By Nick Zart

If you ever found yourself in one of those situations where you were in the right place at the right time, than you will understand my weekend.  I write about electric cars these days, and together with a friend, I decided to investigate a little startup called I-DriveGreen that promotes the idea that we can drive green regardless of what we drive.  As we were driving in, I was surprised to see a Maserati GT, and even more surprised to see the glorious Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione right next to it.  Next to the Alfa was a Lamborghini Gallardo, a Corvette C6 Callaway and a Ferrari 430 Scuderia.  I felt it was a cruel thing to show us these beauties when we were to drive boring old modern, soulless sedans.  Little did I know what fate had in store for me!

I had been talking to the co-founder, JP Libert, and some race drivers the night before. We chatted about cars and of course, my love of Alfa Romeos.  Next morning, before our first run, JP was talking about how we should drive our everyday mules with as much care as we would these exotics.  It was becoming very painful to think about treating these floating sofas as anything but special, but I tried.  He then turned to me, with a certain smile and said something like: “Nick, you like Alfas?  Why don’t you take the 8C for a spin.”  It would be hard to describe what went on inside at that moment.  It was something like a slow dual reaction of disbelief and complete exhilaration.  Take the 8C for a spin?  Did I just snooze and started dreaming or is the automobile God smiling at me? (more…)

• More Story
• 0 Comments

About 2 months ago, I was helping out fellow club member Adam Davis with a drive story for his motoring website www.lautista.com.au. The brief this time was to drive and compare an original 1960s Mini Cooper S with the recently superseded supercharged version, and the current turbo version. I was lucky enough to have a decent drive in the supercharged model, but more about that later. I’d never had any great love of the later Minis, but I can respect the fact that they are a fun and pretty quick car. Reviews of them are usually pretty favourable, and some of the ones that turn up to our sprint days are indecently fast.

As I started talking to the two blokes who owned the later Minis, both were, shall we say, keen, to point out that the cars belonged to their wives, and that they were practical, stylish and easy to drive cars. That said, they were both also very vocal about how much fun the cars were, and how fast you could hustle them along. The driver of the supercharged car was upset that on one particular stretch of the drive his car was 3km/h down on the turbo car. Suffice to say that both of them were having twice as much fun as legally allowed on the open road. (more…)

• More Story
• 0 Comments

Based on Fiat’s Grande Punto platform and designed with the exotic Alfa Romeo 8C in mind, the Alfa Romeo MiTo (for Milano and Torino) is the firm’s answer to the Mini. Only available only in a three-door, it’s also the first in a two-part replacement of the aging 147: a new five-door only car rumored to be badged Milano will be introduced in the next few years and the 147 will be phased out at that time.

I recently had a chance to sample a gasoline-powered 120hp 1.4 T-jet MiTo equipped with a 6-speed manual transmission. When I first drove off in the car I was anything but impressed – it seemed slower than my daily driver 1997 Fiat Brava, 200cc bigger but also heavier. I was expecting it to be much faster and briefly wondered if I mistakenly hadn’t released the hand brake all the way. Once I got the rpms up it picked up a bit but as soon as I hit a roundabout and had to build up speed again I found myself cursing the acceleration. (more…)

• More Story
• 0 Comments

We just got news that the BAT 11 owned by Gary Kaberle of Michigan will be making an appearance at this years Concorso Italiano. The BAT 11 is an exciting new Bertone designed concept car. The BAT 11 has futuristic styling although the basic design theme is over 50 years old. The show car is based on the platform dimensions of the Maserati Gran Turismo, itself a long-wheelbase version of the Alfa 8C. There is so much more to this car, but you’ll have to see it in person.

• More Story
• 0 Comments

North American Debut of Unique Alfa 8C Scheduled for Meadow Brook Concours

A one-of-a-kind 1934 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 (serial no. 2311237) will make its North American Debut at the 30^th Anniversary Meadow Brook Concours d’Elegance on August 2, 2009. This exciting performance car is a one-off alloy Boattail Speedster formerly owned by Angela Cherrett− noted authority and author on Alfa 8Cs, and will be presented in unrestored condition.

“We’re thrilled that the owner of this thorough-bred vintage race car has chosen the Meadow Brook Concours as the venue for its North American debut,” said Matthew de Larcinese, Executive Director – Meadow Brook Concours d’Elegance. “This addition to the show field is certain to be a crowd pleaser!” (more…)

• More Story
• 0 Comments

The Alfa Romeo 75 came out in 1985 as a 1986 model and was designed in-house by Alfa Romeo. It was called 75 to mark Alfa Romeo’s 75th anniversary and was available with a whole host of engines, gas and diesel, including Alfa’s venerable twin-cam. They were appreciated by the police and Carabinieri in Italy. It was imported to the U.S. from 1987 to 1989 where it was sold under the Milano moniker and was available exclusively with a V6. A vast majority of U.S. bound cars were equipped with the 2.5 found in the GTV6 and the Alfa6 but in the Milano Verde, this motor was bored out to 3.0, delivering around 183 horsepower. Alfa’s logs are notoriously unreliable and production figures are iffy but it’s estimated that no more than 900 Verdes came to the U.S. This is one of these cars.

Take a gander at it and right off the bat it’s unmistakably a product of the 1980s. Some say it’s reminiscent of a Jetta: the car is very angular, especially the trunk line which sweeps upwards. This is the kind of car that leaves onlookers with a strong impression either way. It was only available in sedan form though a wagon was prototype that never saw mass production was built. On the outside, the Verde stands out from its 2.5 siblings with specific wheels, fender flares and a subtle spoiler on the trunk.

The driving position resembles something found in a yoga manual- the pedals are offset to the right. The clutch is where the brake normally and so on. On that note, the whole interior is an exercise in Italian ergonomics: the handbrake is U-shaped, the window switches are up above the rearview mirror, there is a tray where the glovebox should be and the actual glovebox is a drawer below the tray, etc. It’s quite odd once you first sit in it but you eventually get used to it and after you spend enough time behind the wheel, some of it may even start to make sense. Some interior differences between the Verde and other models include orange gauges, a 160mph speedometer and comfortable Recaro seats. Instrumentation includes a tach, a temperature gauge, an oil pressure gauge and a fuel gauge. (more…)

• More Story
• 0 Comments

AlfaBB.com has tapped director Darren Thomas of Working Element, LLC to head an automotive concept film to coincide with Alfa Romeo’s return to the U.S.. Thomas’ last film project “For My Country” was the official jury selection of the GI Film Fest in Washington DC. The project is set to begin in 2009 with a fourth quarter release.

• More Story
• 0 Comments

I used to believe that the hottest place I had ever been was located half a world away in the jungles of South-East Asia, or maybe a certain Middle-Eastern country with nothing going for it but sand and lots of oil.  But I don’t believe
that anymore.  As if trying to prove that one doesn’t need to go very far away to experience extremes, the weather gods saw fit to turn up the heat control to 11 as we visited Philadelphia for the weekend of 7 and 8 June.

Being the intrepid types, Kathleen and I decided to kill two birds with one stone and spend a little time visiting my exceedingly long-time friend and fellow ex-pat Canuck, Dr. Jon Druhan who resides near Philly, and also attend the Italian Car Show at Head House Square in support of ‘Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer’ on Sunday, 8 June.  We knew that the weather was going to be warm, but nothing could have prepared us for the humidity-laced heat we encountered that weekend! (more…)

• More Story
• 0 Comments

“Curse you, Red Baron!” I yelled – with fist raised high - from the driver’s seat in Kathleen’s Spider towards the little tomato-soup red Lancia Fulvia Sport Zagato in front of us.  Like Snoopy in his imaginary First World War Sopwith Camel, I was day-dreaming.  The only difference was that my day-dream was about chasing a young Tazio Nuvolari in some long-ago ‘Mille Miglia’!  I giggled audibly as our much more powerful Alfa Spider…and car after car following us, danced a rubber-souled ballet around one of many well-banked 160 degree corners.  These were typical of the ‘twisties’ which peppered the ups and downs of the beautiful Western Virginia mountain roads selected by David and Susan, our planners and hosts extraordinaire.  This year’s ‘Giro di Campagna’, held in the historic and very picturesque wine-growing region near Lexington, Virginia marked the 2nd year for this successful and fun spring weekend event.  And what an event it was!

Beginning with a small group of Alfas and other ‘lesser’ cars gathered at a gas station just to the West of the nation’s capital, our hosts led the way for the long drive out of the city and on towards Lexington.  This particular group of road-trippers included our leaders, David and Susan in their very red, pristine Bertone GTV 2000, Jack and Terry in their newly restored ’69 Berlina, Denny and Trish in Trish’s ’89 Milano Verde and Randy and Josie in their red Series IV Spider.  For a variety of reasons, some of the group used other means of transportation.  Harlan, the Capital Chapter’s President (who apparently changes loyalties as easily as Fangio!) switched into his and Garnet’s patina-plated ’67 Lancia Fulvia Sport Zagato, while Dennis and Beth brought their Porsche Boxster, as their ’71 Spider had decided it didn’t want to play.  Dermott and Lois chose a modern Mercedes sedan because none of their other cars were weather-proof, while Garnet drove her MB convertible solely for the commute, as she had to leave early to return to the city for work on Sunday.  Finally, John and Hillary drove their distinctly Italian Rosso-colored late-model Corvette…John should have known better than to bring a knife to a gunfight!  Making the drive independently from Baltimore, were Bert and Judy in their ’61 Giulietta Spider, and Kathleen and I in her ’82 Spider.  Still later, and sneaking in under cover of darkness in the wee hours on Friday night, Michael appeared in his very clean GTV6.  Eventually settling into our headquarters for the weekend, our group was very well situated in an elegant and historic old Inn called Maple Hall, located conveniently near Interstate 81. (more…)

• More Story
• 0 Comments

Ever wonder exactly what is involved in restoring a car to an award winning level? What kind of attention to detail it takes to get all the bits and pieces correct?

Well recently one of our AlfaBB.com site memebers George Kraus did exactly that. George documented and posted many photos of his restoration process. Recently his 1960 Giulietta Spider Veloce won a “First In Class” at the 2008 Forest Grove Concours d’Elegance.

Here is a link to his wonderful thread covering some of the cars transformations.

• More Story
• 0 Comments