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.

Did someone really order this Alfa Romeo 8C with a General Lee paint scheme? originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 30 Jan 2012 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Imagine your dream car. What might it include? Lightweight carbon-fiber construction, high-tech engine behind the seats, legendary Italian badge on the nose…. The thing is, that usually means a big fat price tag that runs well into the six figures, if not seven. But while this latest Italian sports car is set to include all those ingredients, its price point is set decidedly lower.

We’re talking about the Alfa Romeo 4C, the nimble-looking little number that debuted in delicious matte red at the Geneva show last year, and in liquid-metal finish in Frankfurt just a few months ago. Rumors have been circulating of its imminent production ever since its debut, but now the blokes over at Top Gear say that have the final details on good authority.

According to the report, Fiat has crunched the numbers and figured out how it can produce the 4C while neither breaking the bank nor spoiling the formula. And so the supercar is set to begin testing in the new year and hit the market in the next. And the price? £45,000, according to TG, which equates to about $70K at today’s exchange rates. To put that into perspective, consider that is the same starting price in the British market as the Porsche Cayman S – a model which starts here at $62K. UPDATE: Autocar now reports that the 45,000 figure is actually in Euros, not in British Pounds, which would price the 4C below the base Boxster, not the top Cayman.

The Cayman is an ambitious target, but the 4C promises to be both smaller and lighter. A new direct-injection turbo four will drive 230 horsepower to the rear wheels via a dual-clutch gearbox for a 4.5-second sprint to sixty, but is tipped to yield more powerful versions with as much as 300hp on tap and even a roadster version later on.

That last bit promises to be easier to pull off thanks to the carbon-fiber tub – engineered by Dallara – to which aluminum sub-frames will be attached front and rear. The Italian chassis constructor is best known for its racing cars, but also developed the KTM X-Bow, which could in and of itself give us the best idea of what to expect if and when the 4C assumes the place originally reserved for the 8C Competizione in finally heralding Alfa’s return to the North American market.

Alfa Romeo 4C speeds into production with £45,000 price tag [UPDATE] originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 16 Dec 2011 18:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Imagine your dream car. What might it include? Lightweight carbon-fiber construction, high-tech engine behind the seats, legendary Italian badge on the nose…. The thing is, that usually means a big fat price tag that runs well into the six figures, if not seven. But while this latest Italian sports car is set to include all those ingredients, its price point is set decidedly lower.

We’re talking about the Alfa Romeo 4C, the nimble-looking little number that debuted in delicious matte red at the Geneva show last year, and in liquid-metal finish in Frankfurt just a few months ago. Rumors have been circulating of its imminent production ever since its debut, but now the blokes over at Top Gear say that have the final details on good authority.

According to the report, Fiat has crunched the numbers and figured out how it can produce the 4C while neither breaking the bank nor spoiling the formula. And so the supercar is set to begin testing in the new year and hit the market in the next. And the price? £45,000, according to TG, which equates to about $70K at today’s exchange rates. To put that into perspective, consider that is the same starting price in the British market as the Porsche Cayman S – a model which starts here at $62K.

The Cayman is an ambitious target, but the 4C promises to be both smaller and lighter. A new direct-injection turbo four will drive 230 horsepower to the rear wheels via a dual-clutch gearbox for a 4.5-second sprint to sixty, but is tipped to yield more powerful versions with as much as 300hp on tap and even a roadster version later on.

That last bit promises to be easier to pull off thanks to the carbon-fiber tub – engineered by Dallara – to which aluminum sub-frames will be attached front and rear. The Italian chassis constructor is best known for its racing cars, but also developed the KTM X-Bow, which could in and of itself give us the best idea of what to expect if and when the 4C assumes the place originally reserved for the 8C Competizione in finally heralding Alfa’s return to the North American market.

Alfa Romeo 4C speeds into production with £45,000 price tag originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 16 Dec 2011 18:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There were a lot of things to love about the 4C Concept when Alfa Romeo unveiled it – now half a year ago – at the Geneva Motor Show. And one of them was its finish: Decked out in matte red, it was both flashy and understated at the same time.

A tough act to follow, then, so we were a little apprehensive when Alfa announced that it would bring the pint-sized sportscar to its Frankfurt Motor Show stand, albeit in a different finish. But as we found on the show floor, the Milanese automaker didn’t pull out the vinyl or spray it with just any color out of the Pantone swatch book.

Instead Alfa has given it a “fluid metal” finish (similar to the Alubeam finish on the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG) that looks like what ordinary metalwork dreams about when its on vacation – neither polished nor brushed, neither chromed nor varnished. Just bare metal, only nicer. See what we mean in the gallery of live images from the show floor.

Alfa Romeo 4C Concept bares its metal in fluid redux originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 14 Sep 2011 19:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Make no mistake about it, ladies and gentlemen: the era of the Art Car has returned, and it’s returned in a big way. Not only has BMW been showcasing its own extensive collection with a special online gallery, Force India has commissioned the first Formula One art car. Need more proof? Tesla had its roadster worked over, Citroën gave its Survolt concept a new paintjob and numerous other automakers have gotten in on the action just in recent months.

The latest, however, is an Alfa Romeo. The Italian automaker commissioned acclaimed artist Louise Dear to apply her talents to the MiTo to celebrate the launch of its new, more economical 1.3 JDTM-2 engine. The finished product, dubbed “Because I can” was apparently inspired by Dear’s 17-year-old daughter, and it incorporates classic Alfa iconography like the company’s logo and the Cloverleaf emblem that adorned the marque’s racing cars of old. Check out the decidedly flowery result in the high-res image gallery above, along with more details of the partnership in the press release after the jump.

Continue reading Alfa celebrates economical new MiTo with Louise Dear art car

Alfa celebrates economical new MiTo with Louise Dear art car originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 20 Jul 2011 09:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Fiat Group has got big plans for the upcoming Geneva Motor Show. The Italian automaker will, first of all, be unveiling rebadged versions of existing Chrysler group products for the European market, with a Dodge rebadged as a Fiat and several Chryslers anticipated to debut with Lancia nameplates as well. But what of Alfa Romeo? According to reports, the hottest of Fiat’s core family will roll in with an all-new concept car.

Tentatively dubbeed the 4C GTA, the show car is tipped to pack a 265-horsepower 1.7-liter turbo four into a svelte coupe package. Like the MiTo and Giulietta, the 4C will likely take its design cues after the 8C Competizione (and hopefully a little from the Pininfarina 2uettotanta pictured above) only slotting in below the eight-cylinder supercar in the company’s line-up.

Of course it would have to be approved for production first, and right now all we’ve got are rumors from our unrelated Hellenic compatriots, so stay tuned.

[Source: Autoblog.gr]

Rumormill: Alfa Romeo 4C GTA concept coming to Geneva originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 24 Jan 2011 18:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You remember the Bertone Pandion. Who could forget: Bertone’s Alfa Romeo show car dropped at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this year to rave reviews and dropped jaws. But as fortunate as we were to lay our eyes on it at all, the truth of the matter is that the poor lighting and commercial setting of a major car expo hardly serve as the best conditions for viewing such a fine example of automotive design.

To put as advanced a concept as the Pandion into its proper context, what we really need is some futuristic, post-apocalyptic fantasy world. You know, like The Matrix or The Fifth Element or something – and we’re not talking about some Toyota hatchback, either. Fortunately, someone’s done exactly that, and we’ve placed the video after the jump for your cyber-dreaming enjoyment. Heck, if this is what’s waiting on the other side, we’ll take whatever pill Cadillac’s new spokesman tells us to. Thanks for the tip, Boby!

Photos by Drew Phillips / Copyright (C)2010 Weblogs, Inc.

[Source: YouTube]

Continue reading Video: Bertone’s Alfa Romeo Pandion concept goes all Matrix on us

Video: Bertone’s Alfa Romeo Pandion concept goes all Matrix on us originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 27 Dec 2010 14:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Describing an Alfa Romeo as a rolling work of art is easy enough. We’ve done it, you’ve likely done it, and everyone else has, too. Heck, the blokes over at Top Gear even tried to sell a Brera to an art museum on exactly that basis. Actually turning an Alfa into a work of art – you know, one you can hang on your wall – takes another kind of talent altogether.

That’s where Federico B. Alliney comes in. Alliney is the artist to whom James Cameron turned to render his vision of how the Avatar world should look. And say what you will about overgrown Smurfs romping through the Pocahontas storyline, the scenery and animation is really what made Avatar the blockbuster success it was. Now the artist has worked his magic on some of Alfa Romeo’s most beautiful creations for a series of factory-sanctioned paintings called “The Cross and the Snake” collection.

The seven works of art depict 100 years’ worth of picturesque Alfas – including the original 8C 2300, the otherworldly Disco Volante, Giulia, BAT 9, and Carabo concept – against such backdrops as the Venice waterfront, a retro gas station, a race track, Batman’s lair, and of course a surrealistic tropical jungle. Each is available in a limited reproduction series of 30 editions each. The cars and their settings are achingly beautiful, as you can see for yourself from the gallery below, with full details available in the press release after the jump and the website at this link.

[Source: Alfa Romeo | Images: (C)Cultwork/Alfa Romeo]

Continue reading Alfa Romeo partners with Avatar’s Federico Alliney on official artwork collection

Alfa Romeo partners with Avatar’s Federico Alliney on official artwork collection originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 17 Oct 2010 17:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It might be hard to believe, but Alfa Romeo is a century old. Check that – A.L.F.A. (Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili, or Lombardy Car Manufacturing Company) is 100, having been established in 1910. That was the year that a group of Milanese enthusiasts decided they could build cars better than the stuff they were getting from foreign automakers. ALFA wasn’t very successful at first – at least not financially – but during World War I, the company was taken over by a young engineer, Nicola Romeo, and the rest, as they say, is history. 100 years later, we have some of the most incredible and memorable sports and racing cars of all time wearing the cross-and-serpent or the Quadrifoglio.

At the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance on Sunday, the automaker received a warm welcome, with two dozen or so of their most significant models on hand for the festivities – many from the factory museum. Those 24 cars represented just a small sample of the sports and racing cars that made the company famous – everything from one of their first 1910 A.L.F.A. 24-hp Torpedo model, to the bio-mechanical 2010 Alfa Romeo Pandion Bertone Coupé.

It was a great gathering of incredible cars to honor this legendary automaker as it enters its second century, a century that will thankfully see its return to the United States market. It’s hard to say if today’s models will stand the test of time like the classics gathered at Pebble, but we think that the 8C Competizione will look sensational out there on the 18th fairway in 40 years, just like it does today.

Photos Copyright (C)2010 Drew Phillips, Frank Filipponio / AOL

Monterey 2010: Pebble Beach honors Alfa Romeo on its 100th birthday originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 16 Aug 2010 14:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In a field of automotive-inspired wristwatches, one marque stands above the rest as the connoisseur’s choice: Chopard. From its ongoing sponsorship and participation in the annual Mille Miglia revival rally to exquisite timepieces like the LUC Engine One Tourbillon, Chopard’s made a name for itself among lovers of classic cars. And this year they celebrate their 150th anniversary, conveniently in the same year as Alfa Romeo marks their 100th.

To celebrate, Chopard has rolled out not just a single model, but a whole line of timepieces honoring Alfa Romeo. The range includes the Gran Turismo XL Alfa Romeo and the GT XL Chono Alfa Romeo (available in either stainless steel of carbon-coated steel), both of which feature COSC-certified in-house automatic movements, 46-hour power reserve, anti-reflective sapphire crystal, 44mm cases and Chopard’s signature vintage Dunlop-inspired rubber straps. Only 500 of each of the three variants will be offered, along with a table clock in PVD-coated steel and a black leather, red-stitched case, and an additional travel alarm clock.

All in all, not a bad way to celebrate a birthday. Read about ‘em in the press release after the jump and take a closer look in the gallery below.

[Source: Chopard]

Continue reading Happy Birthdays: Chopard celebrates Alfa Romeo with special line of timepieces

Happy Birthdays: Chopard celebrates Alfa Romeo with special line of timepieces originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 15 Jul 2010 08:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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