Alfa Romeo Wallpapers - 13

Filed under: Chrysler, Fiat 2011 Alfa Romeo Giulietta - Click above for high-res image gallery Fiat has the highly regarded Multijet diesel engine among its offerings, and Volkswagen has been spending massive amounts of moolah to soften American hearts toward diesels. Yet in spite of those two factoids, at a recent symposium in Michigan Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne championed compressed natural gas (CNG) as a fuel he'd like to see take a notable place among the panoply of domestic options. Last year when Fiat presented its five-year plan, the senior VP of powertrain, Paolo Ferrero, mentioned diesels, hybrids and electric cars as intentions beyond the direct-injected and turbocharged ICE. Earlier this year an electric Fiat 500 was announced for 2012. But the push has apparently already begun to integrate compressed and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) vehicles. Fiat's already has the experience and hardware in South America, where its tetrafuel engines run on four different fuels. Marchionne didn't offer any kind of timetable for the arrival of CNG, saying only that it "is the most effective solution, in terms of costs and timing, to lessen this country's reliance on oil" as well as making it clear that it could be a quicker way for Chrysler to get seriously green. He did admit, though, that the infrastructure is nowhere close to making it viable. We will admit that the idea of an Alfa Giulietta that runs on LPG is an enticing thought. But we'd be even more enticed if Fiat could get even one Giulietta here for retail sale that runs on... well, anything. Gallery: Alfa Romeo Giulietta [Source: NGV Global]Fiat's Marchionne wants to add CNG- and LPG-powered vehicles to Chrysler's lineup originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 07 Jul 2010 09:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Motorsports, Classics 2010 Goodwood Festival of Speed - Click above for high-res image gallery It didn't take long for me to sense the irony. As a kid I would go to my small town Fourth of July parade every year, sitting by the side of the road and enjoying the cars, floats, marching bands and various other representations of American pride go by as people waved and cheered. And here I was on the Fourth of July weekend watching a parade of sorts, despite the fact that I was in Southern England, and it all seemed very fitting. It wasn't a celebration of national pride and patriotism, but rather of the history and spectacle of motorsports. And what a spectacle it was. Since it began in 1993 the Goodwood hill climb has become one of the most famous automotive events in the world. More than 100,000 spectators come from around the world each year to witness various cars and bikes make the trek up past the Goodwood House. This year's theme was 'viva veloce' (translated as the passion for speed), highlighted by the 100th anniversary of Alfa Romeo and 60 years of Formula 1. The selection of vehicles is truly diverse, with everything from a 1938 Auto Union to modern day F1 cars completing the 1.16 mile course. Although each of the runs are timed and some drivers of the drivers actually compete for the lowest E.T., the majority simply just enjoy the experience. Burnouts, donuts, wheelies, and all other forms of foolishness are encouraged. In fact, the crowds seemed most entertained when Michael Waltrip attempted to do a burnout for the entire length of the course. Sound like your idea of a good day? Check out the gallery below for our photos from this year's Goodwood hill climb. Gallery: 2010 Goodwood Festival of Speed Hill Climb Photos by Drew Phillips / Copyright (C)2010 Weblogs, Inc.Goodwood 2010: The hill climb celebrates viva veloce, the passion for speed originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 05 Jul 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Alfa Romeo The Alfa Romeo brand is a tough one to pin down... or perhaps it's parent company Fiat that's elusive, or maybe just CEO Sergio Marchionne that refuses to be a fixed target. New Alfa-Abarth-Maserati CEO Harald Wester has said that Alfa's long-term sales target is 500,000 vehicles by 2014. That's a mountainous 400,000-unit increase over 2009 sales, yet the route to the peak of that mountain isn't any clearer than it was in January when Alfa wasn't coming to the U.S., except that Alfa finally has "the right conditions, the right products and the right synergies to get there," according to Wester. A brief summary of the timeline: in January Marchionne says Fiat can't come to the States unless it makes a business case - which, at that point, hadn't been made; later that same month Harald Wester takes his consolidated CEO position; in February Marchionne says Alfas will be sold in the U.S. by 2012; and in April Fiat's five-year plan is unveiled with Alfa slotting in six new models, some based on Chrysler platforms. The only detail we're missing is why Alfa Romeo thinks it will work this time, this well. Alfa has been underperforming in Europe in spite of the models its been releasing, and we don't know why Chrysler platforms would change that. True, Alfa is only relying on the U.S. market for that growth, but an average year-on-year increase of 80,000 cars, starting this year, is an order of the tallest kind. And that's before any talk of Alfa having to battle Lancia for market share and marketing dollars. Audi may have big U.S. targets too, but Audi won't need to fight the perceptions of a dishonorable discharge from the U.S. market two decades ago in order to meet them. We've been expecting Alfas product assault to be good. But with these numbers, we'll expect it to be phenomenal. [Source: Automotive News - Sub. Req'd]Alfa Romeo planning to reach 500,000 annual sales by 2014 originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 02 Jul 2010 08:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Alfa Romeo, UK Audi celebrated itself at the Goodwood Festival of Speed last year, and the sign it hung out front as advertisement was a 135-foot statue with a 1937 Auto Union at one end and R8 V10 at the other. This year Alfa Romeo will be doing the major celebrations, blowing out 100 candles for its centennial soiree, and it has unveiled its statue on the Goodwood lawn. If tradition holds, the statue was designed by Gerry Judah and according to Motor Trend, called "the most stylish and memorable sculpture ever crafted for the event." Hmmm... On the left is one of the only two P2 racers left, and this particular example won the 1925 Gran Prix World Championship. On the right, an 8C Competizione. In the middle is... well, something red and swoopy, which we'll suppose is a fitting enough representation of 100 years of Alfas. [Source: Autocar]Alfa Romeo unveils its statue at the Goodwood Festival of Speed originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 01 Jul 2010 17:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Performance, Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Rumormill Anyone who's spent time in a desert climate knows all to well how fast a scorpion can move, and the same can be said of the reborn marque that bears the scorpion as its badge. Not just in terms of the vehicles it produces, but the busy pace which Fiat's tuning division keeps. With only two core models in its line-up, Abarth always seems to have something new in the works. The latest debuts were hot versions of the Fiat Punto Evo and 500C. A new purpose-built roadster is reportedly in the works again. And now reports have it that the recently revived tuning studio is preparing to branch out beyond Fiat's own catalog and take on some offerings from Alfa Romeo. The development follows the unification of the two Fiat Group brands under common management, a move which has already bred the Maserati edition Alfa MiTo. No word yet on exactly which Alfa models could get the Abarth treatment, but while the MiTo might seem a logical starting point, reports suggest that - with the Quadrifoglio Verde (Cloverleaf) model already on the market and a GTA still rumored to be in the works - the stylish little hatch will be immune to the scorpion's sting. [Source: Autocar]Abarth to tune Alfa Romeos? originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 29 Jun 2010 17:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments