Alfa Romeo's centenary
has been celebrated in majestic style in France as a
hundred the brand's historic-to-modern models paraded
through the heart of the capital city taking in a swathe
of evocative landmarks.
The special event, which
was organised in association with the "Salon Automédon"
and "Vincennes en Anciennes" as well as the many
motoring clubs in France that cater for the Italian
marque, brought the passion and heritage of Alfa Romeo
to the attentions of Paris' residents in an extravaganza
that marched along a 15 km route that gained widespread
attention and placed many of the Milanese carmaker's
most beautiful models to the backdrop of iconic Paris
landmarks such as the Eifffel Tower, the River Seine and
the Arc de Triomphe.
The one hundred cars
taking part gathered outside the famous l’Ecole
Militaire, which was the start point rendezvous at
9:30am, before crossing the Seine over the Pont d’Iéna
and entering the fashionable Trocadéro district. From
there the cavalcade made its way along l’Avenue Foch and
la Place de l’Etoile before descending down "La Plus
Belle Avenue du Monde" and then making stopovers at
Place de la Concorde and Place Vendôme. The glorious
Italian cars then made their way, in perfect weather,
past the Seine and to a finish point at the Salon
Automédon in the Parc des Expositions du Bourget where
the cars went on display. The convoy arrived at its
destination at 11:15am where it was joined by a
beautiful historic Alfa 6C 1500 from 1928.
The cavalcade of
"moving art" was led out by the marque's newest high
performance sports car, the stunning Alfa 8C
Competizione, as well as its current mass-production
leaders: the brand new C-segment Giulietta hatchback as
well as its smaller sister, the MiTo. The pretty
Bertone-penned GT Coupé was also in evidence.
There was very broad
representation amongst the historic models in the
hundred-strong ranks in Paris including examples of the
Alfa 1900, 2300, previous-generation Giulietta sedan and
convertible variants, the Giulia (including the
Bertone-designed coupé as well as the 'Super' sedan),
the evocative V8-engined Montréal, the fragile-looking
'stretched-skin' Sprint Zagato, the Alfetta coupé from
the earliest GTV to the final edition and the many
different generations and evolutions of the convertible
Spider, perhaps the marque's most recognised model.
Engines burbles on the route included everything from
the Flat 4 "Boxer" to the "Arese V6".
The full route to the
final destination at the Parc des Expositions du Bourget
that the cars paraded down to reach comprised of the
Place du Maréchal Joffre outside the école militaire
(the starting point at 9:30am), Avenue de Suffren, Pont
d’Iéna, Place du Trocadéro, Avenue Paul Doumer, Avenue
Foch (where the cars regrouped), Place de l'Etoile,
Champs Elysées, Rond-point des Champs, Place de la
Concorde (control point/halt), Rue Royale, Rue du
Faubourg Saint Honoré, Place Vendôme, Place de l'Opéra,
Avenue de l'Opéra, Guichets du Louvre, Quai de la
Mégisserie, Boulevard Henri IV, Place de la Bastille
(control point/halt), Rue du Faubourg Saint Antoine,
Place de la Nation (control point/halt), Cours de
Vincennes, Porte de Vincennes/Boulevard Périphérique
extérieur and Porte de la Chapelle A1 to the Salon
Automédon.
