I had been watching the 2021 Alfa Romeo Giulia on Cars & Bids all week. The day before the auction was scheduled to end, I drove to Stamford, CT, to test drive the car. The seller was extremely accommodating, suggesting that I drive the car for as long as I wanted that morning. My Alfa club buddy Bill, who owns a Giulia, accompanied me so that I would have a second set of experienced eyes on the car. Except for the color combo of blue over red, which I was still getting used to, everything about the car seemed right: RWD, limited slip diff, the best-looking 19” wheels, the red sport seats, Harmon Kardon sound system, a complete CarFax service history, and a transferrable extended warranty.
I knew all too well how these online auctions worked. Bring a Trailer had laid the foundation: seven-day auctions, plenty of photos, candid commentary from followers, and perhaps most importantly, the removal of any last-moment “sniping” by resetting the clock at each bid within the final few minutes. Unlike BaT which adds two minutes to the clock once any bids are placed within that final two-minute window, Cars & Bids resets the clock to add one minute, which is still plenty of time.
There were two or three bidders who were actively bidding on the Alfa during its final 30 minutes. By clicking on their user names, I was able to see their entire bidding history. Interestingly, these bidders had followed similar paths: they would bid several times, and would drop out well before the cars reached their final sale price. In other words, they were bottom shoppers who were bidding only on the chance that they could “steal” a car (provided the reserve was met). Discovering this about them boosted my confidence.
In the end, my competition was “aptwo” and “AJ2023.” Aptwo had bid on 28 cars, with zero wins, placing five bids on this Alfa, and bowing out at $17,250. AJ2023 had bid on 88 cars (!) with one win, a 1997 Audi A6. After his final bid of $20,000, he was gone. I bid $20,250 and thought the car was mine at that number. But I was wrong.
A new bidder, “RM512,” appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Quickly looking at his history, he didn’t join Cars & Bids until August of 2026, and this Alfa was the very first car he bid on. We were off to the races. Moving in either $250 or $500 increments, he kept pace with me. I bid $21,500 and told myself that was my limit. But when RM515 bid $21,750, I rationalized, “oh, what’s another $250?” But my $22,000 bid was topped again, and so it went.
Instead of being nervous, I was surprisingly calm, as if I were playing a game, convincing myself to hang in there. (This was helped in part by several buddies who were watching along, and sending me text messages saying, “YOU GOT THIS!”) I bid $22,500, he $23,000; I went to $23,250, he $23,500. When I bid $23,750, I allowed myself a new upper limit of $25,000, as once I was over that, I could find Giulias both newer and with lower miles. Watching the countdown clock descend past 30 seconds, then 15, then 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, there was nothing from RM512. The clock hit zero, and the screen read “SOLD for $23,750.” I won the auction. I was stunned; happily stunned, but stunned nevertheless.
It took a few days to sort through the paperwork (payment, bill of sale, title and tags), but about ten days after the auction ended, I picked up the car (with a big thanks to good friend Mike G who drove me to Stamford). The car was flawless on the drive back, and since then, I have had zero regrets.
This is one of the nicest Giulias I’ve ever seen, and in a very rare spec as well. In retrospect, I am so glad that an offer I made several months ago on a used Giulia at an Alfa Romeo dealer fell through. The car in my garage is so much nicer than that one. Patience paid off!
More than two years after selling my Mazda Miata in June 2024, and after two years spent pursuing classified ads in search of a “classic car” to replace it, I made a profound decision: I switched gears and bought a late-model Alfa Romeo Giulia sedan. The story behind that switch is for another time, but it still took me four months to find the right car. I test drove four different used cars at various Alfa Romeo dealerships in NJ and PA, then found the right car at the Cars and Bids online auction website (www.carsandbids.com). THAT seven-day auction is also a story for a future blog post. For now, I will start by posting my first photos of the car after driving it back from Stamford, CT, yesterday.
The car is a 2021 model year, in Anodized Blue Metallic with a red leather interior (a color combination popular in Alfa’s home country but rarely seen here). It is well-equipped, with the TI Sport Package (including sport seats and 19” bright wheels), Premium Package (including a Harmon Kardon Audio System), and Carbon Package (featuring interior and exterior carbon fiber trim pieces). Perhaps most unusually for a Northeast car, it is rear wheel drive (RWD), when almost every other Giulia I considered was AWD. It had just under 63,000 miles at my time of purchase, averaging just over 12,000 miles a year. I got it from the second owner, and the entire car is very clean, and came with a CarFax report showing every required service has been performed.
I’m keeping both the 2013 Mazda3 as a daily driver and the ’67 Junior as my AACA-eligible classic. A few years from now, things could change, but this Giulia will be used to attend AROC (Alfa Romeo Owners Club) events which are farther away, and for my own longer leisure drives. I’m so excited to have two Alfa Romeos! Watch this space for more about this car in the coming weeks.
The 2016 edition of the New York International Auto Show was held in the Jacob Javits Center on Manhattan’s west side, where it has been since 1987. As has been the custom, the show is run during Easter week, to give those who might be free for spring break a chance to see the show. Your author attended on Sunday, April 3, 2016, the final day the show was open to the public.
This was a car show, not an airplane show (but that’s an impressive wing)
If you’re expecting coverage of all the world- and North American premieres, look online. If you’re hoping to read about the new luxo-barge SUVs which were at the show (Maserati Levante, Bentley Bentayga, and Jaguar F-Pace), read the Robb Report. The only rhyme or reason to the vehicles I’ve written about below is that something attracted me to them. In some cases, I own or have owned similar cars. As an enthusiast, I tend to want to write about vehicles I’d like to drive. I also found myself drawn to vehicles which looked so much better in person compared to the photos I had seen (Alfa, Fiat, Buick, Ford, Volvo).
This was a car show, not a music show (but it was a clever way to display color choices)
Whether or not you were able to attend this year’s show, here’s hoping that you enjoy the report. As always, comments are welcome!
FIAT
The star on the Fiat stand was the new 124 Spider, due to go on sale later this year. Most know that the 124 shares its platform and interior with the new, 4th generation Mazda MX-5 Miata. The Fiat has unique sheetmetal, and uses an FCA 1.4L turbo engine. There were only two on display: an “Azzurro” first edition car, and a red/black Abarth. The Spider looks much better in person, and seeing it up close brought home the realization that it looks nothing like its Mazda sibling, other than the fact that they are both 2-door convertibles.
The Fiat 124 Spider in Azzurro blue
Interior, but for Fiat emblem, is identical to the MX-5
Trunk badge looks no better here, detracts from otherwise sharp looks
TRANS-AM
Someone has cleverly taken the current Chevrolet Camaro and tacked on Pontiac front and rear fascia, creating a new “Trans-Am”. Wait a minute – isn’t this what GM did in ’67? Based on the large number of young men with cellphone cameras swarming all other these things, this concept may prove to be a success.
The Screaming Chicken lives
Trans-Am Bandit edition also available
FORD GT
Perhaps it’s the color, as the first photos I saw of the new Ford GT were of a blue car, a color which has never appealed to me as an automotive shade. The NY car was in screaming chrome yellow; high impact is an understatement. As the cliché goes, if you need to ask the price, then you can’t afford it. Cost doesn’t matter – if you must have one and have the bucks, then there is nothing else on the road like it. No current Ferrari, Lambo, Bentley, etc., makes the visual statement that the new GT does.
Overheard: “I don’t like yellow, but I could look at this all day”
Stripes just like the GTs before it
Exhausts mirror tail lamp shape
Must look that much better in motion
VW BUDD-e
This microbus of the future is what, Volkswagen’s 4th concept along these lines? The Budd-e (how do you pronounce it, “buddy”?) is an all-electric concept that looks quite cool in person. No details were captured regarding its powertrain. You weren’t expecting a diesel, were you?
Front end looks like it could meet crash standards, unlike earlier concepts
Lots of room, helped by electric powertrain
BUICK AVISTA
If you told me 20 years ago that Buick would have one of the most significant and gorgeous concepts at the auto show, I might have said, “oh sure, what are you going to tell me next, that they’re going to axe Pontiac?” But the Avista is that stunning. Like a number of cars seen at the show today, photos just don’t do justice to its flowing lines and perfect proportions. It’s a two-door, pillarless hardtop, rear-drive sport-luxury car for the 21st century.
Photos don’t capture the stunning proportions
Side window shapes are work of art
Muscular luxury from this angle
MAZDA MX-5 “RF” CONCEPT
Another vehicle that did not impress in photos, but looks better in person, the “RF” (retractable fastback) is not a true convertible. Once you understand that, the concept makes more sense. The roof panel above the occupants electrically folds up and down, while the flying buttress pillars temporarily raise themselves to allow access for the panel. Once everything stops, those pillars are always in place (I had thought that they retracted). If you’re willing to give up the full convertible treatment for lots of style, then this is for you. If Mazda decides to build it.
Top up
Top in process of being lowered; buttresses lift
Buttress back down, top stowed
VOLVO
My former employer surprised me by having the new S90 sedan at the show. The rear end treatment, polarizing in pictures, looked softer and more integrated in person. Volvo cleverly displayed not one but two 1800 coupes, one white and one blue, high above the ground. And what other automaker would think to display an elk at an auto show?
S90 grille and headlight detail
Tail lamp treatment looks better in person
Lack of side markers mean it’s a pre-68
Side marker lights make this a ’68 or newer
You’d call it a moose; the Swedes call it an elk
ALFA ROMEO
My current crush, if only because a ’67 Alfa GT Junior happily resides in my garage, Alfa is making a long, drawn-out comeback to the U.S. market. There was but one 4C on display, next to a former race car (Tipo 33? I saw no info about it).
Alfa 4C convertible
Old and new, side by side
Alfa Tipo 33?
The “stars” on the Alfa stand were the Giulia sedans, with absolutely no information about the cars out for show-goers to gather. (The one handout was a list of dealers in the metro NY/NJ area. I saw numerous attendees pick it up, glance at it, and put it back down. Sergio, are you listening?) I asked one woman working the display about timing and pricing, and she curtly answered: “later this year, $40 thousand range”. Gee, thanks.
The new Alfa Romeo Giulia sedan
In the metal, the Giulia 4-door has a more purposeful, athletic look. The car is “tight”, with short overhangs, and looks smaller in person (in a good way) than in photos. Seen up close, it does not resemble a BMW sedan, which was the initial reaction.
The back end of the new Alfa Romeo Giulia sedan
To Alfa’s credit, there was a plethora of historical information there, from a racing timeline, to displays of components from cars of the 1950s and ‘60s. The question is whether all this talk about the past will cause people to open their wallets in the showroom.
Historical timeline
Grilles and hub caps
Instrument panel gauges
ACURA NSX
If the Ford GT hadn’t been there, the new Acura might be the supercar of the show. But compared to its Dearborn rival, the 2nd generation NSX was, well, just OK. Perhaps it’s the front end, which doesn’t look that different than most other new Acuras….
Yes, it’s an Acura
How can this compete with the Ford GT?
ODDS AND ENDS
There was a small display of cars from a classic car museum. Was there a better-looking pre-war front end than the one on a 1940 Ford?
1940 Ford
Everyone wants a distinctive front end. A grille that stands out is one way to do it. Used to be, the grille also had to be good-looking. Seems like now it only needs to be “unique”. (I cannot bring myself to photograph the grilles on any current Lexus models.)
What we’ve been getting used to (from Audi)
This M-B grille reminds me of a ’58 Buick (not a compliment)
The NY Police Department had a large historical display of police cars, stretching back to a 1958 Ford. It was well done, and interest in “professional cars” as part of the old car hobby continues to grow.
What you did not want to see in your rear view mirror in 1966
GOOD HUMOR
Just plain fun – a collector vehicle AND a part-time job!
