Fiat: 126 years to build an empire, five to dismantle it Every so often Top Gear used to do those hagiographies about brands that “shaped motoring”. They did Ferrari. They did Aston. They did Porsche. They never quite did Fiat properly, and if you think about it for more than thirty seconds, that omission is … Read more
Alfa Romeo 75: The Last Real Alfa Romeo, the Car That Closed a Century of Independent Marque There are three things any serious Alfisti will tell you about the Alfa Romeo 75 before you’ve finished saying hello: One: the 75 is the last Alfa Romeo with transaxle architecture in the marque’s history. After the 75, in 1992, no … Read more
Alfa Romeo Alfasud: The Most Advanced Compact in Europe That Rusted Away Because of Politics More than a million units built between 1972 and 1989. 893,719 saloons produced between 1972 and 1983, plus 121,434 Sprint coupés between 1976 and 1989. A massive industrial figure by Alfa Romeo standards — a marque that had historically built … Read more
Giuseppe Merosi: The Engineer Who Drew Alfa Before Jano, and Whom Nobody Mentions Ask any motoring enthusiast for the key engineer in Alfa Romeo’s history and they’ll say Vittorio Jano. Press them for the next generation and you’ll get Orazio Satta Puliga or Giuseppe Busso. Press harder, you might get Carlo Chiti of Autodelta. What … Read more
The new Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale: tribute or corporate accounting? When the new 33 Stradale was unveiled at Monza in September 2023, most of the motoring press did what the motoring press is paid to do: it gushed. Top Gear talked about a return to form. Carscoops called it a stunning flagship. The Goodwood crowd … Read more
Alfa Romeo Montreal: The Prototype-Engined GT That Arrived Late to Its Own Party Picture this scenario. You have access to one of the most exotic V8s ever produced in 1960s European motor engineering: a 90-degree, 2.6-litre, twin-cam-per-bank, dry-sump, cross-plane-crankshaft, SPICA mechanical fuel-injected unit, derived directly from the Tipo 33 sports racing prototype that Autodelta had … Read more
The Biscione: Why Alfa Romeo Still Wears a Snake Eating a Man Walk past a parked Alfa Romeo. Lean in and look at the badge. What you’ll see, on every Giulia, every Stelvio, every Tonale, every 4C, every Junior, every old Spider parked in a Surrey driveway, is a blue serpent wearing a crown, devouring … Read more
Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale: the most beautiful car ever made? There is a certain kind of claim that gets repeated so often in car magazines that it loses its meaning. “The most beautiful car ever made.” Top Gear has said it. Chris Harris has said it. Pebble Beach jurors say it every time a 33 … Read more
The French Disaster That Built Alfa: Portello, 1906 Picture this. A French industrialist with a handlebar moustache walks into a Naples hotel in April 1906, signs a stack of papers, and announces he’s going to teach Italians how to build cars. Eighteen months later his factory is bleeding money in the wrong city, his Italian … Read more
The Man Who Saved Alfa Without Loving Cars: Nicola Romeo Most car brands that survive a century get a fairy tale stitched onto their origin story. There’s always a founder with petrol in his veins, a workshop epiphany, a sketch on a napkin. Henry Ford watching the Model T roll out the door. Frederick Henry … Read more
FRANCO SCAGLIONE — THE GENIUS ITALY CHOSE TO FORGET There’s a letter Nuccio Bertone wrote on May 19, 1993. It reads: “I remember with great emotion your contribution to our project. I remember your sharpness in the shape of futuristic cars. I also remember our fierce discussions looking for excellence. Your passion and knowledge of … Read more
Wifredo Ricart: The Spanish Engineer Who Made Ferrari Happen… Without Even Trying A kid from Barcelona, born in 1897. A guy who graduated in industrial engineering before turning 21. A man who designed racing cars with double overhead cams and 16 valves when most manufacturers didn’t even know those words. A Spaniard who walked into … Read more
