the Europeans from trying. Volkswagen has partnered with Fender for its premium audio systems, and now Alfa Romeo is teaming up with some rocking powerhouses as well. The Italian automaker is collaborating with Harrison Custom Guitar Works to create the limited-edition axe you see here. The electric guitar is designed around Alfa's iconic grille and uses automotive materials like aluminum and carbon fiber as well as traditional guitar woods like poplar, maple, ebony and Korina. The cross-bars, pickups, tail piece and bridge are CNC-machined from aluminum billet. Only 11 examples will be made, each taking eight months to construct, and priced at GBP4,000 (about $6,800 at current exchange rates). At the same time Alfa has also created a one-off MiTo concept car together with Marshall Amplification. The hatchback packs a custom Marshall JVM 50-watt amp and a pair of 12-inch 75-watt speakers, but has also been decked out with gold-mesh trim on the grille, head- and taillight surrounds, side mirrors, door handles and lower bumper – just like a Marshall stack – while the interior has been worked over with Marshall treadplates, white piping and gold trim. The shift knob has even been replaced by a Shure SH55 microphone. Though the collaborations look like something straight out of This Is Spinal Tap (with a touch of The Graduate thrown in for good measure), they'll both be showcased at a special screening in London of another rock documentary: Sound City, directed by Foo Fighters frontman (and former Nirvana drummer) Dave Grohl. You can, however, check them out in the pair of image galleries and the press releases below. CRAFTED FOR PERFORMANCE: HARRISON CUSTOM GUITAR WORKS UNVEILS ULTRA-EXCLUSIVE ALFA ROMEO-INSPIRED GUITAR - Harrison Custom Guitar Works create the 'Alfa Romeo' – an ultra-limited edition Alfa Romeo-inspired guitar - The 'Alfa Romeo' integrates traditional craftsmanship with performance materials such as carbon fibre and aluminium - Hand-built to order for GBP4,000 with each guitar taking eight months to create Harrison Custom Guitar Works based in Yorkshire (UK) has created an ultra-exclusive electric guitar inspired by Alfa Romeo's design and heritage. The 'Alfa Romeo', is a completely custom-made design that draws inspiration from the style, materials and technology of the Italian brand's road cars.

US-spec 2017 Alfa Romeo Giulia details revealed

Maurice the Bowler from The Simpsons said, "Better than the act, better than the memory, is the anticipation!" He wasn't talking about the 2017 Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio, but he could have been. Recently delayed another six months by parent company Fiat, we're going to do a whole lot more anticipating since the sedan might not make it here until the actual 2017 calendar year. That's a shame to think about because the top-of-the-Giulia line is a thing of beauty, so we'll enjoy it at the LA Auto Show while we have it. Built on the new Giorgio architecture developed in conjunction with Ferrari, its standard elements are a 2.9-liter, twin-turbo V6 with 505 horsepower and 443 pound-feet of torque. That power number is the largest Alfa Romeo has ever let loose from a production car factory, and that torque is available from 2,500 to 5,000 rpm. The fireworks are sent to the rear wheels through a short throw six-speed manual transmission and carbon fiber driveshaft, and 19-inch wheels can convert those explosions into a 3.8-second run from 0-60 miles per hour and a top speed of 191 mph. The Giulia Quadrifoglio gets its grunt massaged by tech like an active front splitter controlled by two electronic actuators, a carbon fiber rear spoiler, torque-vectoring limited-slip differential, and adaptive damping. Brembo four-pot calipers all around hugging iron rotors come stock, you'll find carbon ceramics on the options list providing six-piston Brembos in front and four-piston Brembos in back. The carbon fiber hood and roof, and extensive aluminum bits like the doors and fenders go easy on the scales and help provide a "near 50/50 weight distribution." Cylinder deactivation will help you go easy on the gas, if not the throttle. After the top-dog Giulia gets here its less powerful minions will follow, all of them motivated by a 276-horsepower, turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder. All-wheel-drives comes after launch, too. Interior options will be lengthy and detailed, with a mix of materials, colors, and stitching. For the hardest of the hardcore, Sparco racing seats can be had for the Quadrifoglio. You can read about all of this and much more in the press release below, here's the number you'll want to know now: "around $70,000," the US MSRP we're now being warned about. Because beauty is not cheap, especially when it's quick.