Friday, October 23, 2026, was Day Two of my weekend-long visit at the Auto e Moto d’Epoca in Bologna, Italy. Much of Thursday (Day One) was spent wandering among the cars for sale, so I decided to start Friday’s visit by taking in a few of the buildings dedicated to vehicles put on display by various manufacturers, car clubs, and organizations.

Around 11 a.m., I came across an Alfa Romeo exhibit with four sedans, including a current generation Giula. A slide projected on the wall announced that at 12 noon, there would be a presentation by three Alfa Romeo executives. I recognized one of the names. Lorenzo Ardizio, the Director of the Alfa Romeo Museum near Milano, had been at Lime Rock Park last month during Vintage Fall Festival 44, and I know that because a fellow Alfa Romeo club member sent me a video of Lorenzo and Donald Osborne inspecting my 1967 Junior! Unfortunately, I was not at my car at the time. The other two names were unknown to me, but their job titles caught my attention. Eugenio Franzetti was listed as “responsabile Globale Marketing Alfa Romeo,” (easily translated) and Alessandro Maccolini’s title was shown as “Design Manager Alfa Romeo.” Checking my watch and my map, I made sure that I didn’t wander too far from this hall, promising myself that I needed to be back at this spot before noon.

 

At 12 noon, the three gentlemen sat on stools and began their presentation, passing a single microphone to each other as they spoke. Surprisingly to me, no chairs were set up for an audience, but it may not have mattered. I was one of perhaps six people standing there to watch. One little detail, though, was overlooked by me: their entire conversation was in Italian, and I may have recognized ten words. Nevertheless, all three spoke with passion and enthusiasm, and based on the slides they showed, the focus of the talk was the current Giulia sedan, specifically, a new book they were promoting titled “Alfa Romeo Giulia, Timeless Classic.”  While they spoke, I considered what I would say to each of them once they were done.

As soon as their talk ended, I made my move, approaching Lorenzo first. Showing him a photo of my ’67 Junior at Lime Rock, he exclaimed, “Yes! I remember that car!” I then asked him to introduce me to Eugenio, which he did. I introduced myself, informed him that I was an active member of the Alfa Romeo Owners Club in the U.S., and then bluntly opened with this question: “Why is it that Stellantis has abandoned all Alfa Romeo marketing in the United States?” He did not flinch in his candid response. “We have made some errors. We committed to the next generation of Giulia and Stelvio as 100% EV, then realized that was a mistake. That has delayed the development of the next generation of cars, which are still several years away.” While this was not new news to me, I appreciated his acknowledgement of it. He continued: “Also, the U.S. tariff situation has made it very expensive for us to sell cars in the U.S.”

Using his arms and hands in a motion like a downward spiral, he struggled a bit to find the right English words. He continued: “We are not selling cars which means we are not making money, which means we cannot afford to advertise, which means that customers are not buying our products. I admit that it is a difficult situation.” I could not have asked any more from him at this point, so I closed my remarks to him by stressing, “Eugenio, there are many Alfa Romeo owners in America who are passionate about the brand, so please do not forget us!” I thanked him for his time, we shook hands, but he quickly added, “Wait, don’t go until I give you something.” He walked over to a small closet and grabbed a copy of the “Alfa Romeo Giulia, Timeless Classic” book they were selling at the show (with a USD price of $90). He gave me the book as a gift! I profusely thanked him for this generous gesture.

Finally, there was Alessandro. I introduced myself to him and shared with him photos of my two Alfas, the ’67 coupe and my recently acquired 2021 Giulia. Asking him about his career, he told me, “I have been with Alfa Romeo as a designer for over 30 years. I was the lead designer for the exterior of today’s Giulia, as well as the 4C.” I started to gush. A career as an automotive stylist was a boyhood fantasy of mine, and here I was conversing with the man who sculpted the car I purchased last month. Wow, wow, wow.

My next question: “Did you know Sergio?” (For Alessandro, no last name needed. Sergio Marchionne was Chairman of Fiat-Chrysler [FCA] and proposed the rear-wheel-drive Giorgio platform that became the Giulia and Stelvio). Alessandro smiled at the memory. “Yes,” he said, adding, “There is a YouTube video of Sergio shaking hands with the team that produced the Giulia, but when he got to me, he gave me a gentle slap on the cheek!” Speaking about the Giulia, he elaborated that “The Quadrifoglio version was done first, under the logic that we would complete the basic shape and then remove the high-performance add-ons for the base model. This was better than adding them to the base model, because this way, all versions of the Giulia would share the same sporty proportions.”

 

As we neared the end of our conversation, I asked Alessandro for a photo and an autograph, and he happily complied with both. I walked away, stunned at my luck in being able to spend time with three people intimately involved with the Alfa Romeo brand who showed me that their passion for the marque is as strong as anyone else I’ve ever met.

Entire blog post content copyright © 2026 Richard A. Reina. Text and photos may not be copied or reproduced without express written permission.