Alfaxandre, story of a passion 

The Museum's friends are so many: after all, when passion calls, Alfa Romeo answers!

Passionate about photography, writing, Alfa history: the stories of the Museum's friends are many and all different. All deserve to be told.

Alexandre Naves' story , on Instagram @Alfaxandre, got us hooked because Alexandre took so many photos of the Museum's cars and returned to them several times.

That's why we decided to interview him!

(Pictured is the Giulia 1600 Spider mentioned in the interview and below is the same car with Alexandre)

THE INTERVIEW WITH ALFAXANDRE, 100% ALFISTA

1. How did your passion for Alfa Romeo come about?

"My Alfa Romeo passion originated from my paternal grandparents, who always had a passion for Alfa Romeo and bought different cars such as Alfettas, Alfa Suds, and Alfa 33s. The passion then was passed on to my father, who from the time he got his driver's license at age 18 had his mother's Alfa 33, then Alfa Romeo GTV and then bought himself Alfa Romeo Spider 1600, 2nd series by Pininfarina. Then when he met my mother with my siblings, he gave my mother for her wedding the Alfa Romeo Spider 2000, the 4th and last series also by Pininfarina, in black. Which they drove when they got married! Finally, when I was born (in 2005) my parents, but especially my father, passed on the passion of Alfa Romeo to me. From the time I was little until today, I have always loved cars in general, learning about all models of each car brand.
Over the years, my father gave my mother a 1965 Alfa Romeo Giulia Spider 1600 Veloce. It was not easy: after several searches in order to find an Alfa Romeo Giulia 1600 Veloce, he finally found the Spider version on a car sales website. The Alfa was in Mexico, so my parents arranged to go and see it. My dad took pictures of it and then when he came back from Mexico we did some research: they finally decided to buy it and it came via cargo all the way to Belgium and then all the way to our house by truck!

It didn't end there: my father bought a 1974 Alfa Romeo Montreal. In short: a family passion!"


2. Do you remember an episode in your life related to a particular Alfa Romeo?

"I remember an event that I really enjoyed, the event that Alfa Romeo organized: the TRIBE DAYS. Already during the weeks before, I had already thought about how I could get to Milan by train in time, since my parents had already left with L'Alfa Romeo Giulia Spider 1600 Veloce. Since there are only two seats in the Giulia Spider, I had to leave from Ticino (I live in Minusio, near Locarno) by train, preparing my schedule with timetables according to the route of the event. Fortunately, I arrived just in time to be able to take videos of all the Alfa Romeos, from first to last! The videos can be seen on my Instagram account in the featured stories."

3. If you had to choose your favorite Alfa Romeo, what would it be?

"My favorite Alfa Romeo is the Alfasud. Designed by Giugiaro and produced in southern Italy: hence, as all enthusiasts know, the name!"

4. What, on the other hand, is your favorite car among those you have seen in our Museum?

"At the Fratelli Cozzi Museum you all have beautiful Alfa Romeos, so it's hard for me to tell you which is my favorite Alfa Romeo."

Do you have other passions besides this one? Which ones?

"Yes, karate.Ho practiced this discipline for 7 years.At first I had many friends in the boys' group, then many dropped out, and I moved on with the goal of get to the brown belt. The seventh year I made it, and then I decided to quit because there weren't many boys my age in the group anymore.

I also studied violin because I bought a violin at the flea market a few years ago. After buying the second violin I go to lessons every weekend on Friday nights. 

Finally, I have a great passion for Excel, on which I am planning to build a city with roads, sidewalks and parking lots, and then going on to build the buildings in 3D as in reality.
I have a project: I would like to start building the three factories in the history of Alfa Romeo
(Il Portello, Arese, Pomigliano d'Arco)."

6. You are very good at photography: what are you trying to capture with your camera? What do you want to convey?

"In general, I always try to capture all the Alfa Romeos that I see around, but also at trade shows, in a very particular position, to be able to photograph the cars in ¾, so that I can show both the front, with the right side of the car, and also the back with the right side of the car.

It is not easy, but I try to have all the Alfa Romeos in the same position.
I thought of photographing all the Alfa Romeos in the Fratelli Cozzi Museum to advertise the Fratelli Cozzi Museum and to be able to share my Alfa Romeo passion as with the various other museums for example: the Alfa Romeo Historical Museum in Arese and the Autoworld Museum in Brussels."

7. How did your Instagram account @Alfaxandre come about?

"Initially my account was called Classic Cars because I wanted to post classic cars of all automotive brands. Then I chose to change the name and change the photos I was posting on Instagram, to start sharing my passion for Alfa Romeo. Then I decided to use Nicola Romeo's idea: I invented Alfaxandre by combining the acronym A.L.F.A. with the second part of my name XANDRE."

8. How did you find the Alfa Romeo Fratelli Cozzi Museum when you first came? `

"The first time I went to the Fratelli Cozzi Museum was very nice: I enjoyed seeing these fantastic Alfa Romeos that have made history to this day.
Already thanks to the red Alfa-colored walls I was immediately immersed in the story told by Elisabetta Cozzi: I really enjoyed meeting her and talking with her about my passion!

I really thank the Cozzi Brothers Museum for offering me my first interview about my passion related to Alfa Romeo. It is an opportunity for me to introduce my favorite brand: Alfa Romeo, to which I will always be connected until my last day."