A Driver’s Desire Many of today’s Italian sports car manufacturers have been in the automobile manufacturing business for decades.  The vast experience combined with the ever evolving technologies integrated into today’s sports cars are what make Italian sports cars so appealing.  Italian sports cars address a driver’s desire for speed, express a form of prestige on behalf of the vehicle owner, and drivers covet Italian sports cars for the smooth ride and amazing control offered up by such vehicles.  Italian sports cars are specifically designed to handle high speeds, and therefore are designed for significantly better road handling.  Many of today’s Italian sports cars are fitted with every creature comfort imaginable.  Drivers’ covet such vehicles because they like the feel of how a sports car performs, and the decision to get a sports car is not necessarily based upon practicality. Things to Consider Before Buying Italian Sports Cars Sports cars can prove to be considerably expensive to both buy and insure.  In addition, sports cars are manufactured to perform and to drive at accelerated speeds with excellent control; good mileage and practicality are not signatures assigned to such vehicles.  Additionally, today’s sports cars, while somewhat spacious, are not necessarily considered an all around family type of vehicle. Another consideration consumers must face is that some Italian sports cars are only released to a specific market.  The Alfa Romeo™ GT for instance is only available to an Italian market at the present time.  In some instances, consumers located outside of Italy where Italian sports car manufacturers are located must wait until the vehicles are distributed on an international level or they must find alternative means for getting the vehicle they desire. Top Italian Sport Cars Manufacturers *Alfa Romeo™: Parent Group Fiat Alfa Romeo™ is a manufacturer that got its earliest beginnings in the early 1920s.  The first location for Alfa Romeo™ was in the city of Naples, Italy, but the company moved to Milan before it began producing cars; this manufacturer later merged and became an integral part of the Fiat Group during the late 1980s.  The first founder of Alfa Romeo™ was Alexandre Darracq.  This manufacturer has created vehicles that have withstood the test of time and vehicles that are particularly appealing to sports car enthusiasts; vehicles manufactured by Alfa Romeo™ include the 1934 6C 2300B Touring, the 1937 8C 2900B Touring Spider, the 1900 C Super Sprint released in 1954, the 1955 Giulietta, the 1967 Spider, and the 1750 GT Veloce released between the year 1967 and 1971. The 2009 Alfa Romeo sports car models include the Alfa Romeo MiTo and the Alfa Romeo 8C Spider.  Alfa Romeo™ has been creating the Alfa Romeo™ GT, a coupe offered with a 1.8 Liter TS, 2.0 Liter JTS, or a 3.2 Liter V6 under the hood.  The GT is offered with a five or six speed manual transmission, and the body of this vehicle is sporty, sleek, and trendy.  The top speeds offered in the Alfa Romeo™ GT are phenomenal as the vehicle can go from 0 to 120 miles per hour in just under eleven seconds.  While the latter vehicle might sound enticing to the sports car enthusiast, getting one if living outside of Italy might be a more difficult and far more costly endeavor.  Presently, Alfa Romeos are not sold in the United States, but there are clubs in the United States for Alfa Romeo™ owners to join. For more information about the Alfa Romeo™ GT, visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfa_Romeo_GT. *Bugatti aka Bugatti Automobiles SAS Ettore Bugatti, an Italian gentleman, established his company in Molsheim France in the year 1909 in order to build high performance vehicles.  Bugatti is responsible for manufacturing vehicles with superior speed as well as highly exclusive vehicles.  The Bugatti company was eventually bought by Hispano Suiza in the early 1960s.  The company’s name was then later taken over by the Volkswagen Group in the year 1998: the latter company continues to maintain the exclusiveness of Bugatti vehicles by manufacturing select high performance models. Bugatti’s most recent makes and models include the 2009 Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport, the 2008 Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Pur Sang Edition, and the 2006 Bugatti Veyron 16.4.  Due to their exclusivity, these Italian sports cars can be priced well over a million dollars. For more information about Bugatti visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bugatti. *Lamborghini™ aka Lamborghini S.p.A Lamborghini™ is a well known manufacturer of Italian sports cars.  The Lamborghini company was formed in the year 1963 by Ferruccio Lamborghini and has its present day headquarters in Sant'Agata Bolognese, Italy.  The company is now part of the Volkswagen Group.  This company has an interesting history; at first, Ferruccio set out to make his company one that concentrated on manufacturing tractors, but after having a disagreement with Enzo Ferrari, the maker of the famous Ferrari, Ferruccio changed his companies focus in order to design better cars.  To that end, Lamborghini succeeded; the company is famed for many superior sports cars including the Espada, the Islero, the Jarama, the Urraco, the Countach, and the Silhouette, among others. Recent Lamborghini™ models include the Murcielago LP 650-4 Roadster, the Murcielago LP640 Roadster Versace, the Gallardo LP560-4 Spyder, the Gallardo and LP560-4. Lamborghini™ models set for 2010 include the Lamborghini Murcielago LP 650-4 Roadster, and the Lamborghini Murcielago LP670-4 Superveloce.  These Italian sports cars are priced at $200,000 and up. For more information about Lamborghini visit: http://www.lamborghini.com/. * Maserati™ Maserati™ was established in 1914 and the company’s headquarters are situated in Modena, Italy.  The company is presently owned by Fiat S.p.A.  This company was originally established by six brothers: Bindo, Alfieri, Ettore, Carlo, Mario, and Ernesto.  Later the company was bought by the Orsi family, and in 1968, the company was then sold to Citroën.  Previous popular models include the Maserati™ 5000 GT Coupe, the Maserati™ 200SI, and the Maserati™ Sebring. Maserati™ manufacturers the Quattroporte Sport GT S, the Maserati™ Quattroporte S,  the GranTurismo MC Corse Concept, and the  Maserati™ GranTurismo S.  Maserati™ vehicles are typically priced between $120,000 and $140,000. For more information on Maserati™ visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maserati. *Ferrari™ Ferrari™ was established by Enzo Ferrari in the year 1928 and is headquartered in Maranello, Italy: this company is presently owned by Fiat S.p.A. and Ferrari™ is famous for making race cars and highly coveted Italian sports cars for the sports car enthusiast.  Ferrari™ did not begin offering street legal Italian sports cars until the 1940s.  Recent Ferrari™ makes include the Ferrari™ California which has a price tag which is right around $200,000.  The Ferrari™ Scuderia Spider 16M is set for release in 2010. For more information about Ferrari™ visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrari. Finding More Information about Italian Sports Cars Additional Italian sports car manufacturers include Fiat™, Pagani™, Italdesign™, Pininfarina S.p.A. ™ and De Tomaso™.  There is a plethora of information on the Internet including Italian sports cars articles and information about new and used Italian sports cars.  Below are several resources where consumers can find more information. For more information on Fiat™ visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat For more information on Pagani™ visit:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pagani. For more information about Italdesign™: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italdesign. For more information on Pininfarina visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pininfarina. For details about De Tamaso™ visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Tomaso. To look at the most recent Italian sports cars available, as well as other sports car manufacturers, consumers can visit RSportscars.com at: (www.rsportscars.com).  The website offers photographs, vehicle spec information, and full length reviews on a wide variety of sports cars.  Vehicle information is accessible via an alphabetized list for ease of access.