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Alfa Romeo celebrates 110th anniversary with 79-page e-book

For its 110th anniversary, Alfa Romeo wanted to host a summer bash at its renovated Museo Storica Alfa Romeo in Arese, Italy. Coronavirus nixed that, so part of the Plan B syllabus is a 79-page e-book that plucks all sorts of fascinating details from even before the automaker's birth as A.L.F.A., which stood for Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili, and the fecund history since. The work can be considered more than a dive into Alfa Romeo history because of Alfa Romeo's reach for much of its existence. The 1914 Aerodinamica by Castagna built on an Alfa Romeo 40/60 HP chassis predates Buckminster Fuller's Dynmaxion by 20 years. Enzo Ferrari raced for Alfa Romeo or with Alfra Romeo support for 19 years, the driver's seat also occupied by legends like Juan Manuel Fangio, Tazio Nuvolari, and Alberto Ascari. Nuvolari drove the Bimotore — a car with one V8 in front of the cockpit, another V8 behind — to a top speed of 209 miles per hour in 1934, and raced the car alongside Louis Chiron, the same Frenchman Bugatti would later name a car after. Alfa Romeo's tech prowess impressed famed tinkerer Henry Ford so much that in 1939 Ford said, "When I see an Alfa Romeo go by, I tip my hat." And it's hard to believe Ian Fleming hadn't heard of the 1900 C52 Disco Volante concept from 1952 when conjuring a name for Emilio Largo's motor yacht for his 1961 book, "Thunderball." There's plenty of Alfa-centric trivia, too, like an employee coming up with the idea for the automaker's logo while waiting for a train, the origin of the quadrifoglio, intended as a good luck charm for all the three drivers in the 1923 Targa Florio but only paying off for one, and how Nicola Romeo inscribed his name in history. The stories carry up to the present day Giulia GTA and coming Tonale crossover, with a cameo by FCA design chief Ralph Gilles to boot. The book is a quick read, so check it out, or just scroll through lots of photos documenting 110 years of Italian automotive history. Related Video:    

Leno samples Corvette Z06, steam cars, supercars and the wonders of Pebble Beach

While Jay Leno's Garage was conceived to highlight the wonders of The Big Chin's eponymous storage facility, Leno does occasionally get out an into the larger world. Pebble Beach and the festivities around Monterey recently provided a great excuse for a road trip, and Leno seemingly had a pretty full dance card.
In an episode aptly dubbed The Ultimate Car Week, our host takes us through a pretty representative selection of great things to see in and around Pebble. Starting with a ride-along in a steam car, Jay manages to check in on the latest McLaren supercar and drive the Alfa Romeo 4C along the way. Oh, and he takes a good look at the all-new Corvette Z06 (next to the original Z06) before hitting the Concourse d'Elegance, too.

Ram, Jeep redesigns on hold, Alfa Romeo models may come sooner

Last summer, FCA outlined an ambitious five-year plan that sketched out the company's product intentions for each of its brands through the end of 2018. However, even the best strategies sometimes need tweaking. According to Reuters after speaking with unnamed people at auto suppliers, FCA is now possibly delaying at least a dozen projects in North America for a variety of reasons. From vehicle to vehicle, these postponements allegedly last anywhere from just a few months to over a year. The sources from the suppliers claim that in some cases these tweaks are for engineering and design changes. The next-gen Ram 1500 reportedly has among the shorter delays and is being pushed from mid-2017 to November 2017, according to Reuters. Also, the much-discussed future Jeep Wrangler is allegedly moving a little later to July 2017. Among the vehicles purportedly seeing longer delays, the next-gen Grand Cherokee could get pushed back about a year to 2018. That then forces the launch of the three-row, luxury Grand Wagoneer to be even further away. Jeep's upcoming C-segment CUV and the all-new Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger, and Challenger might also see postponements. The one brand allegedly seeing an accelerated plan is Alfa Romeo. Without going into detail, the sources from these suppliers claim that the Italian automaker is getting even more vehicles for its lineup and could get them even faster than planned. "Those plans need to be flexible and fluid, with the potential to add some vehicles, pull some forward and extend the life cycle of others," FCA said to Reuters about all of these allegations. "We look at these programs on a vehicle-by-vehicle basis." Investment in the auto industry has been a major topic for FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne as of late. He believes consolidation is necessary so that companies aren't burning money on the same projects. Related Video: News Source: ReutersImage Credit: Bill Pugliano / Getty Images Plants/Manufacturing Alfa Romeo Chrysler Dodge Fiat Jeep RAM Sergio Marchionne FCA fca us