Faster, faster, faster... stop.

It's expensive but not over-the-top. It's fast and furious but classy as well. It has an Alfa badge and a Ferrari-worked engine. And it's a sedan.

I like it, but it's too big with too many doors.

Well at least it's getting good reviews.

Aussie website reviewers Cars Guide like it, even if they lack any depth of understanding about the earlier Alfas. All they can compare it to are regular, ordinary cars, as if that matters. It's a step forward in some ways, in that they aren't obsessing about quirky seating positions, but they really lack any insight beyond "sounds good" and "goes well". I like (and prefer) the quirky stuff myself.   

How to sit in a car and drive it

It's really quite simple. To control a car properly you need to be close enough to the pedals to easily and quickly operate them, and close enough to brace yourself (with the footrest and your knees) when cornering. Which is quite close. Indeed, it means your legs are splayed and braced against the door and the centre console. If they are too straight you cannot brace and will be unrestrained in a corner. Instead you will roll from side to side.

Now you also need to control the steering wheel, so you need to be quite close to that, too. Forget the straight-armed F1 look from the 1940s and 50s, that may look cool - or stupid - but it doesn't give you leverage on the wheel. So you should be close to the steering wheel with legs splayed. You'll find that position is perfectly attainable in most cars but especially so in older Alfa Romeos. They are made to be driven.

However apparently most people prefer to keep their legs straight, and older Alfas typically don't allow that as an option, at least not if you are taller than about 5feet eight inches or 180cm, whichever comes first. Which is why we get silly comments from car reviewers who don't understand how to actually drive a car:

Sit inside the 147 and the memories of Italianate driving positions that we grew up with in Alfasuds and Giuliettas are banished forever. Seat, pedals, steering wheel, gearstick and mirrors all appear to be positioned around an anthropomorphic figure of a human being rather than a gibbon (as was the case with the old 145).

One day a 'reviewer' will actually seek to explain this, rather than just expose their personal misunderstanding.

It's been done before but here we go again

Maybe this will work? Sharing some components with BMW's MINI makes sense, in fact it's high time the car industry woke up and realised it needs to rationalise all of the wasteful duplication of components, including engines. Some 'sharing' goes on at the supplier level already, and some also happens within a multi-brand company - Ford switchgear in an Aston, for example, or various components shared between VW Group products. But it needs to grow much faster in order to cut out waste and remove the carbon emissions that plague this industry.

WHAT do you get if you cross a Mini with an Alfa Romeo? No it's not a joke, Mini owner BMW really is joining forces with Alfa Romeo maker Fiat to build cars together.

We just don't want another ARNA debacle, Alfa Romeo ;-)

There's an Alfa in here somewhere

• Not a lot of Alfa content, but just enough to satisfy, and a great pictorial blogpost focused around Mugello...."Aloha and Welcome to *Liam's Wild Ride* , the Official Website of Liam Shubert. This is the chronicle of my travels, adventures, and experiences while I'm busy working in MotoGP! Please enjoy the places, faces, and especially, the Races!"
• An Alfa Montreal 'company car'? And a secret test track (not!)
  
• Oh please no, Alfa, don't do it..."Alfa will built its first SUV : the Alfa Romeo 149 SUV
  The new project will come alive in 2010 and it will be in the same class as the Audi Q5, Mercedes GLK and Volkswagen Tiguan. The 149 SUV will be a sporty car with the Alfa branded design. The engine is thought to be a 2.0 l 300 hp engine"
• In 2 minds - a Brera ruined or improved? "Prodrive decided that while the Alfa Romeo Brera was an excellent supercar in its own right they would be able to turn it into perfection. Thus was born the Alfa Romeo Brera S."
• We'll believe it when we see it: Marchionne believes the only way to sell Fiats profitably in the U.S. is to build them in North America. He said he's "having discussions with everybody," though he also didn't rule out building a factory. While Fiat has an existing partnerships with Ford (F), another potential alliance partners is Mercedes-Benz (DAI), which is interested in building passenger cars in North America in addition to the SUVs it builds in Alabama. Nissan (NSANY) has excess plant capacity at its Mississippi plant, and seems interested in replacing some of the SUV capacity it has there with passenger cars. Fiat already shares engineering with Ford on the U.S. automaker's Ka minicar in Europe. Ford is expanding its small car manufacturing in Mexico to build the Ford Fiesta, and would also be a logical partner.
• Everyone wants to know us now: "GM, the UAW, state and local government should take the initiative to begin a dialogue with Alfa's parent company, Fiat. Fiat already does business in Wisconsin with its Case-IH business in Racine. State tax and development incentives should be offered to secure the Alfa factory and align with this premium global brand. A Janesville Alfa Romeo plant could be a high-tech infused facility with a forward-thinking, attractive product -- but the city and state will have to lobby for it, and not a moment should be wasted." But GM and FIAT, again? This guy has no understanding of recent history. eh?
• How about Canada then? "With bad news of auto plant closures spreading across the province, Queen's Park retains a glimmer of hope that Ontario is in the running to land an Alfa Romeo factory. Minister of Economic Development and Trade Sandra Pupatello called a May 21 meeting in Turin, Italy, between Premier Dalton McGuinty and executives from Fiat, Alfa Romeo's parent company, a positive step."
• And lastly, the MiTo photoshoot and a cabrio...
  

More on Alfa setting up in the US

Another possibility raises its rustic head: Alfa could simply convert one of its existing US ag machinery factories to making cars ( a bit like tractor maker Lambo making sports cars, eh?)

Full story on another blogger's site (ITSky, I think it was?):Case New Holland, which is actually owned by Alfa, makes agricultural machinery and construction equipment. It already has 11 plants in the U.S., and Alfa could simply expand one of them to make cars. The plant, a location for which will be selected in May, will begin churning out Alfas in 2011 or 2012. At capacity, production is expected to be around 150,000 cars for the North American and European markets. Alfa Romeo will decide on the distribution network and particular vehicles to be made within three months, which makes it sound as if the Italians are definitely coming.

Ahhhh, the twists and turns

Of global car manufacturing, I mean. I just read this: The ongoing international saga surrounding Jaguar and Land Rover may be gaining an Italian player in the not too distant future. Italy's Fiat, one of the automakers approach by Ford when it first put its British luxury brands on the block, is interested in collaborating with Tata-owned Jaguar/Land Rover.

I had just written this, elsewhere: An iconic powerhouse like Ford is dumping its prestige brands one by one, raising cash for a last gasp attempt at survival, or just getting rid of failing brands. Does this say anything about the US economy, or US car companies in general, or US car company management vision? Probably a yes in all 3 boxes. From Fairfax: US automaker Ford has agreed to sell its luxury brands Jaguar and Land Rover to India's Tata Motors for more than $US2 billion ($A2.2 billion), a source familiar with the deal says. So what does this say about India's economy, or the growth of Tata (a company that has fingers in many pies and plans to sell a super-cheap small car around the world)?

So Ford sells off its prestige brands to an up-and-comer in India, who presumably sees profit in the deal (hoping to buy street cred and brand awareness, perhaps?). Ford shrinks back to core competencies, like building gas-guzzling fat cars that will sink like a stone when global warming really kicks in. And FIAT? Well for starters they could do with a big real-wheel-drive platform like the big Jag's, and a 4WD platform like Landrover's for Alfa. Maybe.

Maybe what they really want are dealerships in the US, through which to sell US-bound Alfas? And maybe it ties in somehow with this idea: According to the Financial Times, Fiat Group's chief executive says the company is discussing potential build of Alfa Romeo cars in North America with GM, Ford and Chrysler but as yet, no partner has been selected.

Or maybe not: Fiat SpA could choose BMW as partner to produce its Alfa Romeo model in the US as of 2011, the daily MF said, citing sources close to Fiat.

What a prospect. The Alfa Mi.To is launched into head to head US sales competition with the BMW-built MINI... and Alfa team up with BMW to manufacture cars in the US. Maybe even the Mi.To...

Is the Mi.To for real?

Wow. Now that's a classy small car. 

I thought it was a joke at first. Mi.To? As in "me-too"? You have got to be kidding me! Oh dear. Name aside, at least the car looks good, and it's the right size (at last - haven't I asked for a REAL small ALFA for years!?!). But that name! It apparently stands for Milan.Torino, reflecting Alfa's heritage location as well as the more recent reality of production at FIAT's works in Turin. But dear oh dear, please change it before selling it. (Interestingly slashgear.com got a bit confused about all of this foreign geography and said: "The name, Mi.To comes from the two designers for Alfa Romeo, their names being Milan and Turin". Hmmm, does it really?)

 

Autoblog praised the styling: If you tried to morph an 8C with a Fiat 500, you wouldn't be far off, but the Centro Stile Alfa Romeo appears to have bridged the gap with considerable finesse.

Caradvice.com said this about the platform and engines: Using the same platform as the Fiat Grande Punto, it will be available with a variety of engines from an entry-level 1.4-litre unit to a 171kW turbo adaptation for the GTA.

Z-cars has the press release on its post, and said this on dimensions:Sporting a compact yet curvaceous and dynamic shape, the Mi.To measures in at 4.06 metres long, 1.44 metres high and 1.72 metres wide thus making it a direct competitor with the likes of BMW's MINI.

Fullboost said nice things as well (although they must stop printing gushing press releases as copy - or is it just a bad translation from Italian?): The Alfa Romeo Mi.To’s family heritage can be seen in the grille, headlights and LED taillights, along with the frameless side windows endowing it with a coupe appearance. It could genuinely be called a mini-Alfa Romeo 8C. Technologically, the Alfa Romeo Mi.To promises to be highly innovative with the debut of the Alfa Romeo DNA system, the next generation of electronic stability control and a first in this class. Controlling the engine, brakes, steering response, suspension and gearbox, the Mi.To can be set to offer a super-sporting dynamic range of responses, a normal setting for city use and a special high grip setting for snow, ice and mud conditions. This remarkable new technology will set a new safety standard when allied to VDC, ABS brakes and a design developed to achieve the highest EuroNCAP crash test rating.

There's more here at Fairfax: Alfa Romeo is taking the fight to BMW and its successful Mini, showing pictures of its Mi.To, a compact sporty hatch that the company is billing as a mini-Alfa 8C.

And yes, Alfa have a blog on the subject as well. And carscoop have more pics.

What things go wrong with 116 Alfas?

What doesn't go wrong with any mechanical device? Anyway, here are some tips on what I have found to be true for me... speaking only of Tipo 116 Alfettas, and especially 2.0 GTVs...

1. Rust - all steel cars will rust, but especially check near the wheelwells, lifting plastic bits, mudguards and what-not to see inside, where water, mud and gunk will accumulate.
2. Rust again - look under all plastic bits, especially under the doors, and along the firewall (pull off that long strip of plastic that protects the edge - yes, that bit, under the bonnet)
3. Rust never sleeps - if your have aircon your battery is in the boot - so look for rust around the battery box as acid can spill given the way you drive...
4. Rust in the tailgate - yes, it can happen here too
   
5. Rust under the rubber seals around all windows
6. And the floorpan, just in case, as a water leak can mean a rusty pan under the carpet
7. Now that we have rust out of the way, check the oil level. Phew.
8. Now all other fluids - those hydraulic brake and clutch seals can leak, so look for leaks, drips, stains, low levels in reservoirs...
9. And the brakes themselves... look for wear and tear, warped rotors (especially the inboard rears) and - again - leaks
10. And the "doughnuts" or "guibos". Chock it safely and get under and look for cracks in these rubber couplings in the drivetrain, or drive it and feel the vibration from an out-of-balance propshaft (it's turning at engine speed so vibration is a balance issue)
11. And at the front we have the engine... nice... but keep watching for oil leaks
12. And rattly chains in the 4 cylinder, or old belts and worn tensioners in the 6
13. And frayed wires - I had one shorting out in the rev sensor in the distributor (which took a while to figure out)
14. And blown fuses
15. And worn switchgear - clean the contacts in the multi-purpose wand if your lights are misbehaving (like your parkers disappear or come and go on a whim)
    
16. And of course the old "my hazard switch stuck on" trick - clean it or swap it for a new one, they just stick on and flatten the battery
17. And the gearbox is up the back, so look for fluid leaks there too. Yes, 2nd gear always crunches, that's why we double declutch.
18. And anything else that looks wrong, like ride height because someone has rotated the torsion bars too far...
19. And if you are keen the endless winding window winders (if you have 'em) will one day stop winding and the window will drop into the door... take the inside door handle off, then the trim panel...