1993 Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce Convertible 2-door 2.0l on 2040-cars

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Junkyard Gem: 1992 Alfa Romeo 164S

Even after Citroen, Fiat, Renault and Peugeot departed the United States (in 1975, 1983, 1988 and 1991, respectively, though Malcolm Bricklin continued to sell Fiat 124 Sport Spiders and X1/9s with Pininfarina and Bertone badges for a few more years), Alfa Romeo managed to hang on all the way through 1995. The final Alfa Romeo models available here (prior to the brand's return to our shores in 2009) were the old-school Spider Veloce sports car and the mean-looking 164 sedan. The 164 sold well enough here that I still see examples on the street now and then, and I find discarded ones in car graveyards as well. Today's Junkyard Gem is the top-of-the-line 164 available in 1992, the mighty S version, found in a Denver self-service yard last month. In 1992, American Alfa shoppers could spend $25,865 on the base 164, $29,456 on the more luxurious 164L, or $32,054 for the factory-hot-rod 164S (that's about $50,885, $57,950, and $63,060, respectively, in inflation-adjusted 2021 dollars). Comparing the numbers of the 164S against those of the BMW 535i for 1992 make the Alfa look like quite a deal. The big-engined 535i boasted 208 horsepower and had a $44,350 sticker price, while the monstrous M5 had 310 horses… but would set you back $58,600). That means the Alfa cost just under 75% as much as its Bavarian rival. Meanwhile, the Alfa 164S had this 3.0-liter V6 making 200 horsepower. That gave the 535i and 164S near-identical power-to-weight ratios (17.2 lb/hp for the BMW, 17.4 for the Alfa). Admittedly, the 164S's power went to the front wheels while the 535i had rear-wheel-drive, but the Alfa's 3.0 looked and sounded much better than the BMW's 3.4 (and it's nearly impossible to make a V6 sound better than a straight-six, as anyone who has endured the ailing-bovine groan of most 1990s Detroit V6s can affirm). You could get a four-speed ZF automatic on the 164 and 164L in 1992, but the 164S had just one transmission available: a five-speed manual. This car isn't rusty and the interior looked very nice for a near-30-year-old car in Colorado, but there are few with the mechanical skills and sheer bravery to take on one of these cars with nearly 200,000 miles on the clock. Its next stop shall be The Crusher. This Euro-market commercial is for the 164 with quad-cam "super" V6, available here only for the 1993 through 1995 model years, but you get the idea. In Europe, Alfa Romeo outsold both Honda and Saab! What better reason to buy a 164?

Dodge Viper-based 2010 Alfa Romeo TZ3 Stradale Zagato rarity could be yours

It has been a decade since it was launched, but the 2010 Alfa Romeo TZ3 Stradale Zagato is just as bizarre and beautiful as the day it was revealed. It's what you get when you have Italian design house Zagato give a Dodge Viper an Alfa Romeo body. And this one, number six of a total of nine examples, could be yours. It's going to be auctioned in Elkhart, Indiana, by RM Sotheby's along with several other rare vehicles. Now when we described this car as a Zagato take on an Alfa but using a Viper, that's exactly what it is. All the mechanical bits are from the 2010 Dodge Viper ACR, down to the 8.4-liter 600-horsepower V10 and six-speed manual transmission. The body does do an impressive job disguising this, from the signature Zagato double-bubble roof, to the unique, almost shooting brake-style rear roofline and Kamm tail. The Alfa grille in the nose also throws off the scent. But look closer, and Viper elements start showing up. On the outside, the push-down flush door handles remain. Inside, the gauges feature the same fonts and layout as in the Viper, the only change being the TZ3 logo sitting in the middle. Particularly glaring is the audio head unit, which was shared with every other Dodge product on the market since the early 2000s. But the leather appointments throughout do make it nicer. Also amusing is the fact that all the owner's manuals are simply Dodge examples, with no changes to the covers or names. One other bizarre thing, since this is a 2010 car, it was built at the very early start of Fiat and Chrysler joining up. As omens go, this was a pretty solid one. Regardless, it is an extremely striking car that's sure to be exhilarating to drive. And that's not something the previous owner experienced much, because the photos suggest it's only been driven about 200 miles. RM Sotheby's doesn't give an estimated sale price, but it should go for well into six figures, if not more. And it will sell, as it's being offered with no reserve. The auction starts May 1. Related Video:    

FCA is setting a five-year strategy: Here's how the last one played out

We're slightly more than four years removed from Sergio Marchionne last five-year plan for FCA, a tell-all where the Italian-American automaker divulged its plans for the 2014 through 2018 model years. It was a grand affair, where Sergio told FCA investors that all was right in Auburn Hills, Alfa Romeo and Maserati were making comebacks, and the fifth-gen Dodge Viper received a mid-cycle refresh. You can read every last one of those past predictions right here. We're on our way to Europe to see Sergio's sequel, coming out Friday straight from FCA's Italian headquarters. (Bloomberg reports a plan to expand Jeep and Ram globally, combine Alfa Romeo and Maserati into a single division for an eventual spinoff, and downsizing Fiat and Chrysler. Also, EVs.) But before we arrive in Italy and find out exactly what Marchionne has planned for 2019 through 2023 as his last act as CEO, let's take a minute to tally up the results of his last term based on the same scoresheet we used in 2014. Now, we're only five months into 2018, so much of this — including vehicles like the Ram HD and Jeep Grand Wagoneer — could still debut this year. For those, we'll mark things TBD. We're not going to draw any conclusions or make any objectionable remarks. We're simply going to let the stats speak for themselves.