Fiat Chrysler brings an Italian luxury brand to TV's biggest United States audience with this second-quarter ad by Art Machine, the first in a trio of pitches designed to take Alfa Romeo from a tiny niche in the U.S. to something a bit larger.

This 60-second ad was followed on Super Bowl Sunday by two sequels, "Dear Predictable" and "Mozzafiato." "Riding Dragons" appears to be partly a nod to the brand's logo, which includes a dragon/snake and is explored in this 2014 post from Jalopnik. 

Super Bowl LI was a return to the game for Fiat Chrysler, which previously ran notable commercials including Jeep's "Portraits" in 2016, Ram Truck's "Farmer" in 2013 and Chrysler's "Halftime in America" in 2012 and "Born of Fire" in 2011. 

Of course, some of those spots also generated some criticism. GOP strategist Karl Rove suggested that "Halftime in America" was a political statement supporting President Obama's auto bailout, while others  complained that "Farmer" included only white faces. The Alfa Romeo weren't going to run into any of that, keeping wide clearance between the car worship and the politics of the day.

Director: Jesus de Francisco.

Executive creative director: John McMahon. Senior copywriters:  Julie Babcock, Rachel Yanovski. Copywriter: Casey Marks. Art director: Markus Walker.

Principal editor: Phil Perri. Editor: Lindsay Giebel.

Broadcast producer: Greg Stacy. Account director: Matthew Wells. Account manager: Jenny Simler. Post production supervisor: John Ryan.

BRAND: Alfa Romeo

YEAR: 2017

AGENCY: Art Machine

SUPERBOWL: LI

QUARTER AIRED: Q2