New Alfa to target MX-5

[conaero]

Alfa Romeo is setting its sights on the Mazda MX-5 with a £25,000 two-seater sports car to replace the now-defunct Brera Spider.

The focus is on less weight and more compact dimensions, so the car will be a true successor to the sixties ‘Graduate’ Alfa Spider.

The newcomer will form an important part of Alfa’s strategy when it returns to the US in 2013 after more than 15 years. The first model to arrive there will be the 4C, revealed in concept form at March’s Geneva Motor Show, followed by the 159-replacing Giulia, a saloon based on the Chrysler 300C and this two-seater.

Power for the roadster will come from a four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine – most likely a detuned version of the Giulietta Cloverleaf’s 1.7-litre, delivering around 150bhp.

Alfa is also reported to be working on a new chassis with weight-saving technology, so the car should tip the scales at less than 1,000kg – that’s over 100kg less than the current MX-5.

 

[Parisien]

If it looks 1/2 as nice as the original designs it will be a winner!


p

 

[2b1ask1]

I'd agree Frank, Classic Italian styling in a super pocket car... I've always liked the spyder but with the tiny feeling that you would feel like you could fall out the back at any moment in one... Copied so poorly by Triumph with the spitfuel...

 

[2b1ask1]

Wouldn't it be nice to be offered a stripped out lightweight spyder though... none of the massive management and cosseting systems that weigh modern cars down so much...

 

[Maser Sod]

I wonder how much R&D money Alfa wasted on that lead-lined Q4 system.

 

[Andyk]

Thats great news......It will need to be RWD though....

 

[dem maser]

**** pat....4wd in an alfa.....

I aint getting excited till i see evidence....

 

[Paco]

Copied so poorly by Triumph with the spitfuel...

Erm - I think the Spitfire was four years before the Alfa... (/anorak)

I too wish someone in Italy would build a small rwd sportscar, what an opportunity Fiat missed with the Barchetta.

Now that the MX5 is getting bloated there's room for someone to design something stunning again.

 

[2b1ask1]

I am humbly corrected Paco...

 

[lozcb]

Erm - I think the Spitfire was four years before the Alfa... (/anorak)

I too wish someone in Italy would build a small rwd sportscar, what an opportunity Fiat missed with the Barchetta.

Now that the MX5 is getting bloated there's room for someone to design something stunning again.

I was always hoping Mazda would have made and RX8 convertible ................alas another good oppurtunity missed


regards loz

 

[Paco]

I am humbly corrected Paco...

I must get out more!!!!

 

[TridentTested]

They'll have an uphill struggle. When that 105 series platform "Graduate" was released it had a jewel of an all alloy overhead cross-flow twin cam when others had pig iron block side-valves, discs when others had drums, five speeds when four were the norm. It didn't just look a million dollars it was miles better than the opposition.

Somehow, Alfa have to recapture that pedigree.