Alfa Romeo is Back
...but for some, they never really went away.

I always listen to my dedicated, well educated, knowledgeable auto-bloggers and thought I must write an article on Alfa Romeo. However, I have been tentative, I don't want to write any old trash about their new models, there are loads of sites doing that, I want to write something meaningful on what Alfa Romeo means to me and why they are such a prestigious company. There is a slight problem because I have never owned an Alfa which is automotive heresy in the eyes of Clarkson, Hammond and May. All that I know is that it is a very special marque maybe more special than Ferrari, McLaren, Aston Martin and Lamborghini? The reason being, well I think it is a culmination of many things, a great automotive marque does not just produce good looking cars year in year out it has to have two special things and by exploring each one in detail I will hopefully produce a meaningful article? An article that once read will help you (the reader) read future Alfa Romeo articles in a different way?

The Power and The beauty

Where to start? Well, there are two distinct aspects to an auto marque that makes it great, these two aspects have many different connotations in life itself because they exist at two completely different ends of the spectrum but provide a balance, they are the ying and yang, one cannot exist without the other. One is acquired by hard work over a significant period of time, the other is literally a random event to some extent, if you understand how it is acquired but together they create greatness.  They are the Power and the Beauty.

The Power

A great marque has to have a rich motorsport bloodline, its “power”  and what you are about to read is remarkable.  Alfa Romeo has an unbelievable  motorsport heritage that most people do not even realise and one that contributes hugely to this special Italian automaker. What you have to understand is that you cannot buy a great motorsport past it has to be earnt over a long period of time. Individual, repetitive events performed by drivers like Nino Franchini and Giuseppe Campari driving cars built by the engineering brilliance of Giuseppe Merosi to put Mr.Ferrari himself into 2nd place is a phenomenal achievement. Now are you warming up to Alfa Romeo? Well, just in case you need a little more convincing, Alfa Romeo has also participated in formula one, the pinnacle of motorsport as both a constructor and as an engine supplier. As a constructor it made cars for the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio (in 1951 Juan Manuel Fangio won while driving an Alfetta 159) and Riccardo Patrese. As an engine supplier it has powered McLaren and Brabham, okay not to great success but nonetheless the range of motorsport engineering talent is immense.  In addition the famous Scuderia Ferrari a company well known today for its formula one success with the likes of Schumacher was originally set-up to race Alfa Romeo’s like the Alfa Romeo 2900 Scuderia-Ferrari, a 3.8 supercharged monster.  Alfa Romeo within motorsport (“The Power”) has achieved many great things and now we are starting to understand why this marque means so much but it is still not enough to call it a great marque.

 

The Beauty

Beauty can mean so many things to so many different people, it also has many opposites to “power”. It can be achieved in an instant, a random event? It can divide opinion, it is subjective and it’s certainly not as clear as crossing the finish line in the Targa Florio, Mille Miglia or Le Mans. Therefore, this is the part that I write that sums up Alfa Romeo to me and it focuses on individual words that not only describe Alfa Romeo’s but what I think describes the people that drive them. 

The Alfa Romeo beauty is individual but not dramatic, it does not mean to grab you and force you to look at it, it does not need to. It is intriguing, It has “flow”, no interruptions, you know it is different, unique you probably don’t know what the marque is but you want to? An Alfa Romeo really has true style, why, because it is born from the country that invented style. I’ve heard Alfa Romeo's described as “pretty” but surely this is a word that cannot describe such a masculine object but you can with an Alfa Romeo, they are pretty, they do have style and that is what makes it a thing of beauty.

The Power and the Beauty…Alfa Romeo, not just a great marque but a very special marque a marque that can exist as both Power and Beauty at the same time the perfect balance.