The Alfa 149: I Can Haz Alfaz?

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Enter The Italian Beauty...



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Autoblog
Alfa's MiTo already has us excited enough, and now along come images of the upcoming 149. Auto Express has put two shots of the pleasingly-styled hatch online. The 149, a replacement for the 147, shares some familial styling cues with the MiTo, which in turn shares some lines with the 8C Competizione. The 149 is an exceedingly handsome three- or five door that would woo us on looks alone. Performance will be there to back up the racy sheetmetal, with gasoline and diesel powerplants, variously turbocharged. At the low end, the 149 packs 120 horsepower, and it can reach as high as 250. The hotrod versions will also get a trick differential, dubbed Q2, which will aid in getting that power to the ground. The car will drop in mid 2009, and is rumored to adhere to US safety regulations, boding well for this sinewy Italian making it across the Atlantic to the North American market. Please. We're begging.
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And with that, hopefully, this will be the first Alfa we see in the USA. Please.
 
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice...

I'll save judgment until I see it on the street.
 
I saw this in the printed Auto Express, but decided to buy Autocar instead with it's story of the planned Alfa SUV on the same platform (the image below is basically a slightly photoshopped version of Alfa's Kamal concept from years ago, but damn it looks good!):

1410884212.jpg


http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsArticle/Alfa-Romeo-Concepts/235389/

If the 149 is going to look anything like the one in Auto Express though that's going to be one hell of a good looking car.
 
Anybody remember how amazing the Mi.To looked in studio shots? And how it just didn't seem to live up to that on the street?

Yeah...
 
Philly
Anybody remember how amazing the Mi.To looked in studio shots? And how it just didn't seem to live up to that on the street?

Yeah...
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I wasn't too sure about the MiTo when the studio shots had been released but having seen them in the flesh I found it looked much better. Photographs don't do it justice.

Remember too that the MiTo is hampered slightly by it's proportions, because it's quite a compact car. It's much easier to make a beautiful car the bigger you go, because the shape is elongated and you can give the impression of sleekness, which is an attribute that's hard to bring out in a city car. Witness how the 159 is even more raked and sleek.
 
homeforsummer
I wasn't too sure about the MiTo when the studio shots had been released but having seen them in the flesh I found it looked much better. Photographs don't do it justice.
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This seems to be the case a lot of the time. Many cars have looked pretty mediocre in just regular shots (even sometimes studio shots) but end up looking quite good in the flesh, and especially on the road. One prime example is the RX-8, which looks pretty "meh" in pictures but stunning when seen on the road with other cars. However, I have never seen a MiTo so I guess I can't really form a good opinion on how it really does look.

I'd like to see a 3-door version of this, and it'll be interesting to see how it stacks up against the Golf and MKIII Focus.
 
True, that Alfa launch keeps getting pushed back little by little. We're nearly to the point where they said we'd start getting them about three years ago, my best guess pins down a launch at least a year and a half down the road. Like you said, 8C first, probably partnered with either this 149 here or the 159 later on. The Berera is still up in the air, but my hope is that they are smart enough to drag over a few FIAT 500s every year. Hell, maybe even a Panda 100HP.
 
Alfa, for the love of god please sort that front end out! It looked wonky on the Mito and this is just as bad. :/
 
I think that front end is better than the MiTo, the lights are narrower and point towards the grille more, so it doesn't have the "owl" look like the MiTo.
 
Like the Mi-To, Brera and 8c, that 149 rendering is unmistakably italian and stunningly gorgeous. I'm loving where their new designs are heading. Along with Jaguar and Audi, their new stuff just keeps getting better and better.
 
GT Pro
Like the Mi-To, Brera and 8c, that 149 rendering is unmistakably italian and stunningly gorgeous. I'm loving where their new designs are heading. Along with Jaguar and Audi, their new stuff just keeps getting better and better.
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The Mito is nothing compared to the 8C! The 8C is a stunning machine to behold, from any angle. Look at the Mito from the front and you need a sick bag.

alfa-romeo-mito-14-t-jet.jpg


OH HAY GUYZ
 
The Mito has some unflattering angles but it's definitely better on the road than in pictures. I expect people are aware it looks a little ungainly though, which is why most of them around here seem to be black, and all the other ones are white. Both of which do a very good job of making it not look goofy.

Looking at the MiTo I always suspect they gave it oval lights like the MINI, and then realised they looked too similar so added a few "funky" angles to the units.
 
The MiTo is one of those cars that looks much better in the flesh than it does in any photo. It looks much less like a parody of the 8C then the detailing suggests. I'd not seen many on the roads until i parked across the road from one the other day. I was really surprised how nice they look in real life, especially after hating the way they appeared in photos.
 
Some news, including a new name:
Autozine.org
Until recently, the successor to Alfa Romeo 147 is destined to be called "Milano". However, as the marque is in the process of moving its remaining operations from Milan to Turin, the naming of this car meets protests from angry Milan workers. To settle the controversy, Alfa has renamed it to "Giulietta" at the last minute - so late that the Giulietta nameplates on these pictures are photoshop work.

Never mind. To me, Giulietta is actually a better name, not only more romantic but also remind us one of the most successful Alfa Romeos in history, the Giulietta of the 1950s. In Sprint form it was a fast and exciting small car, a spiritual origin of today's GTi, Evo or STi. This name is definitely better than Milano, which was used on the American version of Alfa 75 in the 1980s.
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Linky (including pics).
 
I know this is an old thread but I finally saw one of these 'on the road' the other day (on the back of a small truck) in white and it looked superb. I've no idea where it was going but the truck looked a bit worse for wear!
 
I'd still rather have one of these:

fiat_grande_punto_1_4_t_jet_sporting_2.jpg


Particularly since half the switchgear is stolen from one.
 
Moglet
I know this is an old thread but I finally saw one of these 'on the road' the other day (on the back of a small truck) in white and it looked superb. I've no idea where it was going but the truck looked a bit worse for wear!
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Really? I've seen absolutely loads of them. In fact nearly as many as New Ka's.
Jondot
I'd still rather have one of these:

Particularly since half the switchgear is stolen from one.
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I hated the old Punto's so much it clouds my vision of the new ones.
 

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