Tag Archives: Alfa Romeo

Restomod

Totem GT Super Farina: The Alfa Romeo Restomod That’s Pure Italian Poetry

If Singer has rewritten the gospel of the Porsche 911, then Totem Automobili might just be Italy’s answer to that divine restoration craft — except their scripture is written in the language of Alfa Romeo. And this, the Totem GT Super Farina, might be their Sistine Chapel.

Only 40 examples will ever exist, each one hand-built with the kind of passion that makes you want to speak with your hands while talking about it. It’s based on Alfa Romeo bones — but “based on” is like saying the Mona Lisa is “based on a woman.” What Totem has done here is nothing short of automotive alchemy.

A Shade Straight Out of the Seventies

The owner of this particular GT Super clearly wasn’t interested in blending in. He ordered his dream machine in Luci del Bosco, a luscious metallic brown inspired by the earthy tones of 1970s Italian exotica. It’s the sort of colour that looks different every time the light hits it — sometimes liquid bronze, sometimes molten espresso. Add in gold-painted rims, satin nickel accents, and a full carbon-fibre body treated with Totem’s extended satin finish, and you’ve got a restomod that looks like it should be parked outside a Lake Como villa, waiting for the espresso machine to finish.

Retro Soul, Modern Precision

From every angle, the Farina looks impossibly right. The stance, the proportions, the delicious blend of old-school romance and new-school aggression — it’s all there. It’s as if someone took a vintage Alfa and whispered, “you deserve better,” before rebuilding it molecule by molecule.

Open the door, and the theatre continues. The cabin is wrapped in ivory Nappa leather, with Alcantara, carbon fibre, and brushed metal making cameo appearances. The machined aluminium switchgear feels like it was carved by watchmakers, not fabricators. And then there’s that manual gearbox, crowned with a wooden shift knob — a glorious rebellion in an age of paddles and screens.

Heart of a Modern Italian Beast

Under the bonnet, Totem could’ve played it safe with a lightly warmed-over Alfa twin-cam. But that’s not their style. Instead, they teamed up with Italtechnica, who conjured a twin-turbo 2.8-litre V6 that sounds like it was tuned by Pavarotti’s pit crew.

In its “standard” form, it delivers 600 horsepower and 700 Nm of torque — but if you tick the right box, you’ll get 750 hp and 986 Nm, which are numbers that start to feel a little… unholy. All that in a compact, lightweight body that channels its power through a proper manual? That’s not nostalgia — that’s nirvana.

The Price of Passion

At €539,000, the GT Super Farina isn’t just expensive — it’s exclusive. You could buy a small fleet of Giulia Quadrifoglios for that. But none of them would feel like this. None would blend 1960s romance with 2020s performance so seamlessly.

Totem hasn’t just made a car; they’ve made an emotion you can drive. A tribute to Alfa Romeo’s soul, to Italian craftsmanship, and to the art of making machinery that moves you — literally and spiritually.

If the GT Super Farina proves anything, it’s that sometimes, il cuore sportivo still beats loudest when it’s hand-built, polished to perfection, and painted the colour of autumn sunlight over Tuscany.

Source: Totem Automobili

News

Alfa Romeo Delays the EV Switch: The Giulia and Stelvio Live On

There’s life in the old snake yet. Just when we thought Alfa Romeo’s petrol-powered era was quietly being tucked into its museum glass case between a 155 V6 Ti and an 8C Competizione, the brand has decided to crank up the V6s once more. Yes — the Giulia and Stelvio Quadrifoglio are coming back, and they’re bringing all 513 horses with them.

That’s right: the cars that defined Alfa’s return to proper rear-wheel-drive swagger will not be quietly pensioned off in favour of an all-electric future. Instead, they’ll keep selling through 2027, defying both time and emissions legislation — a kind of automotive Sinatra comeback tour with exhaust pipes.

Giorgio’s Greatest Hits

Launched way back in 2015, the Giulia and Stelvio rode in on the then-new Giorgio platform, which Alfa designed with nothing but feel in mind. The steering? Still unmatched. The balance? Beautiful. The looks? Let’s just say even parked next to a brand-new BMW, the Giulia still has the sort of sultry stance that makes Munich’s efforts look… managerial.

But while rivals have spent the last decade learning new tricks, the Giulia and Stelvio have aged like Italian wine — complex, maybe a touch unpredictable, but utterly intoxicating. They’ve had the odd facelift, sure, but their bones are nearly a decade old. In car years, that’s almost Jurassic.

Which is why this decision feels both romantic and slightly rebellious. Alfa’s UK boss, Jules Tilstone, told Autocar: “Eighty per cent of the market is still ICE. People are looking for fun-to-drive performance ICE cars, and the Giulia and Stelvio offer that in spades.” Translation: the world might be plugging in, but Alfisti still want the noise, the soul, and the smell of hot brakes.

Return of the Quadrifoglio

In an unexpected twist, Alfa will restart production of the Quadrifoglio twins in 2026 — the six-cylinder symphony that was supposedly retired for good. Built at the Cassino factory, these will use effectively the same 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6s as before, though no one’s saying how they’ll get past the new Euro 7 regulations. Magic, probably. Or lawyers.

Tilstone insists the “powertrains will be effectively the same,” which in Alfa-speak means we’ll still get the same manic, rear-biased, tail-happy brilliance we’ve come to love — only this time, it’s a greatest hits encore before the electric curtain falls.

Why the Delay?

Originally, Alfa’s plan was to go all-in on electric successors: a new Stelvio EV in 2025, followed by a Giulia EV with as much as 1,000bhp — think Italian Tesla Plaid, but with cheekbones.

But then, the market shifted. EV demand slowed, especially in the premium and performance space. Porsche’s electric Macan isn’t exactly storming the charts, and Alfa’s own data showed that customers weren’t quite ready to swap fuel pumps for plug sockets. So, the brand hit pause.

The new Stelvio is now due in 2027, built on Stellantis’s STLA Large platform — the same one underpinning the new Dodge Charger. That means flexibility: full EV, hybrid, and good old-fashioned combustion. Somewhere, someone in Modena just smiled.

Electric Dreams, Gasoline Heart

Don’t mistake this as Alfa abandoning its electrification mission. The smaller Tonale and Junior crossovers — especially the latter — are steadily building Alfa’s EV credentials. In the UK, 30% of Junior buyers already go for the full-electric version, and Tilstone seems perfectly content with that balance.

“Everyone is talking about the transition to full electric,” he said, “but it’s important that Alfa Romeo continues to offer the Stelvio and Giulia for the foreseeable as jewels in the crown of our range.”

He’s not wrong. These cars are Alfa’s heartbeat — the ones that remind us why the brand still matters in a world of silent torque and range anxiety. They’re flawed, sure. They’ll drink more than your average Tesla owner’s monthly power bill. But they’re alive.

So, the Giulia and Stelvio will soldier on until 2027. The Quadrifoglio badge will return, roaring into a world increasingly uncomfortable with noise. And Alfa Romeo, against the grain of an industry sprinting towards silence, will give us one last chance to feel something.

Because if the Giulia Quadrifoglio taught us anything, it’s that emotion still matters. And in a future of electric efficiency and algorithmic speed, Alfa’s refusal to let go of petrol passion feels like an act of beautiful defiance.

Bene. Now let’s just hope they keep the six-cylinder snarl — and not replace it with a sound file called “Emotion_01.wav.”

Source: Autocar

News

The Holy Trinity of Italian Genius — Stellantis Heritage Unleashes Lancia, Abarth, and Alfa at Bologna’s Auto e Moto d’Epoca

If you’ve ever wondered what Italian passion looks like distilled into metal, chrome, and the occasional whiff of burnt oil, Stellantis Heritage just handed you the answer on a polished silver platter. This year’s Auto e Moto d’Epoca in Bologna (October 23–26) won’t just be another nostalgia trip through Europe’s most glamorous automotive archive. No — it’s a full-blooded celebration of Italy’s obsession with beauty, bravery, and speed.

At the centre of the show? Three legends from the Stellantis vault, each representing a different decade, a different dream, and one relentless national instinct — fare di più. Do more. Push harder. Build faster.

From the hallowed halls of the Heritage Hub in Turin and the Alfa Romeo Museum in Arese, emerge three machines that defined eras and defied reason:

  • the Lancia D25 (1954),
  • the Fiat-Abarth 750 Record (1956), and
  • the Alfa Romeo Scarabeo (1966).

Together, they’re not just cars. They’re rolling testaments to what happens when engineering meets espresso-fueled insanity.

The Mission: Vision, Velocity, Victory

Under the watchful eye of Roberto Giolito, head of Stellantis Heritage and designer of the Fiat Multipla (yes, that one), the brand’s historical wing isn’t just dusting off museum pieces. It’s telling stories — stories about how Italy built cars not merely to move, but to matter.

As Giolito puts it, these machines “aren’t signs of the past, but tangible proof of the Italian drive to innovate with style, courage, and imagination.” Translation: these are the greatest hits of an era when design sketches were drawn with cigarettes and conviction.

Lancia D25 (1954) — The Race That Never Was

If Enzo Ferrari had a rival worthy of his jealousy, it was Vittorio Jano — the genius behind the Lancia D25. Born from the ashes of the Carrera Panamericana-winning D24, this car was the ultimate 1950s racer that never got its chance to show off.

With a 3.75-litre V6 producing 305 hp and a top speed kissing 300 km/h, the D25 could’ve eaten early Ferraris for breakfast. It had the kind of obsessive engineering detail that would make modern chassis designers weep: transaxle rear end, inboard brakes, independent suspension, and a spaceframe chassis that used the engine as a structural member.

But fate — and Formula 1 — intervened. Lancia pulled out of sports car racing, and the D25 never got its day in the sun. Only one example survived, wearing its Pininfarina body like a tailored Italian suit that never went out to dinner. Now, in Bologna, it finally gets the spotlight it deserves — a mechanical opera in 12 cylinders (well, six, but you get the point).

Fiat-Abarth 750 Record (1956) — The Bullet That Beat Time

If Carlo Abarth were alive today, he’d be the kind of man who sets an alarm just to break it. The Fiat-Abarth 750 Record, designed by aerodynamicist and styling sorcerer Franco Scaglione, was a wind-cheating bullet that looked more UFO than automobile.

Its job? Simple: humiliate the stopwatch.

In 1956, at Monza, it smashed six endurance records — including the 24-hour run, covering 3,743 km at 155 km/h average speed. A 750cc engine. One driver. And a whole lot of audacity.

This wasn’t just speed; it was science dressed in aluminium. The Record’s teardrop shape influenced generations of Abarth and Fiat models, proving that performance and beauty could occupy the same slender space. Even Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr., son of the U.S. President, flew to Italy just to sign an exclusive deal with Abarth after seeing it. Because when Italy does small, it still does spectacular.

Alfa Romeo Scarabeo (1966) — The Rebel Prototype

And then there’s the Scarabeo. Even by Alfa Romeo standards, this 1966 prototype was pure mischief. It looked like a spaceship, sounded like a race car, and entered the world by flipping its entire roof forward instead of opening doors.

Under its O.S.I.-built skin lived the beating heart of a Giulia GTA — a twin-cam 1.6-litre four-cylinder — mounted transversely in the middle of the car. Radical? Absolutely. Functional? Shockingly so. The tubular chassis even used side members to store fuel tanks, a layout later echoed by Alfa’s racing prototypes.

It debuted at the Paris Motor Show that same year and immediately stole hearts (and headlines). The version on display in Bologna is the second prototype — with doors this time — and it remains an exquisite survivor from a time when Alfa didn’t just build cars; it built ideas on wheels.

Beyond Nostalgia

Between the Heritage Hub in Turin and the Museum in Arese, Stellantis isn’t merely keeping its past alive — it’s turning memory into momentum. Across 15,000 square meters of history, you’ll find engines, legends, and the sort of stories that make you believe the phrase Made in Italy still means something in metal.

So, if you find yourself in Bologna this October, skip the tortellini (just for an hour) and make a pilgrimage to where Italy’s golden era still hums. Three cars, three decades, one truth:

No one does beauty at speed quite like the Italians.

Source: Stellantis