Tag automotive history

Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV

The Practical Coupe with a Racing Engineer’s Balance\n\nReplacing a successful Alfa Romeo coupe is never an easy assignment because the old car’s owners tend to become historians, judges and prosecutors at the same time. In the early 1970s the Giulia-based…

Alfa Romeo GTV6

The Coupe That Gave the Busso V6 a Perfect Stage\n\nIf an engine can become a celebrity, the Alfa Romeo Busso V6 is one of the strongest candidates. Designed under engineer Giuseppe Busso, the all-alloy V6 first appeared in the Alfa…

Alfa Romeo 75

The Last Great Transaxle Sedan of the Old Alfa Romeo\n\nThe Alfa Romeo 75 arrived in 1985 with a name that looked backward and a personality that would soon become historically important. It was called 75 to celebrate the company’s seventy-fifth…

Lancia Delta HF Integrale

Yellow Lancia Delta HF Integrale on a mountain road

The Box-Shaped Hatchback That Became a World Rally Dynasty The Lancia Delta HF Integrale may be the most famous example of an ordinary shape becoming extraordinary through competition. At first glance, the Delta was a practical five-door hatchback designed for…

Alfa Romeo 164

The Pininfarina Flagship That Carried Alfa into a New Era The Alfa Romeo 164 is a car of transition, and transition is rarely simple. It was developed while Alfa Romeo was still controlled by the Italian state, launched after the…

Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GT

The Bertone Coupe That Defined Italian Sporting Elegance Some cars become classics because they are rare. The Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GT became a classic because it was right. The proportions were right, the mechanical recipe was right, the timing…

Alfa Romeo Montreal

The Expo Dream That Became a V8 Grand Tourer The Alfa Romeo Montreal began with an almost impossible brief. For Expo 67 in Montreal, the organizers asked Alfa Romeo to provide a car representing the highest aspiration of modern man…

Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale

The Racing Prototype That Became Rolling Sculpture There are beautiful cars, and then there is the Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale. Even among Italian exotics of the 1960s, a period not exactly short of dramatic machinery, the 33 Stradale appears almost…

Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint

The Little Coupe That Turned Alfa Romeo into a Modern Manufacturer\n\nThe Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint is beautiful enough that its industrial importance can be easy to overlook. Look at one today and the eye goes immediately to the delicate roofline,…

Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione

The Supercar That Brought the Alfa Dream Back to Life\n\nFor years, Alfa Romeo enthusiasts had learned to survive on memory. They had the 33 Stradale, the Tipo 33 racers, the great prewar 8C cars, the Giulia GTA, the Montreal and…