Car Throttle

Alfa Romeo is a specialist, and their specialty is pretty cars. They haven't always been what you'd call "good", but with very few exceptions (75, Arna, errhermm) they're been gorgeous down to the last curve and lick of paint.  But with the new concept car that Alfa Romeo brought to Geneva, they may have set the bar a bit high even by their own lofty standards.  Clock this baby: Yum.  I almost don't care what's under the hood or on the inside, I'd be happy to cast my gaze over that funky matte red finish all day long.  Thankfully the 4C concept has more depth to it than it's surface-level beauty, which is fairly substantial as it is. The 4C is the successor to the 8C

Alfa Romeo has previewed their latest concept car at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show. The car, called the Alfa Romeo 4C Concept is a compact mid-engined two-seater, rear wheel drive sports coupe. It is really compact, by that we mean that it is around 4 meters in length with a wheelbase of only 2.4 meters. It is even shorter than the tiny Alfa MiTo which has a wheelbase of 2.51meters. This is Alfa Romeo going after the Lotus Elise market of a small lightweight sports coupe. The 4C is a pure sports car. It will also be Alfa Romeo's first mid-engine sports car since the Alfa Romeo Montreal from the 1970s. It will be powered by a four cylinder (hence the 4C moniker) 1750cc turbocharged engine.

If you're a car guy, chances are one of your past times is Craigslist. The free online classified ad website that has been running since 1996 is the perfect place to find everything from a sitter, to a new dog, to furniture, to your soul mate, to... a car!  Heck, my last car came from craigslist - friendly, knowledgeable seller, cool car, good price.  And while most stuff on craigslist is a bit normal ("2003 Camry, Grey, 86k, call Jeff...") occasionally you'll find something cool.  Here's what turned up with a quick perusal of my local CL. Don't tell me you're not tempted.  What is this heap?  Why, it's an Alfa Romeo Milano!  And what the hell is that?  Well, it was Alfa's competitor

The latest but sadly not the greatest supermini I recently had a chance to drive is the Alfa Romeo Mito 1.4 Multiair Turbo. It is a premium 3 door supermini based on the Fiat Punto Grande and was designed to compete with the BMW Mini, the recently launched Audi A1 and to some extent the Fiat 500 Abarth. The car looks stunning as the styling is derived from the gorgeous Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione. It has retro touches here and there but it does not remind me of anything from the 1950s or 1960s. It is a successful supermini design in my books. Unfortunately the car I drove had a dull gold-yellow color and a stained black interior. Maybe that's why it was made the

The coachbuilding industry lives! The Zagato Alfa Romeo TZ3 Corsa has been introduced. No, not at Beijing, but at the Italian show Concours Villa D'Este. A classic car buff will recognize that profile, which takes cues from Alfa Romeo predecessors the TZ1 and TZ2. The TZ3 marks a continuation of that lineage. The car is based upon and powered by the 8C Competizione. As expected, it best the styling of the 8C Competizione, but it isn't designed to. Nonetheless, it is a design stunner, winning best of show in the concept class. The TZ3 Corsa isn't a new model line, but rather a special one-off model commissioned by German car collector Martin Kapp. Alfa Romeo says it is a "special celebration... of the Alfa Romeo Zagato common tradition: Scuderia Ferrari of

The revival of coachbuilding is upon us, and Zagato, a favorite in the previous heyday of coachbuilding, is leading the charge. Manufacturers are even beginning to work with the companies again, like Bentley did with the recent Flying Star shooting brake, built by Italian coachbuilding firm Carrozia Touring Superleggera. Now Alfa Romeo is announcing a new model, based on a certain Alfa Romeo. Can you guess which one? We can - the 8C Competizione. It looks like the 8C from this top down teaser view that Zagato provided. Topping the 8C Competizione in the styling department is going to be hard - near impossible. It is just strikingly beautiful Italian design at its finest. While styling might not be able to be topped, performance can. As such,

Alfa Romeo- frankly, we're pretty sick of hearing about the brand but never actually getting to see them and try them for ourselves. How long has it been since they were supposed to been making a return to the United States market? Its been a long time. That doesn't mean we can't enjoy looking at them in the meantime though. One car that currently (it changes often) isn't slated to come to our shores is the 147-replacement-turned-Milano-turned Giulietta. It it set to go on sale in European markets at the beginning of next month. As such, it is photo release time. We picked some of our favorites out of the ones released and they're all below.

In case you weren't aware, Alfa Romeo is celebrating it's 100th birthday this year. Not only that, but Italian design house Pininfarina is celebrating it's 80th.  The two firms - who basically specialize in selling sex with wheels - decided they were going to go halfsies on a birthday present.  I'm just gonna say - they should do this more often. Meet the 2uettottanta, which is hard to pronounce but really nice to look at.  The bizarre name is a throwback to the original Pininfarina-design Duetto (which later came to be known simply as the Alfa Spider by most people), and the design is inspired by the early Spider 1750 Veloce. Pininfarina sees the 2uettottanta as a future replacement for the current Alfa Spider, which hasn't

If there is one thing in the automotive industry that has been speculated about for a long time, it has been the return of Alfa Romeo. Throughout the 2000's there was many reports about when the introduction would take place, and with what models. The Fiat-Chrysler partnership has made it a much more feasible proposition, as the brand will have access to Chrysler's extensive dealer network and support system. Now, Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne has given a date for Alfa Romeo's United States re-entry. Alfa Romeo is already here, if the 8C Competizione is to be considered, but we are talking about a mainstream re-introduction. Marchionne was quoted in Automotive News as saying: “I'm a lot more confident now that Alfa Romeo will reconstitute a product offering that

One thing I'd like to see more of here at CarThrottle is reader participation. It's great that we sit here at our laptops and pour our car-nerd minds into the articles we post up here, but a car site these days is nothing without two-way interaction.  I figure the best way to increase this is to ask you, dear reader, a question.  Hopefully, lively commentary and discussion will ensue.  Let's see how this goes, shall we? The first question that popped into my mind for this relates to the newly-debuted Audi A1 Supermini, which was revealed ahead of the 2010 Geneva Auto Show.  It's based on VAG's small-car architecture (which underpins the Polo and Skoda Fabia) but is retooled and glitzed up for a premium driving