on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Alfa Romeo Stelvio refresh spied sporting the smallest of changes

Alfa Romeo has a refresh coming down the pipeline for the Stelvio crossover soon, and our spy photographer just caught it testing out in the wild. The white Stelvio in partial camouflage seen here isn’t hiding a whole lot, though. From what we can tell, nothing much has changed on the outside compared to the car we can buy now. Swirly wrappings cover both the front bumper and lower rear fascia. Despite us not being able to discern any differences between this one and the 2019 Stelvio, the camouflage could be hiding some minor tweaks. Or perhaps the changes arenÂ’t present in this test car, and itÂ’s being used as a powertrain mule of sorts. There are rumors that Alfa will add some form of electrification to the Stelvio in this lifecycle. Whether thatÂ’s a 48-volt mild-hybrid system or something as involved as a plug-in hybrid, we canÂ’t know for sure yet. The interior does reveal a couple of the smallest changes. Alfa isnÂ’t giving it a whole new look, but a couple things get moved around or reshaped. The electronic parking brake has moved up to an easier-to-reach position next to the shifter. ThereÂ’s some sort of module to the right of the shifter that looks like itÂ’s missing something — that module is not present in the current car. Then, Alfa reshaped the center armrest. Hopefully that means thereÂ’s a little bit more utility in store for the center console and armrest area. Like we said, thereÂ’s nothing revolutionary here. As the Stelvio was introduced as a 2018 model year crossover here, we donÂ’t expect the refresh to be hitting us until the 2021 model year at the earliest. If Alfa feels like moving things along, there could be a reveal for the mid-cycle refresh next year sometime.

This Alfa Romeo Giulia shows why its owner scored a job at Singer Vehicle Design

The original Giulia may not have been the most beautiful Alfa Romeo ever built, but it was one of the coolest. It was built at two different locations in Milan from 1962 through 1978, and as squared-off as it is, it still has an enduring sense of style. No wonder Alfa is planning on reviving the nameplate, just as it did with the Giulietta. It's just the kind of car that a video series like Petrolicious was born to profile, and that's why it's the subject of this latest episode. This particular 1970 Giulia 1300 Ti belongs to one Dorian Valenzuela, who bought it on Craigslist and modified it just the way he wanted – and to beautiful effect, we might add. In fact, we weren't the only ones who were impressed with Dorian's work, either: the job he did on the Giulia lead him to land a job with Singer Vehicle Design, purveyor of spectacularly reimagined Porsche restomods. News Source: Petrolicious via YouTube Alfa Romeo Classics Videos Sedan petrolicious alfa romeo giulia

The hottest modern sports cars rendered as rally racers

The modern-day World Rally Championship a monumental amount of fun to watch – I should know, as I recently was lucky enough to head to the UK to watch WRC Wales Rally GB – but even the most monstrous of the current WRC cars are based on fairly pedestrian European hatchbacks. Back in the heyday of rally, the Group B era in the 1980s, much hotter cars were the basis of even more incredible competition machines, for the most part. Take the exotic Ford RS200, or the Lancia Delta S4 with its twin-charged engine. And the hatchback-based Group B cars were bonkers, too. So what would some of our favorite modern cars look like if Group B had never ended? A British site named CarWow hired an artist to reimagine everything from the Rolls-Royce Wraith to the Porsche 911 as a retro-inspired rally car, and they were kind enough to let us share the results in the gallery above. The gallery features an Alfa Romeo Giulia in Martini livery, an Audi TT in classic Ur-Quattro colors, a Fiat 500 Abarth sporting massive flares and a hood blister full of auxiliary lights, a new Ford Mustang in RS200 livery, a Lancia Delta in Alitalia colors, a Porsche 911 in Rothmans livery, a Renault-Alpine in classic blue, a Rolls-Royce Wraith tribute to the Jules cologne Corniche Coupe, and a relatively modern-looking VW Touran. So far, the favorite around the office is the incredible Mercedes-Benz S-Class that is an homage to the wonderful 300 SEL 6.8 AMG "Red Pig" that essentially put AMG on the map. Check out the gallery above and see which one you like the best. Related Video: