Classic Cars
Hybrid and electric cars and the return to… the past
We now have got used to reading about hybrid and electric cars.
We also begin to know more about it, about the declared potential and also the real ones.
We are told that the future of mobility is the electric car, the hybrid car is the transition and having doubts about this means being a retrograde polluter.
Notwithstanding reading about hybrid and electric cars and their performance it really seems...
There will be a “disruptive” change for car dealers as well?
Will this pandemic actually be the acceleration of changes in every production sector, and therefore also in the automotive field? Will the car no longer be the same as we known it?
Maybe yes, and probably the car is at the moment in the same phase which the typewriter or the Kodak paper experienced in the 80s, that is, we are trying to perfect an old model to the maximum, but we aren’t actually...
FIAT Electric cars (the ones from the old days)
It is said that Fiat falls behind in programs of models’ innovation, specially about electric and hybrid vehicles.
It is said that this is one of the reasons, which led the company – for a long time now known as FCA, the name Fiat only refers to the brand – to the fusion with the PSA group.
It’s possible. Fiat has faced tumultuous events since 2000 and the choices taken under...
Turin and the art of coachbuilders (1946-1980)
First of all Massimo Porta is an “old” friend: I met him during the army service – 45 year ago more or less – and we did many things together.
For this reason, I can talk about his book “Turin and the art of coachbuilders (1946-1980)” without any fear of being biased.
Massimo Porta is neither a writer nor a designer and he has never worked in an automotive company.
In...
Remember those great Volkswagen ads?
In 1959 Volkswagen was at a turning point: in the previous year it sold 150,000 Beetles in the USA, dangerously approaching the maximum result obtainable through the word-of-mouth among customers. To avoid the stagnating sales the choice is only one: to develop an advertising campaign.
The DDB won the selection among 400 advertisers,until then the DDB had advertised department stores, (Israeli) airlines,...
The Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este: Cars Elegance without time
Every year when you went to Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, you are sure that it’s the temple of cars elegance.
The event was established as a contest for new Cars in Villa d’Este in 1929. It’s possible to see here some beautiful cars in the world, splitted in several categories.
It is possible to admire old cars, but also Concepts Cars and prototypes.
Every year I am impressed about...
Vintage car, historic car and “old car”…what’s the difference?
For those who approach the historic automotive field not everything is easy to understand.
According to the common sense you may thing that a Fiat Uno thirty year-old will always be only an old car, a Lancia Aurelia B20 or a Jaguar E type (the one of Diabolik) are, instead, collector’s cars.
But it’s not so simple!
To face the complex world of the historic motoring it’s better to...
4860 – Auction Milano Autoclassica
4860 is the number of the registration given me by RM-Sotheby’s for the largest auction of cars, in according of the opinion of many, in the automotive history, and not only; inside the halls of the Fiera di Milano Rho for the winter edition of Milano Autoclassica.
It was definitely a particular emotion participate in the auction, both as a spectator, but also from almost “buyer”...
Turin International Meeting for the 50th Anniversary Alfa Romeo Duetto
The 50 years of style icon, the famous Alfa Romeo Duetto, were celebrated at the Turin International Meeting, the second national meeting of 2016, held on the 10th and 11th of September.
In particular, on Sunday 11th, the legendary and famous Duetto were exposed as “Queens” in front of the entrance of the gardens of the Stupinigi Castle; summer residence of t
he Savoy.
About 50 Duettos...
50 years ago, the project which motorized Russia
It is never easy to assess the importance of an event that happened fifty years before, especially when it refers to automotive history.
But the collaboration agreement signed between Fiat and the Soviet Ministry of industry for the construction of a car plant in what was then the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (URSS), and which is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary, deserves to be remembered.
On...
Automobile Museums 2.0?
Today, thanks to computers, Web and Cloud we can affirm that memory is almost endless.
Yet – like in Orwell’s worst nightmare – some historical elements that characterize our society, are still alive only thanks to the memory of some individuals.
The risk is that they can disappear, just like the history of some car brands.
The car was born 100 years ago, and we can giggle at the...
Bertone, the epilogue of the last coachbuilder
It took little more than 100 years (102 to be exact) for a trademark, symbol of the design, to be smashed up in pieces.
This is the perfect example of how a generational shift is important in a company. No school, university or a master can ever transmit passion, tradition and pride.
Personally, I learned the news of the failure of this company symbol and its auction “of what is left” with...
Time stays, carmakers go.
In Italy, in five years, carmakers have lost more than 1,600 dealers, while the dealers of trucks (550 in 2009), today are only 110.
Also in the ultra-efficient US there was a die-off: NADA-data shows that more than 6,500 dealers have disappeared. Whilst of the remaining 17,665 dealerships, 5,000 of them sell less than 10 new cars per month, and 7,000 fewer than 30 per month.
These numbers in Europe...
FIAT 600 – Italian family gets in the car
We saw, in the first post, how Italy of the first ’50s was a developing country even if with several structural contradictions.
From one hand It was a society looking for new life styles - including mobility – thanks to a growing GDP and a large scale demand of modern products which led to new needs (refrigerator, televisions, washing machines), and on the other hand a Nation lacking...
Sixty years ago, Fiat 600
At the Geneva Motor Show Fiat presented the “600”, it was the 1955.
Let’s skip for now the technical details about the car and try to observe the world of the 1955, far sixty years from now and which seems a geologic era.
It was the year in which were born Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Kevin Costner, Ornella Muti, Michel Platini, Alain Prost, Susanna Camusso, Enrico Mentana, Pierferdinando Casini,...
FCA: business plan or image campaign?
The five-years plan recently announced by the FCA President John Elkann and the CEO Marchionne has been commented, criticized and evaluated (in a positive and negative direction) by the Stock market.
It certainly has had a wide media space, has generated great expectations among workers but also among consumers and potential Customers.
To me this is a good advertising campaign for the Group and in...
Moment of truth: the delivery
In one of the most “rusty” sectors of the economy, since a long time carmakers are trying to convince their partners that the sale of a vehicle does not ends with the signature of the contract, but rather – from that moment – begins a long journey made of many steps that should be likeable for customers and profitable for dealers.
A study delivered by JD Power – the Company...
Alfa Romeo vs BMW?
Auto Motor und Sport – over half a million copies, an amazing website – is the most authoritative German automotive magazine, and one of the most acknowledged in World.
Its tests stand out for their professionalism and objectivity, the competences of the journalists and the thoroughness of the trials are the best guarantees for the reliability of the results.
The “safety section” of...
Alfa Romeo and Art: a good combination!
The Alfa Romeo that we love has been an industry pilot, in step with the times, always at the forefront, always in advance.
Not only when his cars had preceded from several years the public’s tastes and the demands of the market, or when Alfa was building in Arese a plant modern in structure and architectural line or when it opened in Balocco – in the middle of the rice fields –...
103, 169? The car that Alfa should have built
Authoritative automobiles magazines and journalists – but also many fans – are waiting since a long time for the new Alfa Romeo 169, which is still in the Marchionne’s drawer.
The history of Alfa Romeo is full of revolutionary projects which could have changed its story.
Let’s speak about one of the many Alfa ever born, of which there is a rare example at the Historical Museum...
MY Alfa Romeo 4C
On the last 11th of June I was in Maserati as guest of Alfa Romeo for the presentation of the notorious 4C.
I won’t list the technical details of the product. For this matter there are other automotive magazines. Otherwise you can read AR Official Press Release in our News section, or use the hashtag #4C that I used with the account @automotivespace. For photos and videos, however, you can see our...
Il Quadrifoglio: the greatest CRM of Alfa Romeo
Today everyone well knows the importance of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) for any company in the market: a regular follow-up with all types of customers is crucial to target, acquire, retain, and understand prospective and sold Customers.
But in the 60’s this was not the model nor the standard, and CRM was pratically unknown for carmakers and dealers (… but even today…).
The...
Appeal to all the ‘Alfista’: save our heaven!
Regarding the Alfa Romeo Historic Museum, here’s a interesting story pointed out during an interview with Andrea Vecchi, the President of the Alfa Romeo Club of Milano.
“I worked for 10 years at Alfa Romeo in Arese. During 2009 the last Alfa Depts. in Arese were closed by Fiat: Design, Mechanics (where were ready 2 alloy V6...
