By Josh Clason / 29 January 2013
14 Comments

I ran across this under-appreciated beauty while filming more-current MR2s in Houston and instantly fell in love. I told myself that when the time came for a new daily driver, I'd scour the internet for a first-generation MR2. That moment came a mere four months later. As luck would have it, the very car I'd lusted after in Texas came up for sale, so with deposit paid and plane ticket purchased, I started a trip that most people wouldn't understand. 

By Afshin Behnia / 10 January 2013
8 Comments

If you read my Alfa Summer Affair Series series, you’re very familiar with the ochre yellow 1968 Alfa Romeo GT 1750 that I bought to fulfill my fantasies. In the end, we left Ludie at Mario's trusted restoration shop to undergo a complete and thorough no-expenses-spared restoration.  I recently visited Mario and Ludie to see how the restoration is going, and here I share with you the top 10 terrible problems that Ludie had, plus one very positive note on which to end. 

By Afshin Behnia / 07 November 2012
7 Comments

Some believe that a honeymoon is a concept borrowed from the elite of the Indian Subcontinent, or that it is a sardonic reference to the inevitable waning of love, like the phases of the moon. I didn’t know much about honeymoons, but I had a premonition that my honeymoon with Ludie would soon be over. While at the same time, I was sure that my honeymoon with Kika would have no end.

By Afshin Behnia / 07 November 2012
2 Comments

Perhaps our wedding somehow made everything look more vibrant (glimmering Tuscan yellows and warm terracottas), sound more melodious (a constant excitement buzzing in the air), or maybe it’s just that certain dreams are chronic. I couldn’t get my dream of driving through Tuscany with Ludie out of my mind. A honeymoon wouldn’t be complete without her.

By Afshin Behnia / 07 November 2012
1 Comment

I was having my doubts, second guessing myself. Maybe we were going too fast. Maybe it was time to re-evaluate our relationship. I mean, was I really capable of committing myself to Ludie–warts and all? Was this Alfa Romeo GTV right for me? Call me shallow, callous, unforgiving, or even mad.

By Afshin Behnia / 07 November 2012
1 Comment

We all have our baggage—bits and pieces of stuff we carry around with us, and Kika and I both had our fair share. We folded, rolled, and packed every bit of us into bags that lined the narrow Milanese curb outside the lock box belonging to Ludie, my newly-acquired 1968 Alfa romeo GTV, wondering how to convince her to carry the load.

By Afshin Behnia / 01 November 2012

Three months had passed since my night with Ludovica Fiorini.  It was time for Kika, my soon-to-be wife, to meet her—to meet that punchy, yellow-ochre 1968 Alfa Romeo GTV I so lusted after. It was time for Kika to know about my private obsession. I had to introduce her to my impulse buy.

By Afshin Behnia / 31 October 2012

When I first saw Ludovica Fiorini, I knew I had to have her.  I can’t blame it on her classic silhouette, her impeccable style, or even her spiritedness—I knew she had her fair share of flaws.  Those flaws simply didn’t matter.  Not at that time.  Not in February, in Italy, when the weather was unusually beautiful but on the verge of turning sour.

By Petrolicious Productions / 31 October 2012
1 Comment

Next Monday, we'll begin a six-piece article series filled with tales of romance and intrigue. Follow the adventures of our Petrolicious protagonists as they navigate blind romance, love triangles, and Italian roads in a 1968 Alfa Romeo GTV.

By Christie Grotheim / 15 October 2012
2 Comments

Wixom, just outside of Detroit, was our last big destination. After all her hard work and perseverance, it was time for our car to meet her maker and return to her birthplace. We were headed to the manufacturing plant where she had been built and rolled off the assembly line in 1979.

By Christie Grotheim / 15 October 2012

Our itinerary: Drive through Seattle, cross the Idaho panhandle and through the mountains of Montana to Yellowstone, dip down to Nebraska and Iowa, drive through Fargo, North Dakota, to the Northwest Angle (the northernmost part of the continental United States), and continue through the Midwest via northern Wisconsin and Michigan...all within a week.

By Christie Grotheim / 15 October 2012
2 Comments

I had been talking to Niklas for days, maybe weeks, about Oregon, and now we were so close we could smell it. Literally. As we neared the border, I sniffed the earthy sweetness I remembered as a child. I wasn't sure if the smell was of blackberries or the wild foxtails’ cascading purple bells, but it filled the air and added to my excitement.

By Christie Grotheim / 15 October 2012
2 Comments

We pressed south, through the Mojave Desert, past Joshua Tree National Park, and over the Santa Rosa Mountains to San Diego. With its size and diverse terrain, California was surpassing Arizona as my new favorite state—before we’d even made it to the coast. Our goal was to make it to the Southwestern-most point of the United States.

By Christie Grotheim / 15 October 2012

I was fighting a bout of nausea when Niklas started to gas it and then brake like a bad cab driver. Turns out Niklas wasn’t doing it—the Continental had taken over. The cruise control wouldn’t turn off no matter what Niklas did. He tried to slow her down but she motored onward, propelling up hills and then flying down them all of her own accord.

By Christie Grotheim / 15 October 2012

Driving into Las Vegas at night was a real rush. Our golden girl shone in this setting; she was born to be there. Grand hotels were reflected in her generous hood, neon signs screamed for attention in her rearview mirrors, and beams of light poured in through the sunroof. We pulled our classic car into the parking lot of Circus Circus.

By Christie Grotheim / 10 October 2012
4 Comments

A house trailer in a retirement community on the outskirts of Tucson might not be every traveler’s dream destination, but it was actually high on my priority list. When we opened the door, we were met with a blast of heat—the place had been shut up since February. We opened the windows, and turned on the only fan, which was in the master bedroom. Even with the fan, it was hard to breathe.

By Christie Grotheim / 05 October 2012

As we crossed into New Mexico, we saw more of the Indian and Mexican colonial influences, with the small adobe houses interspersed with brightly painted buildings. These sleepy, surreal towns seemed to be barely moving; we didn’t see another car—or another soul—for miles. Leaving civilization behind, we headed further west, toward our next destination: Roswell, New Mexico.

By Christie Grotheim / 05 October 2012

Westward bound, we were both on cloud nine; it felt like a real turning point—the second phase of the trip. Our plan for the day was to drive through Amarillo to the Cadillac Ranch to explore and take photos before traveling a couple of hours south, where we would camp for the night in the canyons.

By Christie Grotheim / 04 October 2012
1 Comment

As we neared my parents’ house down a country road, the churning oil pumps became more clustered. Our old Continental must have felt right at home when we pulled into the drive. Gas guzzler that she is, we considered somehow siphoning the oil straight from the source to save some cash. My parents hurried out to greet us and check out the car. My dad chuckled as he took in the sheer size.

By Christie Grotheim / 03 October 2012

We had been cruising through the Carolinas when we pulled in to get gas a few miles from my cousin’s house in Myrtle Beach. I paid at the pump and began fueling only to see something inching toward me out of the corner of my eye—a green blob oozing toward my flip flops.

By Christie Grotheim / 03 October 2012
3 Comments

On a sunny Saturday morning in June, Niklas and I packed up the Continental’s ample trunk space full and tight, and left Manhattan for our summer road trip. My knowledge of automotive mechanics increased exponentially soon after. The first lesson occurred no more than two hours out of the city, when I learned about a multitude of possible scenarios that might cause overheating...

By Christie Grotheim / 01 October 2012
2 Comments

During the first few weeks having our car in the city, we sometimes went on random “drive-bys,” showing up at different friends’ houses, pulling up in Greenpoint or Williamsburg or Park Slope and blasting the high-pitched horn, unannounced and uninvited.

By Christie Grotheim / 18 September 2012
1 Comment

“Hey, what the hell are you doing? Are you taking a piss on my car?” I heard Niklas say when he opened the car door, just as we pulled into a tight parking spot on Christopher Street. Moments before, I had been roused from a light sleep after a long ride by horns honking, music blasting from bars, and booze-infused laughter—I knew we must be back in Manhattan.

By Christie Grotheim / 17 September 2012
5 Comments

“Good Lord, it’s a monster,” I heard myself say the first time I caught sight of it. We rounded a bend to see—from quite some distance—an oversized sedan stretched out on a winding driveway, its camel color popping off the Kentucky bluegrass hills. “It’s magnificent,” my husband added, totally mesmerized, with a hypnotic look in his eyes.