Topic: RRR ... Road & Track Giulia ... RRR

[amata]

 

[v_ken]

เสร็จเมื่อไหร่ ขอ CD 1 แผ่นนะครับ
ยังไม่เสร็จ ขอ 14 เพลงก่อนได้ไม้ครับพี่

ชอบมาก ขอบอกครับผม

 

ชอบมากเช่้นกัน ขอด้วยคน ตามท่านเจ้าบ้านไปเลยครับ

[spankinfish]

รถผมเสร็จไปวิ่งด้วยกันนะครับพี่

[Romeo]

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รถผมเสร็จไปวิ่งด้วยกันนะครับพี่

 
Can Do ครับ...แต่ขอให้ปลด Run-In ก่อนนะครับ
 
 
 

เสร็จเมื่อไหร่ ขอ CD 1 แผ่นนะครับ
ยังไม่เสร็จ ขอ 14 เพลงก่อนได้ไม้ครับพี่

ชอบมาก ขอบอกครับผม

 

ชอบมากเช่้นกัน ขอด้วยคน ตามท่านเจ้าบ้านไปเลยครับ

 
 
Can Do อีกเหมือนกันครับ รอครบชุดเลยนะครับ
 
 
 

ชอบจังคำว่าวิ่งสะสมระยะทาง รถผมทำมาขับไม่ถึงพันโลซักคัน

 
ต้องหยอดกระปุก ( พวงมาลัย ) ไปเรื่อยๆครับ
 
 
 
.............

[Romeo]

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สวัสดีครับ…..


วันนิ้  Road & Track Giulia … มีของขวัญพิเศษให้  BKCC … เพราะว่า.....



...วันนิ้...คือวัน  Valentine Day ... ( เขียน 14 / ลง 15 ? ... หยวนๆนะ )



ผมมีเรื่องราวที่เคยเขียนลงใน Website ของผมเอง...ตั้งแต่ปี 2550 / 2007 … และ เคยนำไปลงใน  Car Magazine ฉบับหนึ่งนานแล้วเหมือนกัน......


 

เป็นเรื่องราวของ  Alfa Romeo  ที่สวยมากที่สุด..คันหนึ่ง.....

 


ผมขออนุญาต ที่จะใช้ภาษาที่เขียนใว้ดั้งเดิมเป็นภาษาอังกฤษ...เพราะอยากเก็บอรรถรสเดิมๆใว้.....



เรื่อง...เป็นอย่างนิ้ครับ................

 
 
 
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[Romeo]

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Beautiful DIVA of My Soul


In the sunlight of your smile
In the summer of our life
In the magic of love
Storms above scattered away

Lovers dreaming in the night
Reaching for paradise
But as the dark shadows fade
Love slips away

http://www.links2love.com/love_lyrics_378.htm



While I was trying to find a good title for this month, “ Retro Car of the Month “ , ……. somehow I got stuck with this song,

“ Beautiful Maria of My Soul “. 


Then I thought, why didn’t I adopt this beautiful name ….from this beautiful song , and give the title to this story as…..



“ Beautiful DIVA of My Soul “




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1DW69oCI54&feature=related



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[Romeo]

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Just exactly on this very same month of last year 2006, a new star was born.

This time …. It was Franco Sbarro’s turn.  Just to celebrate the 10^th years anniversary of , ESPERA Sbarro , his first School of Automotive Design, a new sensational concept car in collaboration with Alfa Romeo was introduced at Geneva Motor Show… and it was called simply as ………


 
DIVA





 
 
 
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[Romeo]

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Francesco Zefferino Sbarro



Let’s meet the man and learn the story of his life.






Sbarro was born in Italy but moved to Switzerland at the early age of 17.  His job was a mechanic for a garage famous for sports and performance cars that covered hot names such as AC Cobra, Ferrari P4, Ford GT40 and the likes.




 
 
 
Gaining knowledge and skills with such kind of cars, Sbarro’s work expanded to reproduction of classic cars.  One of his excellent works worth mentioning is a replica of Mercedes-Benz 540K 1936.  It was very well made….so well that Mercedes-Benz was much impressed and allowed Sbarro to put the Mercedes-Benz logo , a three-point star, on it’s hood.



 
 

 
 
His works were not limited to cars of classic type but also cars of high performance and rare cars such as Lola T70, Ferrari P4 and a lot more.






Xxxxx
 
 

 
Having built hundreds of vehicles, Sbarro decided to pass on his knowledge and passions to others via the establishment of his first school of car design, ESPACE Sbarro , in 1992. His initiative impressed the King of Morocco so much that His Majesty eventually requested Sbarro to establish a similar institution in Casablanca.

Then later on , following a creation of a museum, ESPERA , in 1995, a new and special school of automotives design with the same name was established a year later.  And this was how the 10^th Year Anniversary Celebration has taken placed ….by designing a great & new car.

 


 
 
 
 

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[Romeo]

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Sbarro & Alfa Romeo
 
 
 
Sbarro has, in fact, been quite close to Alfa Romeo.  May be because he is of Italian origin….but for sure it was his hundred of creations that brought the two together as evident in 1996 which was the year the Nuovo GTV tipo 916 was introduced. 



The main designers from Centro Stile , headed at that time by Walter deSilva , spoke with Sbarro on how the interpretation of a roadster should be.  Sbarro came up with an idea that the car should be packed with some powerful engine that must have all  12-cylinder .

Note ; Walter de Silver, after the Nuovo GTV Tipo 916, moved to SEAT, then to AUDI where he is one of Management Board members, in charge of Car Designing for all of Audi’s brands including Lamborghini.






 
 
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[Romeo]

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Unfortunately, Alfa Romeo only have a V6 engine.  But that was not a problem at all for Sbarro who made use with the required 12-Cylinder by combining 2 units of the V6….. and , voila, a new V12 engine with 500 hp was born….with plenty of horsepower for the roadster.



 
 

The engine , as always, was the heart for this new one-off spider Alfa Romeo ….. a very beautiful roadster as interpreted by Sbarro, and it was called ISSIMA, Italian for “ Superlative “ status.
 




 
 
 
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[Romeo]

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Now, let’s look at the  DIVA ….and how its live began…..



Picture is now in the mid of millennium years , Sbarro wanted to celebrate the 10^th Anniversary of his ESPERA , The School of Automotive Design , by work with the Alfa Romeo brand again. 
 
But this time he faced with a new challenge as Alfa Romeo has just introduced 8C COMPETIZIONE …. An interpretation of the 60’s era 33 Stradale…..
 
 
So, it’s a Sbarro's turn to make it even better.

 





 
 
 
 
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[Romeo]

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Deja' Vu, as work was done with full cooperation from Alfa Romeo’s design team, this time lead by Wolfgang Egger , current Chief Designer for Alfa Central Stile.  Rough sketch was done by Wolfgang , details by Sbarro and built by students of the ESPERA Sbarro School of Automotive Design.


Note ; Wolfgang Egger was Chief of Styling at Alfa Centro Stile not for long as he , not long after the completion of DIVA, has moved to work with Walter de Silver as Chief of Car Design.




 
 
 
 
 
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[Romeo]

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As both   DIVA  and 8C Competizione’s styling cues are strongly inspired by the 60’s Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale , hence, this is going to be a design competition between the two.
 


DIVA  has the similar proportions to the historic 33 Stradale.  All the good things remain loyal to the beautiful 33 Stradale ; even the gullwing doors that curved all the way up to the top,  the centrally mounted engine, the mechanics and engine compartments / layout are all very close to the original 33 Stradale. 
 
 
While 8C Competizione may be limiting itself to only the spirit of 33 Stradale for it only used traditional door opening , traditional drive-train layout. ( front engine / rear drive )

 
 
 

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[Romeo]

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DIVA  is, when compare with 8C Competizione, more adventurous in look. 
 
 
For example ; the front-end treatment takes Alfa's familiar face, but with a modern, more “ Formula One “ wing-edge treatment. 


 
 
What standout is that all the lines are sharper on  DIVA  than 8C.

 

 

 
 
 
 
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[Romeo]

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At the rear ,  DIVA  is dominated by two big taillights residing on the ventilated rear grill . 
 
You could say that  DIVA’s  rear end has a more conventional look and feel to it. This combination of classic and modern design cues work out remarkably well.
 
 


Xxxxx
 
 





 
Coming to the cabin , Sbarro employed the “ Less-is-more “ concept by put only one gauge upfront of the driver , 3 outlets for air-cond / ventilation , switches and controls are on the centered panel. 
 
 
A simple steering wheel accompanied the Selespeed gear paddles. 
 
 
Seats for 2 lucky people are covered in dark colored Alcantara and leather combined. 
 
 
 
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[Romeo]

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Having reviewed  DIVA, one small question has come to my mind ;  could  DIVA   be called a “ Baby ENZO “ ? . 
 
 





 


Why’s that..?
 
 

Well, you look at  DIVA and your mind starts to retrive your memory as you may say loudly in your head, “ Hey, I’ve seen this front-end treatment somewhere before “ . 
 
 


Not a direct copy  but  DIVA’s front can stand next to ENZO and people will assume they are related.



And why not, they both have the same parents, FIAT Company , that is !
 
 
 
 
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[Romeo]

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On the technical side, chassis was a modified version of Alfa Romeo 159, combining with a hotly modified V6 engine from 147 GTA… instead of a front mounted & front drive , this time it placed , intentionally , in the middle of the car.
 
 






 
The engine is singing through a new Tubi exhaust system , while the V6 engine's output has increased from 260 to 290 bhp @ 6,200 rpm. 
 
 

More than enough to shoot  DIVA into the stratosphere in a very short time.
 
 
 
 
 
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[Romeo]

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Now, I would like to have my very own comments on the design , but before I do that , I have to admit that being an Alfa Romeo fan by heart , I have bias ( reading soft… ) in any comments on this marque. 
 
 




 
 
 
 
 
So, here they are , a comparison of  DIVA  vs. 8C Competizione.

 
 

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[Romeo]

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SIZE ;   DIVA  looks tighter & fitter than 8C.  When I look at the below figures and they confirmed my view ;
 

DIVA’s…..L. 3498 /  W. 1896   /  H. 1182  ( All in Millimeter )
8C’s……….L. 4278 /  W.  1900 /   H. 1250  ( All in Millimeter )
 

The difference is strongly shown on the length ;  DIVA is shorter by 780 mm. , while the width and the height are about the same. 
 
 
 
 
 


Now, let’s look at other dimensions.
 
 

DIVA’s   Track , Front  1608  /  Rear  1578
8C’s      Track , Front  1610  /  Rear  1580


Here, again , confirmed that proportionary   DIVA is tighter and fitter , as tracks of both cars are about the same and while length of 8C is longer , and that means the 8C must have longer over-hang , a typical design feature of sports cars in the 60s’ and 70’s. 

 
 
 
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[Romeo]

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EXTERIOR STYLING ; 

 

The Front ;  DIVA  takes a trophy from me. 
 
Why ?  It represents something new … in-style… would you say?  Taking the Formula One approach by incorporating the front wing into the design.  The front lights are very modern in both shape and the multi-beam set up.



Xxxxx






8C Competizione is very much 60’s / 70’s , as mentioned earlier. 
 
Not that unappreciated as it strongly shown the heritage of Alfa Romeo’s great design from the past ; front lights clutter, the Alfa’s Heart and Grills , and the lines sweep upward are unmistakably the beauty of this marque.


 
 
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[Romeo]

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The Side ; 
 
 
Functionally , both cars are not comparable ; DIVA is a mid-engine car , while 8C is a front-engined / rear drive car.  Design of each must follow the requirement.




 
 
 
 
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[Romeo]

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But if we are talking about the lines and the flow , I must submit that 8C Competizione takes my breath away. 
 
 
Look at the line flowing from top of the front wheel well , that correspond by the roof line…. and ending up with the final line flowing from the side window …all the way to the rear of the car. 
 
 
 
Bellisimo !






Xxxxx
[/]






DIVA, on the other hand , must focus on the airflow , both intakes and ventilations, as it is a mid-engined car. 
 
 
It looks very useful and nice.  With a touch of ventilations just after the front wheel well , all design elements are the direct echo of the 33 Stradale.


 
 
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[Romeo]

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The Rear ; 
 
 
The most exciting award goes to DIVA , may be it due to function of the mid-rear engined nature that you need to pump the hot air out as fast and as much as possible. 







While the build-in rear wings are a plus , but the “ on-the-top “ exhaust outlet may become a heat issue , that might have impact on the transparent engine-cover in both short & long term. 
 
 
Not that many sports / exotic car would want to have the exhaust outlet be on top like DIVA due to the heat dissipations that may destroy the engine canopy.


 
 
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[Romeo]

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8C Competizione’s treatment is rather bland.  But …what can you do,  putting gimmicks may not be a good answer either. 


The worst part is the lower add-on rear valance that looks rather cheap.





 
 
 
 
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[Romeo]

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The Interior[/] ; 
 
 
8C’s interior is very traditional , meaning not exciting , the design layout could go back to the 60’s / 70’s easily. 
 
 
Typical 2-pot gauges in front of the driver , another smaller 3-pot housing air-ventilation outlets at the center , a consol extends from the dashboard down to the center of the car and moves rearward. 
 
 
Seat style is very much Alfa Romeo , vertical pleads to the seats and the backrest.
 
 
( See video clip at the end of this story)
 

Xxxxx
 
 






DIVA is focused mainly on the modernity & simplicity…a la “ Less-Is-More “ ….which to me is very good. 
 
 
Materials selected are more advance.

 
 
 
.[/][/]