Villa D'Este Dream

Imagine you are sitting on the deck of the fabulous Villa D'Este, overlooking Lago di Como. It's an overcast morning. You are enjoying your coffee, waiting for the sun to come out. You hear the crunching of gravel under tire, and turn to see a breathtaking Alfa 6C 2500 motoring slowly past to park by the lake. Then another identical car pulls beside the first one. Then another.  Soon, you are looking at 5 glorious Villa D'Este Alfa Romeos parked neatly at the place where they were first shown to the public in 1952.  Only 36 of these cars were made by Carozzeria Touring, and 5 of them are in front of you, as if they showed up just for you to photograph them.  Sounds like a dream, right?  Yet this actually happened to our friend Ben Clymer, who runs the well regarded watch site Hodinkee. He was kind enough to share these gorgeous photos of that special moment. Full gallery HERE.

Photo credit: Ben Clymer

Rollin on Ronals

I felt it was time to lavish a little attention on the GTV6. These new phone dial rims do the trick. Plus they are spaced out a little bit for an even better stance. Now to sort that fender rub at full lock...

TZ 2

I never get tired of this photo.

Reaction to the Production-ready Alfa 4C

As longtime readers know, I really hated the Alfa Romeo 4C in its concept car format. I thought it was overwrought, badly proportioned, and the matte red finish really did it no favors. Now that the production version has been unveiled, I think they really improved the design a lot.  Although I am not in love with it, I think it's a truly nice looking sportscar.  I was hoping it would come in cheaper than 60,000 Euros, but I suppose it makes sense. Just one question though:  WTF is up with that side mirror protruding from the door?? That has got to be THE worst execution of a mirror I have ever seen!

Automobiliac's top 10 racing engine sounds

For no reason, I decided to list my top 10 favorite racing engines.  These are my personal favorites. Please feel free to share your own in the comment thread!

1) Matra V-12: Sounds like the wrath of the gods.

2) Aston Martin Straight Six: Smooth, with a wonderful guttural undertone.

3) Alfa Romeo Jano Supercharged Inline 8: The closest man has come to making a machine that sounds like a living, breathing thing.

4) The Colombo Ferrari V12: Needs no introduction

 5) Mercedes V-12: Defined the era.

6) BRM V-16: Ill fated car, sounds like raw aggression.

7) Offenhauser Indy Roadsters: Spine-tingling and brutal.

8) Can Am V8s, Ford and Chevy: Iron fist of America, hell yeah.

9) Group B Rally cars: Hard to pick a favorite, but the Audi Inline 5 Turbo is probably the most unique and memorable.

10) Ferrari 412 F1: The last of the V-12 Ferrari F1 engines.