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2020 Alfa Romeo Giulia Review & Buying Guide | Same dish, better noodles

When it comes to Italian cooking, the noodles matter less than the sauce. Despite the Alfa Romeo Guilia's robust flavor, especially the arrabiata 505-horsepower Quadrifoglio, there was no disputing the fact that the pasta upon which that delightful gravy was slathered came out a bit under-done. It was beautiful and wildly fun to drive, but it also seemed a bit incomplete due to a dated and relatively cheap-feeling cabin. There were also pervasive, widely reported reliability issues. To address the criticisms and improve the pasta, so to speak, the 2020 Alfa Romeo Giulia sees a multitude of updates intended to make it more competitive against its mainly German competitors. These are best noticed in the upgraded switchgear and more modern infotainment features. The driver assistance tech gets a successful upgrade as well. Now, only time will tell regarding the reliability issues, but after some time spent with a 2020 Giulia, we can at least report that it's far closer to the sexy Italian sedan we should have gotten from day one.   What's new for 2020? You’d be hard-pressed to tell the difference from looking at it, but the 2020 Giulia received a lot of upgrades. Alfa upgraded the sedanÂ’s interior materials and added a ton of new technology, including an available Wi-Fi hotspot, over-the-air software updates, and both wireless and USB Type-C device charging capabilities. As an added bonus, the 8.8-inch infotainment screen is now standard and has been upgraded to a touch display, while the driver assistance tech has been upgraded with new systems supplied by Bosch. What's the GiuliaÂ’s interior and in-car technology like? AlfaÂ’s 2020 upgrades focused on improving the GiuliaÂ’s cabin, and itÂ’s much better for it. Materials on the steering wheel, dash and center console were all improved and the control interfaces made less flimsy and toy-like. The overall quality result still doesn't match most competitors, but it's no longer objectionable and the materials generally feel nice to the touch. The design itself stays basically the same, maintaining its attractive and minimalist look. It lacks the Swedish flair of a Volvo S60 or the drama of some of the offerings available from Lexus and Mercedes, but Alfa was sure to pack in just enough Italian flair to keep things interesting. There's even a little Italian tricolore emblem at the base of the shifter.

Fiat 124 Abarth Spider spied, may get Alfa 4C power

We've long been excited to see, hear, and drive the car that results from the in-process Fiat-Mazda partnership. The Italian brand has had access to the excellent 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata on which to base its own roadster, and the fruits of that labor will soon ripen. Spied here is not only the ensuing Fiat 124, but a hotter Abarth tuned version of the spider. At least, that's what we're hoping. Our spy shooters indicated that the car seen here not only sounded more aggressive than 'standard' 124 mules seen previously, but that it also accelerated away from their long lenses with a smartness. The 124 Spider is already rumored to make use of the 1.4-liter turbo I4 that makes 160 horsepower in the Fiat 500 Abarth, and this version may have a still-more-powerful engine. Another tell about the added output are the quad tailpipes in place of the lesser car's set of two. There's no hard evidence to support exactly which engine might be under the 124's hood, however. It's possible that the 1.7-liter turbo from Alfa Romeo 4C could be in play – with its 237-hp output – as the 124 was originally going to wear an Alfa badge. If that were to happen, however, the Fiat would almost certainly get a dual-clutch transmission instead of the purer manual box. In any event, more details about the car will no doubt crop up closer to the expected reveal this fall. Related Video:

Vintage 1921 Alfa Romeo G1 rally car hits RM Sotheby’s

The only known surviving, fully operational example of Alfa Romeo's first commercial car is hitting the auction block at RM Sotheby's at its auction in Phoenix next month, when the 1921 G1 is expected to fetch up to $1.5 million. It's one of only 52 examples, including two prototypes, built between 1921 and 1923, and the only known surviving member of the series, stamped chassis No. 6018. It spent many years on a remote farm in Australia, during part of which the engine was put to work powering a water pump, before undergoing a restoration sometime in the mid-1960s. The G1 is powered by a 6.3-liter side-valve inline six that was said to have been designed with input from Enzo Ferrari, then a driver for the company, and was the largest motor ever fitted to an Alfa. It was based on two cast-iron three-cylinder blocks with fixed cylinder heads, a cylinder bore of 98 millimeters and a stroke of 140 mm to make 71 horsepower and 216 pound-feet of torque, with a top speed of 86 mph. It has a four-speed manual gearbox, which sends power to the rear axle through a single-dry plate clutch and an open driveshaft. The G1 was built to support Alfa Romeo's racing activities and was marketed to the same upscale clientele as Rolls-Royce, Hispano Suiza and others. A stripped-down version of the car won its production class at the Coppa del Garda, according to RM Sotheby's, but the production version suffered for being an expensive fuel guzzler at a time of economic and political chaos in Italy following World War I. So the company exported all 50 production versions to Australia (and possibly to South Africa), where this one was picked up by a Queensland businessman, who later went into bankruptcy and sent the car to a farm in the Outback to hide it from creditors. Ranch workers reportedly found it in the late '40s and used it as a farm runabout before the rear axle failed and the engine was used for the water pump. The remains of the G1 were acquired by a man named Ross Flewell-Smith, who would restore it over 10 years, including finding authentic replacement parts. It would undergo three full restorations in subsequent years.Related Video: