2023 Alfa Romeo Stelvio Ti on 2040-cars

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Alfa Romeo won't sully the GTA name by putting it on the Stelvio

Alfa Romeo began celebrating its 110th birthday by resurrecting the heritage-laced GTA nameplate on a track-happy evolution of the Giulia Quadrifoglio. Enthusiasts went wild when they heard the news, but the company warned it's not about to put the GTA name on every model it makes just to capitalize on its popularity. First launched in 1965, the GTA acronym has historically denoted a lighter version of an existing model developed with racing (or, at least, track use) in mind. The recently-unveiled Giulia GTA fits the bill; a Stelvio GTA wouldn't, according to the company. Executives thought long and hard about it and ultimately ruled it out. "GTA is an important name for Alfa Romeo. Frankly speaking, we had a meeting on a Stelvio GTA, but it's just not in line with customer expectations. It has to be the best possible [on the track]. On the Stelvio, we have a higher center of gravity [than on the Giulia], so it won't achieve the same goals," said Fabio Migliavacca, the company's product marketing boss, in a candid interview with British magazine Autocar. His comments suggest the 505-horsepower Quadrifoglio model is as hot as the Stelvio will get in the foreseeable future. There's no indication Alfa Romeo is planning to add a second sedan to its range — its next new model is widely believed to be a smaller crossover — so the GTA treatment will be limited to the Giulia (pictured). This could explain why demand for the car and its two-seater GTAm counterpart has been exceptionally high. The stripped-out, 540-horsepower sedans are limited to 500 numbered units combined worldwide. Alfa Romeo hasn't started taking orders yet, and it had the misfortune of unveiling the model mere days before the Italian government imposed an ongoing national coronavirus quarantine, but it has received more expressions of interest than it has build slots. Migliavacca revealed a majority of the enthusiasts the firm has heard from prefer the more hardcore GTAm over the slightly softer GTA. It's lighter, and consequently quicker around a track. "A lot of people are raising their hands and saying, 'I want to have one,' 'I want to have four,'" he said. "It's truly an amazing reaction considering the timing." Related Video:

12 new cars that will never go out of style

Some cars never go out of style. It’s rare, but it happens. They get old. They get depreciated. But they never stop looking cool.  Some might call them modern or instant classics. Within a few years theyÂ’re no longer the latest and greatest, no longer the flavor of the month, but they remain special. Eternally special. Timeless.  These cars arenÂ’t necessarily going to be worth a fortune someday. However, some may not depreciate as rapidly or as far as other models. But thatÂ’s not what weÂ’re talking about here. These are the cars that enthusiasts will always find desirable from the curbside. TheyÂ’re the cars you end up shopping on eBay late at night 10 years later because you canÂ’t get them out of your head. TheyÂ’re the cars that will forever excite you when you spot a clean one in traffic or in a parking lot.  There are plenty of recent examples over the past couple of decades that could count as instant design classics. But then we got to thinking, what 2021 models will be forever cool to stare at? Which new cars and trucks on sale today will we be shopping on eBay late at night in the 2030s? We kept supercars and other ultra-expensive cars off the list to keep things within the realm of attainability, and ended up with 12 total cars. Lexus LC WeÂ’re not applying a numerical ranking to any of the cars on this list, but if we were, the Lexus LC would be No. 1. There isnÂ’t another car design out there that can stir our emotions the way an LC can when itÂ’s just standing still. This car is a concept design come true in the most beautiful of ways, and itÂ’s a shoo-in winner for Concours events decades into the future. All of this heaping praise, and we havenÂ’t even gotten to the LC 500Â’s intoxicating 5.0-liter V8. It doesnÂ’t win drag races. It wonÂ’t be the fastest around the track against any similarly-priced competition. But none of that matters. ItÂ’s quite possibly the best car you can buy new, and that says it all when it comes to the LC. Chevrolet Corvette It might not be the stunner that the Lexus LC is, but the new C8 Corvette is and will always be a special vehicle. ItÂ’s the first mid-engine Corvette, which instantly cements it into an automotive hall of fame section of sorts. All of the performance stats and specs are there to back up its supercar-like looks, and it remains the best performance bargain on sale today.

Alfa Romeo teases 6C supercar taillight

Alfa Romeo's latest reboot takes its next steps this year with the arrival of the refreshed Giulia and Stelvio to the U.S. market, and the debut of the new Tonale. The Italians primed the pump with an Instagram video celebrating 2022 and asking if we're ready for 2023. At the end of the vid, Alfa Romeo answers its own question with, "We Are." And as it's clear to see, the first "e" is a brand new font we've not seen Alfa use before. Everyone expects this is a taillight from the supercar that brand chief Jean-Philippe Imperato starting hinting about last year, intel coalescing around the name 6C. If that ends up being the name, the new supercar would complete the trilogy of 2007's 8C and 2015's 4C.           View this post on Instagram                       A post shared by Alfa Romeo (@alfaromeoofficial) If Evo can be believed, the 6C will borrow much of its tech spec from the Maserati MC20. Even more unexpected, Evo says Alfa Romeo will advertise the halo as a bridge between its internal combustion era and its electric era, so the supercar will be offered with ICE and EV powertrains. An electric MC20 is on the way, so the plan won't be a tough jump. The most unexpected bit is when Evo says the Alfa Romeo supercar will use Maserati's in-house Nettuno V6 designed for the MC20, whereas most believe Alfa plans to go with the 2.9-liter V6 used throughout its lineup and in other halos like the Giula GTA/Am. If Evo is correct, this is sounding like another 8C, that car based on the Maserati GranTurismo and using Maserati's Ferrari-based engine of the time.  It's a bit of a challenge to reconcile Evo's report with some aspects of what Imperato said in an interview with Autocar. The honcho told Autocar, "It’s 1969 [the Spider] since the last time Alfa Romeo was stamped on a chassis" and it would be "a cool thing" to see again under his watch. We don't envision that happening to the Dallara carbon fiber monocoque chassis designed for the MC20. Imperato also said the automaker's still fine tuning the business case and that "the positioning is ongoing." If Alfa Romeo were nabbing the $260,000 MC20 practically wholesale, the only positions are super spendy supercar and wildly spendy supercar. Lastly, the all-electric MC20 Folgore isn't expected until 2024, the Alfa supercar at the end of 2023.