Route 17 Scenic Highway on our way to and from Viva Alfa 2017 in Celebration Florida.
Description
Thanks to everyone for coming out to play!
In 1950, Mexico completed its stretch of the Pan-American Highway. To celebrate, the government organized La Carrera Panamericana, a race running south to north along the new stretch of road-and a race which quickly established itself as the most dangerous race of any kind in the world.
Join us this week as we drive through the history of Alfa Romeo's motorsport lineage and kick the tail out on a Giulia Sprint 1600 GTA, TZ-1, Giulia TI Super, and the new Giulia Quadrifoglio.
Cars and coffee make for a common pairing, but we aren't talking about a rushed cup grabbed at the gas station that's slugged down on autopilot as you sit in traffic with the commuting masses on Monday morning.
Most people use their job as a way to get a car. Dorian Valenzuela, however, is not most people: he used his 1970 Alfa Romeo Giulia 1300 Ti to land a job, in this case at Singer Vehicle Design, where he helps create that company's bespoke Porsche 911s.
Gather up a handful of some choice racing cars along with a trio of top drivers who brought them to the podiums in the period and you're bound to have a good day at the track.
"This isn't pure nostalgia, it's not as if I want to get back to 1955, I just think there's something-there's an analogue world that's coming to an end," says Jeff Martin. "Everything's sort of automatic, and you push a button and download an app, and...there's nothing like that going on with the Alfa."
This week we take a very special ride in one of Italy's most celebrated and pedigreed entries in the book of automotive history: the Alfa Romeo GTA. While many get worked into a frenzy over the lightweight Bertone coupe's rich racing history, that's not what sparks this Alfista's passion for the aluminum Alfa.
ENGLISH CLOSED CAPTIONS AVAILABLE Jean-Luc Houtreille is a simple man with a simple passion: Classic Alfa Romeos. We recently joined him to collect the full story of his Ochre Superstar: Alfa Romeo is, for me, the brand which represents, in all model variations, sport.
Brought to you by Jaeger-LeCoultre http://www.petrolicious.com/jaeger-lecoultre_polaris In this week's Made to Drive installment we are visiting France to spend an afternoon with a young couple infatuated with vintage Alfa Romeos. They currently own two with plans for more, but it was this 1972 Alfetta and its striking factory color of Verde Pino that began the momentum.
"My general rule for cars that I purchase and drive is the aesthetic has to have a unique design, and there has to be a performance piece," says TJ Grewal, owner of this Alfa Romeo Montreal sports car. "I'd never ever seen one in person, but I just knew that I was in love with the design."
Rather than owning a delicate show car, Alfa Romeo collector Manuel Leon Minassian prefers cars with a bit more gusto. He often buys cars that have been neglected or are unwanted by the average buyer, and he is extremely picky as to how he will bring them back to life.
For some, the dedication and passion invested into their vintage car approaches fanatical levels, much like those who push their limits in the ocean. Whether racing from Molokai to Oahu or paddle-boarding for miles and miles off California's coast, being in the ocean can become an obsession.
The master sculptor Michelangelo famously said "I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free." Driven by the sole purpose of winning races, Zagato built a legend of creating objects of indisputable beauty born by removing all elements that were unessential.
This week we partnered with Alfa Romeo to sample a buffet of tasteful Italian machinery. The full spread includes an iconic Autodelta-prepared GTA racer, the Barchetta-style Giulietta Competizione Spider Sebring, the luxurious grand touring Montreal, and their modern brethren, the carbon tub chassis constructed 4C and the German-performance-sedan-crushing Giulia.
This week we take a ride in Petrolicious founder and CEO Afshin Behnia's personal Alfa Romeo Sprint Speciale through the urban grid that makes up the roadways of Los Angeles. Mr. Drive Tastefully himself opens up to reveal what propels his passion for the marque: an almost dire desire to research, learn, seek out, collect, and-most importantly-drive vintage Alfa Romeos.