I think there are more important cars in Alfas history than that. The Suds for example - with the move to manufactoring in Southern Italy. It is good to see they're heading back to the USA though.
"Alfa is also working on its first SUV to compete against the Audi Q5 and BMW X3, among others." SAD. Like Ducati attempting to make a cruiser bike.
tigra,
Aug 27, 8:14pm
How do you pronounce Giulia!"Julia!"
thejazzpianoma,
Aug 27, 8:50pm
Marchionne is an amazing guy, he turned Chrysler right around in a matter of months while other U.S brands continued to circle the plughole. Fiat/Alfa are just going from strength to strength.
The German's and Italian's are where its at right now.
BTW, I still find the "Jeep Pheonix" AKA Fiat Panda smugly amusing. Its almost as good as the new Toyota Hiace AKA Fiat Doblo. that one will never get old.
thejazzpianoma,
Aug 27, 8:59pm
Yes, although the Italian's say it more like Joolia with their accent.
Kiwi's seem to get Abarth more wrong than Giulia though IMO, they seem to go for Ahh Barth as opposed to AhhBart/AhBart (The "H" seems to be somewhere between the two and there is sort of an implied "H" at the end as well IMO, from having an Italian flatmate back in the day)
I assumed my flatmate would have it right as he worked for Lotus and was a real car guy, interestingly my other flatmate whom he later married worked for Ford, yet they didn't meet through car circles.
gman35,
Aug 27, 9:00pm
I like Alfa's , but all these new names are rubbish , Who wants to say "I drive a "Julietta" , or "a Julia" (spelt for how they sound BTW). The styling has also gone AWOL. The 159 / Brera has the best frontal styling of any recent Alfa , these stupid new "Casper" lights on the Guiletta for example look completely soft and give the same image as a Nissan Micra / Suzuki Alto.
thejazzpianoma,
Aug 27, 9:04pm
New Names! The Alfa Giulia and Giulietta are Iconic models dating back over 50 years!
You must be old if they are still new names!
freedomaira320,
Aug 27, 9:26pm
I'm not quite sure what planet you come from, but anyone who knows a bit about cars would be very proud to say they drive a Giulia or Giulietta - they are both iconic names from an iconic age of sports cars.
gman35,
Aug 27, 9:54pm
Sorry guys , you are right and I somehow "forgot" they were old names , am still not sure about them for a car though. What are your opinions on the way their frontal styling is going , as surely the long-awaited 166 replacement will need a wider headlight design to give it some "substance" ! (although I guess a large car is poss. not big on their list these days , as apart from Maserati the Italians generally seem to have as much luck as the French with reviews/resale in luxury cars).
freedomaira320,
Aug 27, 10:04pm
Love the styling. Reminiscent of the 60s Giulia, but I suppose if you don't even remember that car it won't make the connection for you.
thejazzpianoma,
Aug 27, 10:44pm
What about Ferrari!
gman35,
Aug 27, 10:46pm
I meant semi-affordable large 4 door sedans.
mm12345,
Aug 27, 11:40pm
Ugly. And worse, not the kind of ugly that possesses any character which may over time become accepted or even liked.
thejazzpianoma,
Aug 27, 11:45pm
Ahh, yes certainly the likes of the Croma hasn't been the worldwide success it used to be. Hopefully we will see a return to that, I could easily imagine a Croma/Chrysler/Lancia shared platform.
How good would a return of the Lancia Thema with Ferrari engine be!
gman35,
Aug 28, 12:30am
Now you are talking ! Yes I was referring to Peugeot 607 / Citroen c6 / Alfa 166 etc as not exactly being an "investment" from new.
andy61,
Aug 28, 1:00am
Why did Alfa exit the USA market in the first place! Oh thats right ,the American market couldn`t handle the unreliability of the Alfa cars. Have they got better yet!
tigra,
Aug 28, 1:06am
bet you cannot prove this with a link.
trdbzr,
Aug 28, 1:11am
Same as the VW Taro lol
andy61,
Aug 28, 1:57am
I do recall reading an article (in motoring magazines and newspapers)many years ago about Alfa pulling out of the American market due to the Americans not accepting unreliable cars.
elect70,
Aug 28, 2:50am
New jap names are queerlike who wants a quash quior kissarsi
Heard about that a while ago, sounds like a winning combination to me. I know Sergio (Marchionne) has been pushing for a return to RWD in other models as well. There was certainly talk of it for the 166 replacement and that was a possible reason given for its delay.
trogedon,
Aug 28, 9:36am
thejazzpianoma wrote:
Yes, although the Italian's say it more like Joolia with their accent.
Kiwi's seem to get Abarth more wrong than Giulia though IMO, they seem to go for Ahh Barth as opposed to AhhBart/AhBart (The "H" seems to be somewhere between the two and there is sort of an implied "H" at the end as well IMO, from having an Italian flatmate back in the day)
Pussy Catmandu.
trogedon,
Aug 28, 9:38am
Maybe the woman's names come from the car names like girls I've taught called Mecedes and Porsche.but I don't think so.
sw20,
Aug 28, 9:56am
The most important car in Alfa's history so far has been the 156. It was an astounding success around the world where previously the brand sold next to nothing outside Europe. Still a very lovely looking and handling car today. Wouldn't rely on one for day to day transport though.
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