What sparked your love of cars? For many, the answer predates the poster on the wall. It’s inherited from a parent, absorbed quietly over time.
It’s a familiar story, and one that feels almost inevitable in the case of Aidan de Cadenet, who grew up around his father Alain’s infectious enthusiasm for cars. That passion shaped by a life spanning racing and television, including programmes like Victory by Design and Legends of Motorsport.
Alain sadly passed away in 2022, but his spirit lives on—not just in memory, but in motion.
That sense of motion is embodied in an Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ, the star of the film and a car which has long been part of the de Cadenet story. A rare, lightweight, competition bred car that was never intended to sit still. And yet it did.
Following an incident during a race at Laguna Seca, the Alfa lay idle for some 15 years before Aidan suggested it was brought back to life.
It became a project shared by father and son—not just to restore a car, but to spend time together around something they both understood.
The result wasn’t simply a car returned to life, but a new chapter in an ongoing story—one that didn’t end when the engine was switched off.
Seen through that lens, the film becomes a reminder that cars are there to be used. Not preserved for perfect days, but driven whenever the opportunity presents itself—whatever the weather.
The Alfa lives on. It moves with purpose, it connects, and it carries something of Alain with it every time it’s driven. Not as a monument, but as a living reminder of a shared love that still has somewhere to go.
The film is directed by Lukas Dong. Watch on the YouTube channel, By Design.
Continue the journey
Alfa Romeo TZ-TZ2: Born to Win
A definitive book on Alfa Romeo’s lightweight competition machines.
Available via Amazon
Alfa Romeo Victory by Design
Alain de Cadenet’s series celebrating some of motorsport’s most significant machines.
Often available on DVD via the secondary market.