He has Lamborghini by the dozens, has just received a Temerario and can recognize an Aventador by its sound before he even sees it. Yet, when he arrives in Europe and picks up the keys to his rental car, the influencer The Stradman finds himself face to face with an Italian woman who is much more modest than he is and whom he is unable to identify. A Alfa Romeo Junior which, however, will hold a few surprises for him.
«I don't even know which Alfa it is.»
With more than 4.5 million subscribers on YouTube, James Lucas Condon, also known as The Stradman, is far from a novice when it comes to Italian cars. The American collector owns several Lamborghinis, among other cars, and recently to add a Temerario to his impressive garage.
For his new European road trip, he’s heading to Monaco and then Italy, with stops in Maranello and Sant’Agata Bolognese on the itinerary. But upon his arrival in France, there’s no Lamborghini worth several hundred thousand euros. At the rental agency, the man who was originally supposed to drive away in a Fiat 500 gets an upgrade. In front of him is an Alfa Romeo. But which one? «I don’t even know what kind of Alfa this is. Is it an electric car?» he asks before hitting the road. It’s actually an Alfa Romeo Junior, which will accompany him for a good part of his European trip.
An Alfa Romeo Surrounded by Lamborghinis
The contrast is quite delightful. A few hours later, The Stradman returns to his favorite playground in Monaco, where he spots Ferraris, McLarens, and—above all—Lamborghinis on the streets of the Principality. Then it’s time to head to Italy and Sant’Agata Bolognese.
And it’s still behind the wheel of the little Alfa Romeo that he arrives at the gates of Lamborghini. There, the American immediately falls back into his enthusiast’s habits. Revuelto, Urus, and other test models roll out of the factory as he tries to spot a very rare Lamborghini Fenomeno. The Alfa Romeo Junior even becomes, unwittingly, a reconnaissance car. When a Lamborghini test car hits the road, The Stradman tries to keep up with the Alfa Romeo. «Should I pass it? I could,» he jokes before the Lamborghini really steps on the gas. The answer is immediate: the little Alfa Romeo obviously stands no chance.
In the end, he's going to miss his Alfa Romeo Junior
The funniest part, however, comes at the end of the Italian trip. The guy who didn’t even know what model he was driving just a few days earlier ends up growing attached to it. When it’s time to return the car before heading to Spain, The Stradman even says a little goodbye to it: «I’m going to miss the Junior. I’m going to miss the Alfa, and I’m going to miss Italy.»
An unexpected conclusion for a collector accustomed to V12s, supercars, and exorbitantly priced Lamborghinis. The Alfa Romeo Junior was initially nothing more than a simple upgrade on a rental car—so much so that its driver didn’t even know its name. A few hundred kilometers later, it had finally managed to carve out a small place for itself on the road trip of a man who is otherwise particularly hard to impress when it comes to Italian cars.
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