Autoblog

Click on the image to enlarge and see more high-res shots of the Alfa Spider

Alfa Romeo undoubtedly offers some of the most beautiful cars available. While we're anxiously awaiting the storied Italian brand's return to the U.S. market, those in Europe get some added reason to place the aging Spider on their shopping lists. The new Limited Edition model comes equipped with heated seats swathed in Italian Frau® leather upholstery and Alfa's Blue&Me™ (no, we're not making these names up) voice recognition hands-free system. Available in four color combo's and equipped with pretty 19-inch alloys, nobody is likely to kick the LE out of their garages. No power increase is present, but considering that at £25,500, all of this added goodness comes at no extra cost, we don't expect to hear too much complaining. Besides, this car is really meant to be seen in, so the zip-to-sixty sprint of just under nine seconds is likely good enough anyway.


[Source: Alfa Romeo]

The Italians are coming, the Italians are coming! And when they get here in the guise of Alfa Romeo, they will be looking for a factory where the 8C and other cars wearing the cross and serpent can be built. Alfa is looking at two options regarding a U.S.-based factory: buy one of GM, Ford, or Chrysler's closed factories, or expand a Case New Holland factory.

Case New Holland, which is actually owned by Alfa, makes agricultural machinery and construction equipment. It already has 11 plants in the U.S., and Alfa could simply expand one of them to make cars. The plant, a location for which will be selected in May, will begin churning out Alfas in 2011 or 2012. At capacity, production is expected to be around 150,000 cars for the North American and European markets. Alfa Romeo will decide on the distribution network and particular vehicles to be made within three months, which makes it sound as if the Italians are definitely coming.

[Source: Automotive News, sub. req'd]

The weak dollar is driving yet another automaker to the States. On the heels of the announcement earlier this month that BMW will increase production in the U.S, Fiat is considering moving production of both Alfa Romeo cars, and Iveco trucks, to manufacturing plants on our shores. We first broke the news in December, but now it appears Fiat is actively involved in talks with U.S. automakers to build partnerships and share manufacturing facilities with a goal of starting production by 2011 or 2012. This is positive news for consumers as Alfa prepares to once again enter the N.A. marketplace, and great news for the local economies who will benefit from additional jobs and tax revenue.

[Source: Reuters]

Alfa Romeo is returning to the US market in about a year, offering the zooty 8C Competizione and 8C Spider atop a range of less spectacular offerings. While the top-end 8Cs will probably be Italian emigres, the 149 and 169 sedans could be put together in Mexico. Alfa doesn't have a hard and fast decision yet, and could pick another site, even one in North America. Moving the labor to Mexico for the volume sellers might prove to be a wise move on Alfa's part. The dollar continues to take a beating, pushing up the cost of European items on US sales markets, and building somewhere else would sidestep some of those increased costs. Alfa is trying this idea in China, too, where Chery will assemble automobiles for that market. We're all for it if it gets the keys to some stylish Italians in our hands while holding the prices down. The quality can't be any worse than it was in the bad old days that led to the notorious reputation for unreliability that afflicted Italian marques. Besides, those shop queens were so joyous to drive, they made suckers out of all of us, and we'd do it again, given the chance.

[Source: Inside Line]

The Mini is so 2006. VW's new Polo has yet to launch. Neither of those cars matter once you set eyes on the forthcoming hotness from Alfa Romeo. Alfa is coming back to the U.S. market, and while everyone's been ga-ga about the 8C Competizione, supercars just don't support the type of sales volume that Alfa is looking for. Dubbed the MiTo, Alfa's B-car might be the starter kit for the more aspirational supercars that the brand has to offer, but it's no less kickass when taken on its own. Alfa's styling will be new and fresh in the U.S., the brand having been absent from North American shores since the 1990s. There's a little retro in the nose as seen in these renderings from Winding Road, but it's not anywhere near the total homage to the 1960s that the Mini is.

What's underneath the sheetmetal that's alternately voluptuous and crisply creased is a versatile chassis developed before GM took their wad of cash home from Fiat. The MiTo actually shares its platform with the Opel Corsa and the Fiat Grande Punto, both of which have left favorable impressions with reviewers. Power units could run the gamut from a fire breathing turbocharged 1.4-liter gas unit to a 1.9-liter diesel, and a 2.0-liter that kicks out 280 horsepower is also a possibility if a Delta version comes to fruition. As excited as this news makes us, it's going to be a long wait until 2010.

[Source: Winding Road]

To replace its aging 147 hatchback, Alfa Romeo is going with two separate models. The 3-door version is being replaced by a little sport-hatch tentatively known as the Junior, of which we've seen countless spy shots and teasers. The 5-door, we'd been told, was being replaced by an entirely different model, likely to be labeled 149, but this is the first time we've seen it.

To make its products financially feasible, Alfa has been basing many of its new models on shared platforms from Fiat Group sister companies. So while the 3-door will be based on the Fiat Grande Punto, the 149 shares its platform with the larger Fiat Bravo. That corresponds to a bigger 149 than the 147 it replaces. The car in the spy shot is wearing mostly Bravo bodywork, but a sharp eye will notice the trademark Alfa grille up front.

Now pay attention, 'cause this model very well might make it over to the U.S. market with Alfa's return. Engine options will likely include a range of Fiat Group powerplants from the T-Jet and M-Jet series, and could include a 265-hp V6 for the GTA version. Alfa Romeo would be smart to stick with six-speed manual and automatic gearboxes – this writer has driven a 147 equipped with the Selespeed semi-automatic gearbox, and I agree with our source's assessment that the U.S. market especially would be better served by more conventional transmission choices.

The 149 is tipped to hit European markets with a €20 000 base price sometime in mid 2009 after the Junior becomes available this coming October. That means we could see it pop up at one of the big shows later this year.

[Source: World Car Fans]

True, red-blooded Alfa Romeo fans will remember the Clover Leaf emblem, and not just from the red car in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The badge was used on Alfa's most successful racing cars and most powerful road cars. Now the Quadrifoglio Verde is coming back to grace two new top-of-the-line versions of the 147 and GT.

Both models are being outfitted with the 170-hp 1.9-liter JTDM that made its debut on the limited-edition 147 Ducati Corse, coupled to Alfa's Q2 limited slip differential, a lowered suspension and a sport button to switch between touring and sport set-ups for throttle response. The Quadrifoglio Verde editions of both the 147 and GT also feature a range of cosmetic enhancements inside and out, including chrome exhaust tips, red brake calipers, satin-finish grilles and wing mirrors and a host of interior mods.

The 147 is being replaced soon by the "Junior" and 149, while the GT has largely become obsolete since the even more gorgeous Brera hit the market. We'd like to say these will be the last editions of both, but we have a feeling Alfa Romeo has a few more shots of adrenaline on hold to keep sales lively.

[Source: Italiaspeed]

Before its highly-anticipated unveiling at the Geneva show in March, Alfa Romeo has been leaking mere glimpses at its upcoming entry-level hatchback. Tentatively known as the "Junior" after Alfa scrapped its own online naming contest, the hatchback is based on sister company Fiat's Grande Punto platform, but with even more sumptuous Italian styling and a range of engines.

These latest images appear to have been prepared for its brochure, but have somehow found their way out of the factory and into cyber-space. None of the images, which can be seen after the jump, reveal anything more than some close-up details, but the when Alfa takes the wraps off its latest, it should give the Mini a run for its money.

[Source: Progretti955 via Carscoop]

With the Alfa Junior hatch gearing up for production, the 8C Competizione being delivered to customers and the 159, Brera and Spider gorgeous-ing up roads around the world, the next item on Alfa Romeo's plate is the 169, its upcoming flagship sedan.

Although the 169, spy shots of which we brought you back in February '07, could be based on a modified Maserati platform or potentially on one borrowed from Jaguar, it's slated to return to rear-wheel-drive either way, which puts it in a better position to take on Europe's very best sports sedans.

The image above, of course, is just a rendering, but draws on existing and anticipated brand styling cues. We hope the actual production version will be more sexy and, well, more Italian than this illustration, and we also hope it'll make it across the pond with its stablemates.

[Source: The Hollywood Extra]

Uh-oh. The big day came and went and you forgot a present for that pint-size kiddie on your shopping list. This is gonna cost ya. We'd charge you for information on the ultimate "stop crying, let me make it up to you" gift, but our lawyers insist it's legally questionable and our life coach says it's "wrong", whatever that means.

So here's what you want to get to make the kid forget the conspicuous and disappointing void under the tree: an Alfa Romeo. Okay, not a real one, but everything is relative and to a child, this will seem just as cool – trust us. These downsized rideable Alfa Spiders are available with a choice of body-styles – 8C Competizione or Brera – and powertrain. A hair under three bills will get pedal-power, or an extra two hundred nets the 6-volt electric version. Shipping's extra if you live outside the UK, and the roadsters are made for kids ages 2-5. Oh, and they're available only in red.

If your kid's passion lies elsewhere than with Alfa Romeo, we'd recommend a better education. In the meantime, don't fret: Turbo Toys has a variety of similar ride-ons, including a Maserati, Audi TT, Jag XK, Porsche, and several Ferraris.

You can thank us later.

[Source: Turbo Toys via Carscoop]