2024 Alfa Romeo Giulia Veloce on 2040-cars

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On International Women's Day, Alfa Romeo salutes its legendary female race drivers

Alfa Romeo is celebrating International Women's Day by highlighting some of the women who have raced its cars over the past century. They collectively achieved a long list of impressive achievements on and off the track in the face of adversity. One of the earliest-known women that raced an Alfa Romeo professionally is Maria Antonietta d’Avanzo, an Italian baroness who started competing shortly after World War I. Her career spanned several decades, during which she competed against numerous pilots, including an ambitious young man named Enzo Ferrari who would have a profoundly important effect on Alfa Romeo's image and success on the track. He was a mediocre racer, by most accounts, but he proved to be a brilliant manager and was soon put in charge of the carmaker's racing efforts. Ferrari sold Anna Maria Peduzzi one of her first race cars: an Alfa Romeo 6C 1500 Super Sport. Racing either alone or with her husband, she took first in the 1500 category of the 1934 edition of the Mille Miglia. Helle Nice and Odette Siko also raced Alfa Romeo cars during the 1930s; the latter finished fourth overall and first in the 2.0-liter category in a privately-entered 6C 1750 Super Sport. Alfa Romeo's official entry, an 8C 2300, took second overall. Belgian-born Christine Beckers and Dutch racer Liane Engeman both competed in the GTA — one of the company's most successful race cars — during the 1960s. Alfa Romeo later hired Engeman as a model. Maria Grazia Lombardi (also known as Lella) raced a GTV6, but she's better known as the only woman to have scored points in Formula One. She competed from 1974 to 1976 and scored half a point in 1975. She also raced in four editions of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and finished 20th overall and second in her class in a Lancia Stratos. Colombian pilot Tatiana Calderon joined the Sauber Formula One team as a development driver in 2017 after a successful career racing karts. In 2018, she became a test driver for Alfa Romeo's Formula One team. She doesn't line up on the starting grid (at least not yet) but she plays a big part in creating the company's top-level race cars. Unlike many of her predecessors who raced as privateers or for small teams, she's officially affiliated with the company. Race teams (and car manufacturers in general) began welcoming more women into their ranks in the 1990s. Sibling company Maserati also shed light on some of the women who have played an important role in its racing history.

Reid Bigland appointed CEO of Alfa Romeo, Maserati

There's been a big shakeup in Fiat Chrysler's leadership team, as head of US sales and FCA Canada CEO Reid Bigland will replace Harald Wester as the chief exec for Alfa Romeo and Maserati. Wester will retain his position as chief technical officer of FCA. Both men will hang onto their positions on FCA's Group Executive Council. The move is an interesting one considering the widely publicized issues at both Alfa and Maserati. Alfa Romeo's problems are almost too many to list. The brand has promised a full-scale return to the US market for more than a decade, but faced repeated delays. Its latest volume model, the Giulia, is being savaged by reviewers over quality issues, and the company has frequently pushed its upcoming CUV back. If that were the only problem, it'd be annoying, but according to Automotive News, Alfa's relaunch is also considerably over budget. Maserati is an entirely different can of worms. Alongside Alfa, it's been stung by a slow Chinese market. Profits are down, according to Automotive News, and it's been widely rumored that the company will delay its next sports car, the Alfieri, until 2018 – it was previously promised for this year. Meanwhile, two of its three other models, the Quattroporte and GranTurismo, are dangerously long in the tooth, and the Levante is still months away from US sales. Can Bigland sort these issues out? Maybe. As Sergio Marchionne said in his official statement, "[Bigland] has an extraordinary record of growing sales and market share in the US and Canada over the last 7 years at FCA, including leading the growth and positioning of the Ram and Dodge brands for part of that time."

2022 Kia EV6 and Acura NSX Type S driven | Autoblog Podcast #715

In this episode of the Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Senior Editor, Green, John Beltz Snyder and Road Test Editor Zac Palmer. The car chat begins this week with a review of the 2022 Kia EV6, followed by Zac's drive of the 2022 Acura NSX Type-S. Then they discuss Autoblog's new long-term loan, a 2022 BMW 330e xDrive. They've also been driving the Ford Explorer Timberline and Kia Sorento Hybrid. In the news, they discuss the soon-to-be-revealed Alfa Romeo Tonale, as well as the recently unveiled Aston Martin DBX707. Finally, Greg talks about a historical Detroit landmark, the old American Motors Company headquarters, which is set to be demolished. Send us your questions for the Mailbag and Spend My Money at: Podcast@Autoblog.com. Autoblog Podcast #715 Get The Podcast Apple Podcasts – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes Spotify – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast on Spotify RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown Cars we're driving 2022 Kia EV6 2022 Acura NSX Type S 2022 BMW 330e xDrive 2022 Ford Explorer Timberline 2022 Kia Sorento Hybrid In the news 2023 Alfa Romeo Tonale coming soon 2022 Aston Martin DBX707 revealed AMC headquarters to join rest of company in oblivion Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on Apple Podcasts Autoblog is now live on your smart speakers and voice assistants with the audio Autoblog Daily Digest. Say “Hey Google, play the news from Autoblog” or "Alexa, open Autoblog" to get your favorite car website in audio form every day. A narrator will take you through the biggest stories or break down one of our comprehensive test drives. Related Video: