Since 1911, just one year after the company’s birth, Alfa Romeo has been sprinting past the checkered flag ahead of the competition: 102 years of automotive racing experience has been collected, refined, and formed into a brand that has become synonymous with performance and engineering. The italian marque has celebrated victories in seemingly every category of motorsport, ranging from the world’s first Grand Prix Championship in 1925, to the depths of mud in rally racing.

We took the day on Wednesday to head up to Culver City, just east of LA. Tucked away off a battered side-street lies the Petrolicious headquarters, a brick warehouse which serves as an office to an unbelievably talented team, and as a home to a rather lovely group of Alfa Romeos.

It’s been some time since we offered a look behind the monitors here at StanceWorks. But with 2013 upon us, big changes are happening – some of the biggest yet. StanceWorks project builds are well underway, from the Model A and the 2002, to our latest addition to the fleet, a 1970 Ford F250 tow rig. But past the builds, there’s something far more important up our sleeve.

In past years, the success of the Ford Focus has paled in comparison to the likes of the Volkswagen Golf, Honda Civic, and others, which are fraught with  emotion, character, and spirit. For one reason or another, American companies have failed to capture the essence that makes their foreign counterparts so successful to enthusiasts.

Years ago, when a majority of us were leaned back in a chair waiting for our super-fast 56k dialup internet to connect, we never considered just how huge of an effect the internet would have on the car scene. I mean sure, it was a given that it would play a pretty big role in builds just because of the ease of finding and ordering parts, but now it is so much more.