The new Alfa Romeo 4C Sports Concept will receive its UK public debut at the rapidly approaching 2011 Goodwood Festival of Speed, which takes place from July 1 to 3.
Seen for the first time at the Geneva Salon in March, Italy’s answer to the Lotus Elise boasts a lightweight chassis with power coming from a mid-mounted 1.75-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine delivering 200 ponies to the rear wheels. It can complete the 0-62mph (100km/h) sprint in less than 5 seconds and reach a top speed of 155mph (250km/h). Production is set to start in 2012.
We don’t know if Fiat and Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne’s future plans for the upcoming, next generation of the Dodge Viper include the development of a corresponding Alfa Romeo model based on the underpinnings of the muscle car, but famed Italian coachbuilder Zagato has given the formula a try with its new TZ3 Stradale.
You see, Zagato’s TZ3 Stradale is an Alfa Romeo bodied sports car based on the platform and mechanical hardware of the track-conquering Dodge Viper ACR, which features the same 600HP 8.4-liter V10 engine as the standard Viper SRT-10 along with a 6-speed manual gearbox and a race-spec suspension. All parts of the TZ3 Stradale’s carbon fiber body are new with the cherry topping being the classic Kamm-tail (K-tail) layout.
The Alfa Romeo GT was a fairly successful small coupe built between 2003 and 2010. Its clean styling courtesy of the Bertone design house and its sweet handling led to sales of 80,832 units worldwide. But did you know that Bertone also conceived a convertible version of the car? In 2003, the Italian design house and coachbuilder built a one-off, four-seat soft-top version of the GT for Alfa Romeo, in order to convince them it was worth making.
From the creator of the Alfa Romeo Vittorio Jano Sedan and Sport Wagon concepts comes this new design study for a classy-looking GT. Named after Giuseppe Merosi, a famous Italian automobile engineer Giuseppe Merosi who worked for Alfa Romeo (then named A.L.F.A.) in the beginning of the previous century, the prototype presented by Marco Procaccini from MPcardesign is a four-seater sports coupe designed to feature a much missed by Alfa Romeo fans, rear-wheel drive layout.
The styling of the Giuseppe Merosi has a similar feel to Marco's previous work, the Vittorio Jano, combining hard edges with curved surfaces and a pronounced Alfa Romeo grille. According to the designer, the car would measure around 4,300mm in length, 1,810mm in width and 1,320mm in height.
From the creator of the Alfa Romeo Vittorio Jano Sedan and Sport Wagon concepts comes this new design study for a classy-looking GT. Named after Giuseppe Merosi, a famous Italian automobile engineer Giuseppe Merosi who worked for Alfa Romeo (then named A.L.F.A.) in the beginning of the previous century, the prototype presented by Marco Procaccini from MPcardesign is a four-seater sports coupe designed to feature a much missed by Alfa Romeo fans, rear-wheel drive layout.
The styling of the Giuseppe Merosi has a similar feel to Marco's previous work, the Vittorio Jano, combining hard edges with curved surfaces and a pronounced Alfa Romeo grille. According to the designer, the car would measure around 4,300mm in length, 1,810mm in width and 1,320mm in height.
Welcome to the story of the Alfa Romeo Nuvola Prototipo, one of the most gripping concepts to wear the famous Visconti Serpent badges in the past two decades. Unveiled for the first time at the Paris Motor Show in 1996, the Nuvola Prototipo was named after Tazio Nuvolari, the legendary Italian motorcycle and racecar driver who competed for Alfa in the 1930s.
The Nuvola had all the essential ingredients of a proper Alfa Romeo sports coupe - a beautifully crafted body and interior, classic proportions, a dedicated chassis and enough power to put a smile on your face.
Of course we would have preferred a rear-wheel drive setup, but its four wheel drive layout is much less of a compromise (for a sports car) than if power was transferred exclusively to the front axle.
Unlike modern days Alfas that are built around less exciting (8c Competizione excluded) hardware pulled out of the Fiat Group’s parts bin, the Nuvola made use of a separate, tubular spaceframe to which the mechanical components were attached. The designers' plan was to use the same architecture on different bodies to cover various niches.
"A welded high strength steel tubing spaceframe brings the benefits of lightness, high torsional rigidity, excellent ride quality and maximum passenger protection as well as low cost of manufactures," Alfa said at the time.
Power came from a front-mounted, twin turbocharged version of Alfa's standard 2.5-liter V6 delivering 300 ponies to all four (18-inch) wheels, with the car said to complete the 0 to 100km/h sprint in the low five second-range.
The Nuvola was penned at Centro Stile Alfa Romeo under the watchful eye of Walter de Silva, who is currently Head of Volkswagen Group Design. As with any proper sports car, the goal of the designers was to stir emotions.
Measuring 4.29 meter (169 inches) in length, the Nuvola is sleek yet muscular, classic yet modern - all at the same time. The two seater show car made several references to Alfa Romeos of the past from the 8C 2900 to the 6C 2500 Villa d’Este, the Giulietta Sprint Speciale and the 1900 Sprint. Notable features include the futuristic luminous diode technology used for the slim, horizontal rear lights and the tires, which had a special pattern created for Alfa Romeo by Michelin.
The 'favoloso' exterior was matched by an equally stunning two-tone interior crafted in leather with aluminum and chrome accents. Sport pedals and a wooden steering wheel are also on the menu, with a finely crafted leather bag acting as storage between the driver and passenger.
While the concept never made it to production, it's styling legacy lives on as the Nuvola prefigured the shapes and surface treatments of Alfa Romeo’s -then- new aesthetics. Take a close look at the pictures and you’ll discover design cues that can even be seen in today's Alfa Romeo models.
Overall, we'd say it's pretty impressive how well the styling of the concept has withstood the test of time and a pity that Fiat's higher-ups never gave it the green light.
Unless you plan on visiting Alfa Romeo's historic museum in Arese, Italy, to see it in person, the closest you'll get to the Nuvola is through a die-cast scale model like the one we found on eBay Italy. True, it’s not the real deal, but probably better than nothing.
