Alfa Romeos have been around for over 100 years, but seeing one cruising the streets in the United States is a little bit like spotting a unicorn. It simply doesn’t happen all that often. Even though the company started selling cars in the U.S. in 1961, American car buyers never embraced the stylish, high-performance vehicle on the same level as other exotic European sports cars.
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Alfa stopped exporting cars to America in 1995 and didn’t resume sales again until 2008. While Alfa Romeo has built a litany of aesthetically pleasing vehicles over the years, the one most likely to be recognized in the U.S. is the Duetto, also known as the Spider. The two-seat convertible roadster was built between 1966 and 1994. It was made famous here when it was driven by Dustin Hoffman’s character in the 1967 film “The Graduate,” which went on to be nominated for seven Academy Awards the following year, winining one (for Mike Nichols’ direction).
Between 2007 and 2021, the car adorned with a logo showing a snake eating a person was owned by the Italian-American conglomerate Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles. In ’21, Fiat-Chrysler merged with the French PSA Group, Peugeot SA, to form the multinational automotive manufacturing company Stellantis (the fourth largest automaker). Even though the Alfa Romeo brand is now part of Stellantis, it is headquartered in Turin, Italy, and its cars are made in several facilities throughout Italy.
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An enduring Italian legacy
Alfa Romeo was officially founded in 1910, but it actually started in 1906, when the Società Italiana Automobili Darracq was formed as a subsidiary of the British A. Darracq Company. It produced French models under license at a newly built factory in Portello, a suburb of Milan.
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Sales were poor, so the company’s managing director, Cavaliere Ugo Stella, left and started his own company with the very same investors who had formed the original A. Darracq Company. In June 1910, ALFA (short for “Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili”) was born. The 24, for its 24 horsepower, was the first all-Italian-designed ALFA, with designs predominantly made by Giuseppe Merosi.
That same year, Romano Cattaneo — a good friend of Merosi — came up with the idea for ALFA’s new logo when he saw the Visconti family’s coat of arms. This powerful family had ruled the Milan region during the medieval period. The main image consisted of a blue snake (representing the Visconti family) with a red person (representing the Saracens, the Viscontis’ enemies) dangling from its mouth. Cattaneo thought it would make for a good badge since both were part of Milan’s legacy.
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Cattaneo and Merosi batted the idea around and finally settled on a logo with a red cross on a white background (the emblem of the City of Milan) on one side and the Visconti snake on the other. These have remained a part of the logo ever since.
Alfa Romeos are built in Italy
Until recently, Alfa Romeos and parts in them were built in factories scattered around Italy. For example, the Cassino assembly plant in San Germano is where the Giulia (a racing-inspired line of compact sports sedans) and the Stelvio crossover SUV are both built.
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The Pomigliano d’Arco plant (aka Giambattista Vico Stellantis) in Naples is where Alfa builds the Tonale, its first plug-in hybrid. Meanwhile, the Termoli Engine Plant is where the 2.0-liter GME-T4 I-4 turbocharged engines that power the Tonale are constructed and where the GME, GSE, and the Ferrari-sourced twin-turbocharged 2.9-liter V6 engine (now being discontinued) used in Alfa’s Quadrifoglio and the Maserati Trofeo are put together.
Alfa Romeo suspended production recently at both the Pomigliano d’Arco Assembly Plant and the Termoli Engine Plant due to declining sales of gas-powered cars. The Termoli plant was to be converted into a new electric-vehicle battery facility tasked with producing next-generation high-performance battery cells and modules for EVs, but this is also being delayed because of low demand.
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The company has been through many transitions in the last century and continues to have trouble selling cars here in the U.S. Autoblog.com recently reported Alfa has only managed to sell 6,800 so far in 2024, its lowest sales since 2016, a trend also seen in Alfa Romeo’s home turf in Europe. Despite the hardships, it’s hard to believe the 33 Stradale will ever go out of style, even with a price tag of around $1 million.
