Alfa Romeo is one of the most famous sports cars in the world, along with
Porsche, Ferrari, Maserati, Corvette, Lamborghini, and Jaguar. After
experiencing severe economic difficulties during the early 1990s, which
resulted in the company's pullout from the U.S. market, Alfa Romeo and its
parent company, Fiat, have performed a turnaround of the legendary
carmaker--booking international success with the 156 model, introduced in
1998 to universal acclaim, followed by the 166 sedan. In 2000 the company
prepared for more success with the October launch of the 147.
Alfa Romeo was founded in Portello, just north of Milan, in 1910. Cav Ugo
Stella, managing director of a Portello assembly plant for the Darracq, a
French automobile, decided to organize a group to purchase the plant and
build a car more suitable for the harsh and mountainous Italian roads. Along
with a few Milanese businessmen, he took out a loan to purchase the Darracq
plant. The group named itself the Lombardy Car Manufacturing Company (SocietÃ
Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili) and soon was known by its
initials--ALFA.
Alfa Romeo's ninety years of existence encompass some of the most important
chapters in motoring history. It is a story of cars, designers, races and
engines that stand as technological and sporting milestones of the Twentieth
century. A brand such as Alfa Romeo is the sum of all these parts, and also
of the work and professional pride of the thousands of people--as-gineers,
workers and managers--who have succeeded one another in its factories and
offices and on the racing track.
Alfa Romeos are still not made for people who believe driving is boring and
see cars only as a means of getting from A to B. They are built to transcend
the essential and enter the realm of emotion. They embody aesthetic taste, a
passion for sophisticated engineering, the pleasure of sitting behind a
driving wheel and the desire to express one's own personality.