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1932 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Spider wins top prize at Villa d'Este

Every year, a selection of the most beautiful automobiles ever made travel to the shores of Lake Como in Italy, for the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este. Only one of them can be named the belle of the ball, however, and this year, top honors went to a classic 1930s-era Alfa Romeo. The 1932 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Spider owned by American collector David Sydorick won the Best in Show award. The deep red roadster is entered the circle of finalists after winning the B class for "Pre-war sports cars which defied the Great Depression." The classic Alfa features coachwork by Zagato. The coachbuilder notes that another one of its creations – a 1956 Maserati A6G/54 also owned by an American collector – won the post-war class. The modern Maserati-powered Mostro, which Zagato revealed at the concours and delivered to its first customer, did not win the Concepts and Prototypes class. (But we've included an updated image gallery below just the same). That award went to the Bentley EXP 10 Speed 6. The people's choice Coppa d'Oro was awarded to the 1950 Ferrari 166 MM Barchetta by Touring, while a 1973 Munch-4 TTS-E won the motorcycle category. Related Video: Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este 2015: Winners dazzle at the time-honoured Classic Weekend on Lake Como Munich/Cernobbio. An impressive parade of all the cars and motorcycles entered in competition and the announcement of this year's prize winners provided a dazzling Classic Weekend on the banks of Lake Como with a fitting climax late on Sunday afternoon in front of thousands of spectators. The Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este had once again underlined its stand-out status on the exclusive event calendar for historic cars and motorcycles. All eyes were trained on the line-up of precious classic machines and striking concept cars over the two days of the Concorso. Under a pleasantly warm sun, the event's "Seventies Style – the Jet Set is back" banner spanned a host of special exhibitions and highlight features, creating a fitting stage for a weekend that will live long in the memory. As ever, the best was left until last. The jury of experts provided the event with its crowning moment as the Trofeo BMW Group for "Best of Show" was awarded to an Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Spider from 1932. The Coppa d'Oro Villa d'Este prize decided by public referendum was won by a Ferrari 166M Barchetta from 1950.

2015 Alfa Romeo 4C First Drive [w/video]

The dissonance between first look and first wheel turn was jarring. Alfa Romeo had chosen a suitably hip venue in which to showcase the coupe that will mark the brand's honest-to-God return to the US market - a graffiti-festooned warehouse housing a boutique furniture company in San Francisco's Mission District. The curvilinear sports car proved a lovely stylistic counterpoint to its concrete and metal backdrop while feeling perfectly synced with the eye-watering square-footage prices of the environs. Where the young, rich, beautiful people gather, the 2015 Alfa Romeo 4C will be a star. And wherever they drive, expect things to get pretty loud. No sooner had I doubled over, dropped into the driver's seat, and fired to life the Alfa's utterly raucous little 1.7-liter engine, did the 'symphony' of the 4C begin. An introductory note of an inevitable chin scrape as I pulled out of the hipster parking lot and into the street was quickly followed by the uncivilized racket of the engine warming up, with only wafer-thin glass to filter the hubbub just behind my head. At a cold idle, the sound isn't unlike what I'd imagine it would be like to live inside of a Volkswagen TDI engine bay. Thankfully, as traffic cleared and The City's streets turned swiftly into undulating coastal roads, the experiential delta between heartthrob looks and project-car manners started to shrink. Unlike the last Alfas to be sold en masse on our shores, this is no beautiful boulevardier. What the 4C is, however, is hot hell's own driver's car. On public backroads, the Alfa is nothing short of a scalpel. Last year, newly minted Infiniti PR maestro (and former Autoblog European editor) Matt Davis had the cheek to call the 4C a "baby 458." That's an awfully powerful endorsement for a $55k featherweight rocking a mid-mounted turbo four, but the setting of the bar so high wasn't without just cause. Despite gaining a few hundred pounds worth of thicker carbon fiber, heavier US-spec airbags, standard AC and audio equipment and the like, the handsome Alfa coupe really does live up to its Italian sports car roots. With respect to the punchy engine, it's that carbon fiber tub that really sets the stage for this coupe to handle and perform so brilliantly. Added weight noted, let us pause for a moment to note that the 4C still tips the scales at an improbable 2,465 pounds.

Alfa Romeo Stelvio caught testing under the cloak of darkness

With Americans still going crazy over compact SUVs and crossovers, the upcoming Alfa Romeo Stelvio is the Italian automaker's latest attempt at regaining its status as a household name in the US. Photographers managed to capture a prototype testing at night with very little camouflage to hide the SUV's overall design. These photos are the clearest ones we've seen of the upcoming SUV. The prototype's front end is extremely similar to the Giulia's with two oval-shaped outlets on the side of the fascia with a v-shaped grille in the center. The headlights, which are surrounded by black tape, also mimic the units found on the Giulia. The ruffles in the camouflage on the hood suggest that the Stelvio gets a pair of vents. The profile of the crossover is much more round than previous prototypes depicted with the overall shape mimicking the Jaguar F-Pace, but much smaller in size. The taillights, surprise, surprise, also resemble the same ones found on the Giulia. There's no way to know what type of engine is powering the Stelvio prototype, but the two tailpipes and skinny tires point toward something much more subdued than the twin-turbo 2.9-liter V6 that puts out 505 horsepower in the Giulia Quadrifoglio. We expect the production version of the crossover to get the same gasoline and diesel options as the Giulia, depending on where the vehicle is sold. The Stelvio – and this shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone – looks like a larger, taller Giulia. While the prototype looks ghastly with its camouflage, we expect, and hope, that the SUV will look a lot better at its debut, which could take place at next month's Los Angeles Motor Show. Related Video: Featured Gallery Alfa Romeo Stelvio Spy Photos Image Credit: KGP Photography Design/Style Spy Photos Alfa Romeo Crossover SUV alfa romeo stelvio