Alfa Romeo Spider 1979 Great Condition. Must Go. on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Alfa Romeo 4C Spider reportedly dead in Europe, only dealer stock remains

It's been hard to get a reliable prognosis concerning Alfa Romeo in general, and especially hard to figure out what's in store for the brand in the United States. Last year the automaker canceled the 4C coupe, last week the brand's future product roadmap appeared to deep-six the anticipated GTV and 8C sports cars in order to focus on more efficient spending in more important segments. In February of this year, Alfa Romeo launched the 4C Spider Italia in a run of just 15 units, the two biggest surprises about that car being the $73,495 price and the fact that it extended the model's run into 2020. We're not yet into 2020, but it looks like the party's over. The French outpost of Motor1 is said to have confirmed with Alfa Romeo that the 4C Spider has ceased production. According to the report, the only 4Cs left across the Atlantic are the ones currently in dealer inventory.  Autoblog asked Alfa Romeo to confirm the news, a spokesman responded by e-mail, "I can't speak for other markets but the US 4C Spider is not cancelled and is still available for order." Introduced in 2015, the 4C Spider still gets on with a turbocharged four-cylinder putting out 237 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque. The 4C Spider needs an irrational generosity to love and drive every day, but the last OEM sports car on sale without power steering knows how to thrill when pushed. Our guess is that, overseas, exotic construction and communicative, go-kart handling couldn't make up for a high price relative to the established competition and lack of interior amenities and ultimate refinement. If the European news is true, sales figures lead us to believe it is but a matter of time before the same ax finds its way to the U.S. Alfa Romeo sold 421 4Cs in Europe last year, compared to 238 in the U.S. This year European dealers sold 196 units through the end of September, U.S. dealers moved 127. If we did lose the open-top sports car before 2021, the move would leave the Giulia sedan and Stelvio SUV as Alfa Romeo's entire U.S. lineup until more crossover-type vehicles show in 2021. No matter what happens, perhaps by 2021 Alfa Romeo will know precisely where it needs to go and have a clear plan for getting there, and perhaps it will be able to do so with the platform and financial resources within a merged Fiat-Chrysler-PSA Group entity. Even for fun, full-throated products, it's hard to get on in today's market without full-throated focus, support, and marketing.

Alfa Romeo Milano revealed as brand's first full EV offering

Alfa Romeo has made it clear it's going to fully electric models over the next few years, and that seems to be starting with the newly revealed Milano. It's a subcompact SUV, and while it seems that it will be offered with an internal combustion engine (similar to its platform-mate, the Jeep Avenger), Alfa has only talked about the EV powertrains to start with. And at least one of them sounds quite entertaining. Styling-wise, there's no mistaking the Milano for anything but an Alfa. It's very curvy, and has the prominent inverted triangle grille that's the brand's signature. It adopts some boomerang-shaped headlights that blend into additional air inlets on either side of the grille. That inverted triangle grille can feature different patterns, such as the mesh with classic "Alfa Romeo" script shown on the blue example, or the zoomed-in Alfa shield pattern shown on the red one. The tail features a wide rear that attempts to ape the "kamm tail" of the Alfa Romeo TZ sports car. We're not sure how successful it is at that, but it still looks solid. The Milano is fairly small. It comes in at just over 164 inches long and 70 inches wide, or around the size of a Kia Soul. It's also about 2 inches shorter in length than a Jeep Renegade, but that also makes it about 4 inches longer than the diminutive Jeep Avenger.  The interior is pretty typical Alfa, too. The 10.25-inch instrument screen is housed in a double-barrel shroud, and the 10.25-inch infotainment screen is mounted a little lower and canted toward the driver in the center stack. Round air vents bookend the dashboard. Powertrain details aren't complete, but the basics are there. The standard versions will get a 156-horsepower single motor at the front, while the Veloce gets a 240-horsepower single front motor. Both get a 54-kWh battery pack. On the WLTP cycle, the 156-horsepower version gets 250 miles of range. That would undoubtedly be lower on the EPA cycle if the car were to be offered here. And while there's no number for the Veloce, you can also count on that being lower than the standard model. The Veloce doesn't just get more power, though. It sits an inch lower on 20-inch wheels, and it gets stiffer front and rear anti-roll bars. The front brakes are upgraded to four-piston calipers with larger 15-inch rotors. Capping everything off is a Torsen limited-slip differential. It sounds like an awful lot of fun (and also sounds a bit like the setup for the Fiat 600e Abarth).

2024 Alfa Romeo Tonale Review: A fun compact SUV with a green spin

Pros: Fun to drive with great steering; potent power and torque; usable electric range; beautiful design Cons: Cramped back seat and tiny cargo area; some chintzy interior bits; other PHEVs are more efficient While there plenty of choices within the small luxury SUV segment, there are some niches that have not been well-explored. The 2024 Alfa Romeo Tonale manages to fit two of them. It is one of the few plug-in hybrids, while also catering to those who love to drive (and look good doing it). Nothing else manages that one-two-three punch of delivering fuel economy, fun and style. In terms of size, the Tonale is on the smallest end of the luxury SUV world, joining the Audi Q3, BMW X1, Mercedes GLA-Class and Volvo XC40, but offers substantially more power along with the unique characteristic (for the segment) of electric driving range, all for just a couple thousand more than the base models of those options. There are a couple larger and more efficient plug-in hybrid options from Lincoln and Lexus, but they're not nearly as engaging to drive. The sporty Mini Countryman plug-in hybrid, meanwhile, isn’t quite a luxury model. As such, the Alfa is a unique offering well worth your attention. Interior & Technology   |   Passenger & Cargo Space   |   Performance & Fuel Economy What it's like to drive   |   Pricing & Trim Levels   |   Crash Ratings & Safety Features What's new for 2024? The Alfa Romeo Tonale is a completely new model for 2024. What are the Tonale interior and in-car technology like? The Tonale's interior design is clearly in the vein of the Stelvio and Giulia. The dash is curvy with big round air vents and a double-barrel instrument cowl. It has sporty details like the starter button on the dash, and when optioned, beautiful and satisfying aluminum shift paddles that wouldn't be out of place in a Ferrari or Lamborghini. We love the pops of color provided by the exterior-matching dash panel in the Ti and Veloce, or even better, by the optional configurable multi-color panel that can replace it. Some of the materials around the cabin look and feel too budget-oriented for a luxury vehicle, but on the whole, it's a solid cabin. Fortunately, the Tonale does not take its infotainment inspiration from the Stelvio and Giulia. Instead it gets a Uconnect system like its twin, the Dodge Hornet, as well as other newer Chrysler vehicles.