Alfa Romeo auto news

Report: Alfa-Romeo gets 4C trademarked in the U.S.

Alfa Romeos were meant to be on sale here after summer, but we all know that's not happening. Nevertheless, lentamente, Alfa Romeo's return to the U.S. progresses. According to a story in Automotive News, Fiat was earlier this month granted the U.S. trademark for "Alfa Romeo 4C" for the car and ancillaries. We can at least take that as certain; Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne's statement that the 4C will go on sale at the end of 2013 we'll take with a bit more caution.

Maserati is organizing production of the 4C in Italy, and the €45,000 ($59,310 U.S.) coupe is projected to go on sale in Europe early next year. Only 2,500 will be made per annum, and here they'll give Alfa a much needed halo car to entice less spendy buyers into showrooms and into giving other Alfa models - and the brand itself - a chance.

We know the 4C will eventually be joined by the Dodge-Dart based Giulia sedan and a crossover or two. As for when, well, you can circle late 2013 on your calendar. In pencil.

Report: Maserati gearing up to produce Alfa 4C, new sedan in Italy

Production of the upcoming Maserati Kubang may be set for the Jefferson North plant where Chrysler builds the Jeep Grand Cherokee on which the high-riding Maserati will be based, but that doesn't mean that the Trident marque is giving up on production in its home country of Italy anytime soon.

According to statements made by union officials, Maserati is gearing up to produce a new four-door sedan at a facility on the outskirts of Turin - although whether that is the larger replacement for the Quattroporte or its upcoming baby brother remains unclear - but that's not all. Maserati, according to reports, has also been tasked with building the 4C sportscar for sister-brand Alfa Romeo, much like it had with the higher-end 8C Competizione that came before.

Between the two new sedans, the SUV, the ongoing production of the GranTurismo line and the Alfa 4C, Maserati sure seems to have its hands full - with a little game of musical factories - for a brand currently represented by two model lines.

Auctions: 1968 Alfa Romeo T33/2 Daytona racing to the auction block in Monaco

By the early 1950s, Alfa Romeo had grown tired of dominating (and spending huge sums of money on) grand prix racing, and shut down its program. Along with it, a program to develop a small-displacement two-liter V8 was aborted. But Alfa couldn't keep away from racing altogether for very long, and by the early 60s the factory noticed that its customers were competing in endurance sportscar races and set about fielding its own works effort.

Development of the high-revving 2.0-liter V8 picked up again, finding its way into a variety of prototypes and GTs, but this was arguably the most alluring. Shortly after its debut in 1967, the T33/2 scored an impressive 1-2-3 class finish (and 5-6-7 overall) in the 24 Hours of Daytona, giving the car its nickname. And while Alfa and its racing partner Autodelta kept notoriously sketchy historical records on their racing cars, chassis 75033.029 is believed to be one of the most successful.

The extensive history of the vehicle you see here - regarded as one of the most desirable of racing Alfas of an era that stretches from the 1960s through the 70s - includes victory at the 500 km of Imola in 1968, punctuating a series of races campaigned by the works Alfa/Autodelta team and various privateers that followed. You can read more about the Tipo 33/2 Daytona in the text after the jump ahead of its consignment to the RM Auctions event in Monaco next month, or you could let the pictures in the high-res image gallery speak for themselves.

Continue reading 1968 Alfa Romeo T33/2 Daytona racing to the auction block in Monaco

Geneva: Touring Superleggera Disco Volante Concept looks Alfa familiar

It's been 60 years since the 1952 Alfa Romeo C52 Disco Volante concepts lounged on the stages of the world's auto shows, and Touring Superleggera has taken to marking the occasion with a Disco Volante of its own, a striking coupe that has just debuted at this year's Geneva Motor Show.

The modern flying saucer pays homage to its ancestors with flat-top fenders and a split grille. Even so, it's hard to miss the vehicle's donor. Not surprisingly, the new Disco Volante is built on the bones of the Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione, and relies on the same 4.7-liter V8 found in that machine. As such, buyers can look forward to 443 horsepower pumped exclusively to the rear wheels.

That's right. We said "buyers." This Disco Volante will be available in limited quantities (the company isn't saying how limited), though expect to pay a pretty penny for each one. Touring Superleggera says each example will be coachbuilt to order. Look below for the full press release after checking out our high-res gallery.

Continue reading Touring Superleggera Disco Volante Concept looks Alfa familiar

Geneva: Carrozzeria Touring Disco Volante concept revealed early

The string of early reveals in front of the Geneva Motor Show continues with bonafide auto-porn shots of the Carrozzeria Touring Disco Volante concept. And if it's true that sex sells, Alfa Romeo could seriously clean up if it put this hot hatch into production.

Coachbuilder Carrozzeria drew heavily from the Touring Disco concept it created for Alfa in 1952. The boattail-like rear window and tiny twin taillights are direct descendants of the 60-year-old muse. Same goes for the long hood, short rear deck proportions that just scream speed.

Beneath the sexy skin is an Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione, including its 443-horsepower, 4.7-liter V8 and six-speed tranny.

Looking to add a Disco Volante to your harem of supercars? Get in line. Quickly. Carrozzeria says it will build only a few for the very wealthy who probably aren't you.

Report: Fiat pondering closure of two Italian plants if American initiative fails

Fiat spent much of 2011 jousting with Italian labor unions over contracts and plant security. The matter was finally resolved in December when Fiat signed new labor agreements, but a sign of Fiat's take on the matter was its departure from Confindustria, an Italian business group, over concerns that group labor agreements were crippling international competitiveness. Some recent comments by Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne, though, seem to point the company back to loggerheads with labor.

According to a Reuters report, Marchionne said that Fiat might close two of its five Italian plants "if plans to export to the growing U.S. market don't materialize." The plans in question appear to be based on getting Alfa Romeo back to the U.S. market, but the only public news we've had about that is delays and upset dealers. The report didn't say when Marchionne was considering shutting down the plants, but with Alfa's U.S. return timed for next year at the earliest, it seems a bit early for Marchionne to turn into a crapehanger.

Indeed, the report has riled the head of Italy's largest metalworker's union, who called the comments "worrying," cited the failed attempts to get Alfa here and called plans for the brand "weak, overambitious and adventurous."

What's not in question, however, is that Marchionne has to figure out how to get more from Fiat's Italian operations. While Chrysler plants are at capacity, a Bloomberg report put Fiat's Italian factory utilization at 38 percent in the first three quarters of 2011, and said Italian workers produced 30 cars per year on average while Polish workers produced 100, before accounting for model and work disparities. Pinning hopes on Alfa's export possibilities to turn those numbers around strikes us as odd.

Teased: Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera preparing new Disco Volante concept for Geneva

Mention the names Disco Volante and Touring to connoisseurs of classic Italian automobiles and you're going to need to start handing out bibs.

The Disco Volante, for the uninitiated, is not a rave held inside a convertible Aston Martin, but one of the most beautiful Alfa Romeos ever made. Officially know as the C52, the 1950s-era Alfa prototype - of which only four were ever made - was named Flying Saucer (in Italian) because of its aerodynamic shape. It was based on the Alfa Romeo 1900 but rebodied to its streamlined shape by - you guessed it - Carrozzeria Touring.

That coachbuilder had long since disappeared into obscurity, but was more recently revived to give us some very alluring designs, from concept cars like the Gumpert Tornante and Maserati A8 GCS to coachbuilt conversions of existing vehicles like the Maserati Quattroporte Bellagio Fastback and - perhaps most enticing of all - the Bentley Continental Flying Star.

Now the reborn Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera is preparing to reinterpret the Disco Volante in modern form. The show car set to be unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show next month is reportedly based on the 8C Competizione (another one of the most beautiful Alfas ever made) so we're expecting the 450 horsepower, 4.7-liter V8 to carry over, though reportedly mated to a paddle-shift transmission.

What we're looking forward to, however, is the form that aims to modernize the design believed by many to have inspired the Jaguar E-Type. All we have to go on for now is the rendering above, but we'll be watching for more.

Video: Watch this Alfa Romeo Giulietta play ice hockey

After the culture clash between the Americans at Chrysler and the Germans at Daimler during the bad old DCX days, there has been concern that the latest European occupation of Auburn Hills could lead to similar friction. Granted, Fiat is not Mercedes-Benz, but Italian sensibilities can be quite dissimilar from those of most Detroiters.

So count us doubly impressed to happen upon this video, featuring an Alfa Romeo Giulietta "playing hockey." Never mind that it was Alfa's U.K. group that put together this amusing video to highlight the Giulietta's All Weather traction mode. We'd like to think that somebody from Hockeytown weighed in with some encouragement for the idea.

In fact, now that we think about it, maybe this whole hockey-playing-car thing could be the next extension of Chrysler's "Imported from Detroit" campaign. The new Dodge Dart is all Giulietta underneath, and the Chrysler 300 SRT8 would make one heck of a goon...

Click past the jump to see the Alfa on ice.

Continue reading Watch this Alfa Romeo Giulietta play ice hockey

Did someone really order this Alfa Romeo 8C with a General Lee paint scheme?

Yup. Someone has apparently taken it upon themselves to slather the slinkiest of Alfa Romeo models with the bright orange paint and stars and bars of the General Lee from The Dukes of Hazzard. Why? Because if you have enough cash to park an 8C Competizione in your expansive garage, you can paint it in whatever livery you damn well please. Details are scarce, but our source says the coupe is real, and it rocks the appropriate "01" numbering on each door. We're hoping there's a horn capable of whistling Dixie under the hood as well, and we'll award bonus points if the doors are welded shut and there's a cage inside.

We'd love to know who ordered up this particular color combination. Our source, John S., says this photo was clicked near Balocco in Northern Italy (presumably adjacent to Alfa's test track facility there), but for now, we'll just content ourselves by wondering how you say "Daisy Duke" in Italian.

Report: Chrysler planning Dodge Avenger successor after all?

Don't cry for the Dodge Avenger just yet. According to USA Today, Chrysler is set to introduce new midsized sedans to replace both the Chrysler 200 and the much-maligned Dodge Avenger. The vehicles will be built on a version of the same platform that underpins the 2013 Dodge Dart. That news runs contrary to word that the Avenger is headed to the great scrap pile in the sky after the current generation runs its course. Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne is looking to shore up the company's small car efforts and spread the cost of platform development across as many models as possible.

Marchionne also made mention of introducing a new hybrid hatchback under the Chrysler 100 nameplate, though details are scarce at the moment.

USA Today reports the same platform may be used for the next-generation Jeep Liberty and Compass, which are slated to debut sometime in 2013. Marchionne says both vehicles will be trail-rated and capable of standing up to the kind of abuse Jeep buyers demand. Even so, the CEO says the vehicles will have their "origins in the architecture of a sports car."

Speaking of sports cars, Marchionne also made it clear Alfa Romeo is still coming to the States, though the Italian brand's strategy has shifted somewhat. The models headed to the U.S. market will be lightweight and powered by a turbocharged 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine offering 300 horsepower. Certainly sounds good to us.