1958 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider on 2040-cars

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This is the Alfa Romeo Tonale compact crossover in official images

Alfa Romeo has unveiled the Tonale concept crossover at the Geneva Motor Show. The carmaker was able to keep the Tonale's name and design secret until yesterday, when images of the stand leaked online; the concept was revealed to be a shapely PHEV in metallic red. The concept will lead to a production vehicle, which will be Alfa Romeo's first CUV. Bared and shown in detail, the Tonale concept looks really good — dare we say, on par with recent Mazdas. It blends Stelvio styling cues into a smaller vehicle, but the concept still manages to look like its own thing, and perhaps even better than the bigger sibling. There are classic Alfa Romeo touches like phone-dial wheels, and the front end has a hint of the SZ and Brera coupes of earlier times. The interior, while largely concept-car-like, brings more Alfa styling to the table. The gauges are housed in traditional bucket shapes visible through the steering wheel, conjoined by a central display. There's a large central screen, underneath which runs a central tunnel covering that looks like muscle fiber, repeated in the door cards. The seats are styled like the racing buckets of a sports car. Alfa Romeo states that electrified power has been used for its own means, instead of Alfa bowing down to accept new standards. "The electrification of Alfa Romeo comes at the service of sportiness and emphasizes the famous 'Mechanics of Emotions' mission of the brand," as Alfa Romeo says. This also means the Tonale's hybrid branding will be discreet instead of obvious. The Tonale ("tonal," in English) is a plug-in hybrid, with a rear-mounted electric motor; however, any definite specifications as to the engine, the electric powertrain or the utilized platform remain unannounced. One detail emerges, though: Earlier, fossil-fuel-only Alfa Romeos have used the "DNA" selector for Dynamic, Natural or Advanced Efficiency modes; now the Dynamic mode has been changed to Dual Power, and the other end is Advance E, for full electric mode. Related Video:

Muhammad Ali's 1976 Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce Series II is for sale

An Alfa Romeo was never in the plans. It was by accident that Muhammad Ali ended up bringing home this beautiful silver-on-black 1976 Spider Veloce Series II, but its interesting backstory only makes it more special. It's a story the car's next owner will surely need to memorize, as the car is currently listed on eBay for a Buy It Now price of $39,900 OBO. Found by Silodrome, the car is listed by Moto Exotica out of St. Louis, Missouri. According to Moto Exotica, which sources a clip from the book "Running with the Champ" by Ali's close friend and car guy Tim Shanahan, Ali had set out with Shanahan to buy a new Rolls-Royce (Ali loved his Double-Rs) during his time living in Chicago. The two visited European Imports in Lake Forest, Illinois, with the intention of buying a Kelly Green Corniche and possibly a Mercedes-Benz SL for Ali's wife, Veronica Porche. To Ali's dismay, the dealership did not have any SLs in stock, so this Alfa was suggested as an alternative. Ali purchased the car, brought it home, and ran into yet another issue. Porche did not know how to drive the car's manual transmission, and apparently didn't have any desire to learn. So the car mostly sat, with the exception of some rare errand runs by one of Ali's assistants. After a short time passed, Ali learned that Shanahan's personal car had broken down. In a situation that perhaps suggests destiny, Ali then gifted the car to Shanahan, who has owned the car for 40-plus years up until its sale to Moto Exotica. With about 80,000 miles, it has some wear and tear, such as a small crack on the dashboard, but it's in solid overall shape and recently received a respray. Plus it comes with the real registration with Ali's signature on it. Check out the full photos, video, and descriptive listing at Moto Exotica.

Mysterious Maserati test mule could be upcoming Alfa Romeo Giulia

Well well well, what have we here? The truth is that we don't know. It seems to be a Maserati Ghibli, but since that model is already out on the market, we're likely looking at something else. Just what is the question, and the answer likely lies in the wheelbase. While this test mule, spied undergoing cold-weather testing in northern Sweden, is clearly wearing the bodywork (and likely most of the mechanical bits) from the Ghibli, it's riding on a shortened wheelbase. Which tells us this could be one of two things: it's likely to be a test mule either for the upcoming Maserati Alfieri sports car, or for the new Alfa Romeo Giulia. The Alfieri was presented in concept form at the Geneva Motor Show back in March, foreshadowing a new sports car to serve as a halo model in the Maserati lineup. The production version is expected to be smaller and nimbler than the existing GranTurismo and positioned against the likes of the Porsche 911, Jaguar F-Type and Mercedes-AMG GT, to name just a few. The Giulia, meanwhile, is slated to be the first all-new Alfa Romeo since the arrival of the 4C last year and the Italian marque's first mainstream model since the launch of the Giulietta in 2010. The new sedan is expected to go after the likes of the BMW 3 Series and the new Jaguar XE, slotting in below the larger Maserati Ghibli that seeks to challenge the 5 Series and XF. If this is indeed a test mule for the new Alfa sedan, the quad tailpipes would seem, as our spy photographers point out, to indicate it's laying the groundwork for the GTA performance version. One way or another, there's something enticing to be coming soon from Italy, so watch this space.