Alfa Romeo

Alfa Romeo is one of the most prestigious brands in the automotive industry. Many car aficionados try to look for the best Alfa Romeo deals they can because they appreciate the brand's style, and know of its marvelous engineering and technological advantages. This is brought about by Alfa Romeo's long history, one that spans over 100 years, and is filled with numerous changes, milestones, and great cars.

Alfa Romeo began life as Società Anonima Italiana Darracq (SAID) in 1906, a joint effort of the Alexandre Darracq's French auto firm, and a number of Italian investors. The company settled in a suburb of Milan named Portello, where they built a new factory 6,700 square meters big. Soon after though, Darracq cars were selling slowly, so Ugo Stella, then chairman of SAID, along with other co-investors decided to found a new company, called the Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili (A.L.F.A.). At first this company was partnered with Darracq, and produced numerous cars by a number of famous designers of the time, and even ventured into motor racing. But when World War I arrived, A.L.F.A. ceased production for 3 years.

After the war, Neapolitan entrepreneur Nicola Romeo, the man who converted the factory for war, became the director of A.L.F.A. Under his direction after the war, Romeo used his war profits to add to his A.L.F.A. ownership. In 1920, the name was finally changed to Alfa Romeo, and produced a number of cars under that name for the years to come.

Both road and professional racing cars were produced, with some gaining notoriety for being driven by legendary names, such as Giuseppe Campari and Enzo Ferrari. Over the following years, more famous names would be lured away from other companies to go to Alfa Romeo's camp, but in 1928, Nicola Romeo's departure would signal a series of events leading up to the end of Alfa Romeo's defence contracts, and the company being broke in 1932. The government would save the company, however, and for the following decade all the way to the 2nd World War would be part of the Italian war machine.

The decades following the war would see Alfa Romeo's transformation to cater to numerous niches in the auto industry, such as its famed small cars during the 1960s, along with sport and performance cars in the 1970s. During this time, Alfa Romeo would again be in financial trouble, but would again bounce back via the Fiat Group, who bought into the company in 1986.

These days, Alfa Romeo, under the Fiat group, is planned to produce sports and luxury cars along with Maserati, which was bought back from Ferrari in 2005. But people looking to own an Alfa Romeo can get a less costly, used Alfa Romeo Spider, and still have a very good car as an investment, a testament to the brand's legacy.