1987 Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce Convertible 2-door 2.0l on 2040-cars

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Alfa Romeo's Giulia Quadrifoglio gets the GTA treatment

Alfa Romeo will celebrate 110 years of building some of the world's most emotional driving machines with a brand-new Giulia Quadrifoglio GTA. GTA, which stands for "Gran Turismo Alleggerita," is a throwback to the 1965 Giulia Sprint GT, which first got the treatment. The new GTA and GTAm will elevate the Giulia's already driver-friendly formula to a whole new level.  If the plain-Jane Giulia Quadrifoglio is a BMW M3 or Mercedes-AMG C63 competitor, the GTA is your Competition or "S" variant, respectively. It boasts more power, less weight, enhanced aero, a revised suspension, and a reworked chassis and interior designed to keep the driver in place and focused on one task and one task alone: driving fast.  The wick on the GTA's 2.9-liter twin-turbocharged V6 has been turned up a bit, resulting in a new peak rating of 540 horsepower (up 30 from the base car). To reduce weight, Alfa replaced a host of exterior panels with carbon fiber equivalents. The carbon treatment extends to some other components, such as a the drive shaft. Alfa says the net reduction works out to 220 pounds.  Outside, the aero has been completely revised with technical know-how provided by Sauber Engineering (of F1 renown). It also boasts 20-inch center-locking wheels and a titanium exhaust system. Alfa replaced many of the suspension bushings, the shocks and the springs with performance-friendly hardware. The GTAm pushes the formula even farther. We hesitate to compare a sport sedan to a GT Coupe, but the relationship between GTA and GTAm is quite similar to that between the Porsche 911 GT3 and GT3 RS. Both are fundamentally the same car, but the latter compromises a great deal more of its daily drivability for the sake of improving its on-track feel and performance.  With the GTAm, this included a set of carbon-backed front bucket seats with six-point harnesses, Lexan window inserts for the side and rear windows, and a rear seat delete. In place of the rear bench, you get a harness bar attached to a structural roll hoop, plus a handy little cubby for storing your custom Bell helmet in Alfa's GTA livery (which comes with the car, as well as an Alpinestars race suit, gloves and shoes, and a personalized Goodwool car cover). Checking in at just 3,350 pounds, the GTAm boasts a power-to-weight ratio of 6.2 pounds per horsepower, which Alfa says is the best in the class, enabling a 0-60 run in just 3.6 seconds.

This Alfa Romeo Spider is a four-wheeled fountain of youth

For some, the only real way to experience a direct connection with nature while driving is to be piloting a convertible. Keith Helmetag is one such individual. His 1969 Alfa Romeo Spider fulfills his desire to commune with the outdoors on the road, while simultaneously reminding Helmetag of his youth. The Spider's flowing lines especially appealed to Helmetag's eye as a designer. He loved the nose's pointed shape and the boat-tail rear's downward arch to the narrow taillights. To make it his own, he removed the badges and added plastic headlight covers to bring the Alfa's look closer to the original clay model it was styled after. Helmetag's design tweaks pair with a few engine modifications to create a roadster that perfectly fits its owner's relaxed style. Check out this Alfa as Petrolicious takes a drive along tree-lined roads, which are great surroundings to match the Spider's green paint. Related Video:

Here are all the vehicles sold by the 12 brands of the Fiat Chrysler PSA merger

Sven Gustafson and Ronan Glon contributed to this report. Whether or not the formal merger between Italian-American automaker Fiat Chrysler and European conglomerate PSA Group means the return of Peugeot to the U.S., one thing’s for certain: The combined company will have a truckload of different brands. Sorting out what the deal means for all of them, including where they are sold and built, and whether and where there is product overlap, will be a key question for the two companies as they formalize the merger over the next 12 to 15 months. So far, both sides have steadfastly insisted that no job cuts or plant closures will result from the tie-up. WeÂ’ll see about that. In the meantime, weÂ’ve compiled an alphabetical list of all the vehicles currently sold in Europe and in North America by the various FCA and PSA brands, along with the years they debuted. We've gone into more detail about the European vehicles you might be less familiar with. The joint empire also has an antique store's worth of heritage-laced models and dormant brands, like Plymouth, Imperial, Simca, and Panhard, and it would have been even bigger had FCA not spun off Ferrari in early 2016. Alfa Romeo A legacy Italian sports car brand with roots in racing, Alfa Romeo has been struggling with declining U.S. sales. Giulia (2015): AlfaÂ’s rear-wheel drive sports sedan competes against German luxury sedans in North America and Europe. 4C (2013): The lightweight mid-engine rear-wheel-drive sports car is being phased out. Stelvio (2016): The Stelvio is a small luxury performance crossover that competes against the likes of the Porsche Macan and BMW X3 and is sold in both Europe and North America. Giulietta (2010): Sold in Europe, this compact hatchback is AlfaÂ’s entry-level model. After initially planning a rear-wheel drive 2020 update, the Giulietta is reportedly being nixed as part of FCAÂ’s latest product plans.   Chrysler Despite lending its name to its parent company, questions abound about the future of this legendary but faded brand, which is not offered in Europe. 300 (2011): Despite rumors of its pending demise, the four-door sedan lives on mostly unchanged for the 2020 model year, at least. Pacifica (2016): The successor to the Town & Country is ChryslerÂ’s bestselling model by a long shot and comes in gas-only and plug-in hybrid versions. Voyager (2019): ChryslerÂ’s newest minivan launches as its entry-level minivan for the 2020 model year.