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Alfa Romeo Giulia sedan debuts with 510 hp, killer curves [w/video]

After a very blurry, accidental photo debut just yesterday, Alfa Romeo let loose the first official images and information about the upcoming Giulia. And she's a looker. We've got a man on the ground in Milan for the reveal who'll be bringing us more about the Giulia later on, but in the meantime let's take a look at the facts. Alfa's rakish new sedan certainly offers enough performance to justify the fast-standing-still styling. The Giulia seen here is the top-of-the-line Quadrifoglio edition, which has a turbocharged V6 that produces 510 horsepower (likely a metric figure, so it might be rated 503 here) and is good for a trip to 62 miles per hour in just 3.9 seconds. The car will also come in lower-power specs, likely using variations of a turbocharged four-cylinder. That quick acceleration is at least partially down to a very impressive curb weight. Alfa hasn't given us an official figure, per se, but does mention that the Giulia has a weight-to-power ratio "lower than 3kg/hp." Doing the math, that would put the sedan under 3,400 pounds, which is impressive. For reference, a BMW M3 sedan makes 425 hp and weighs in at around 3,600 pounds, while a 464-hp Cadillac ATS-V weighs about 100 pounds more. We know from Alfa's US-spec 4C that the sedan might gain a bit of heft in its cross-Atlantic translation, but if it's even in that ballpark, we'll be excited. Handling should be excellent, too, at least as far as we can tell from the case made on paper. The company boasts a 50/50 front/rear weight distribution, with a multi-link rear suspension and double wishbones up front. We're also promised "rapid, accurate steering" which, again, is borne out by the 4C. The Giulia Quadrifoglio features a torque-vectoring rear differential, an active front splitter to improve aerodynamics at high speeds, and a computer system called Chassis Domain Control to keep the various subsystems balanced. Touted as a competitor to the BMW 3 Series (an M3 competitor in this spec), the Giulia will be available as a rear-wheel-drive vehicle as standard, of course. But an optional all-wheel-drive setup is also in the cards. You'll have to decide for yourself if the flowing, long-hood-short-deck styling works, but we think it's excellent (at least based on the first few images). Find a bit more detail about the upcoming Giulia in the press release below, and expect more from Milan shortly.

Alfa Romeo celebrates 110th anniversary with 79-page e-book

For its 110th anniversary, Alfa Romeo wanted to host a summer bash at its renovated Museo Storica Alfa Romeo in Arese, Italy. Coronavirus nixed that, so part of the Plan B syllabus is a 79-page e-book that plucks all sorts of fascinating details from even before the automaker's birth as A.L.F.A., which stood for Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili, and the fecund history since. The work can be considered more than a dive into Alfa Romeo history because of Alfa Romeo's reach for much of its existence. The 1914 Aerodinamica by Castagna built on an Alfa Romeo 40/60 HP chassis predates Buckminster Fuller's Dynmaxion by 20 years. Enzo Ferrari raced for Alfa Romeo or with Alfra Romeo support for 19 years, the driver's seat also occupied by legends like Juan Manuel Fangio, Tazio Nuvolari, and Alberto Ascari. Nuvolari drove the Bimotore — a car with one V8 in front of the cockpit, another V8 behind — to a top speed of 209 miles per hour in 1934, and raced the car alongside Louis Chiron, the same Frenchman Bugatti would later name a car after. Alfa Romeo's tech prowess impressed famed tinkerer Henry Ford so much that in 1939 Ford said, "When I see an Alfa Romeo go by, I tip my hat." And it's hard to believe Ian Fleming hadn't heard of the 1900 C52 Disco Volante concept from 1952 when conjuring a name for Emilio Largo's motor yacht for his 1961 book, "Thunderball." There's plenty of Alfa-centric trivia, too, like an employee coming up with the idea for the automaker's logo while waiting for a train, the origin of the quadrifoglio, intended as a good luck charm for all the three drivers in the 1923 Targa Florio but only paying off for one, and how Nicola Romeo inscribed his name in history. The stories carry up to the present day Giulia GTA and coming Tonale crossover, with a cameo by FCA design chief Ralph Gilles to boot. The book is a quick read, so check it out, or just scroll through lots of photos documenting 110 years of Italian automotive history. Related Video:    

Alfa Romeo to go all-electric by 2027

On an earnings report last week, Alfa Romeo parent company Stellantis tacked on some electrification plans for its 14 brands. One surprising piece of information: Alfa Romeo would be the first of them to go fully electric, and it'll happen by 2027. We've known that Alfa Romeo would eventually go electric, but it's a bit surprising to hear that Stellantis wants it to happen on such a short timeline, and that it would spearhead its EV push. Alfa Romeo has been one of the most protected brands in the Stellantis empire, and one of the most traditional as well. The often quirky but nevertheless beloved brand has long been a favorite among car enthusiasts. In fact, brand heritage is so important that back in 2014 the company opted to develop its own Spider rather than borrow a platform from the ND Miata (That car went to become the Fiat 124 instead). Stellantis didn't confirm what the first Alfa EV would be, but it could arrive in the form of a subcompact crossover about the size of a BMW X1. It could also share the platform with other Stellantis brands like Peugeot, Fiat and Jeep and is slated to debut in 2022 or 2023. In the meantime, Alfa Romeo is working on the Tonale plug-in hybrid electric, which was recently delayed. Reportedly, Stellantis head Jean-Philippe Imparato was not satisfied with the hybrid-electric system. The PHEV crossover will share a platform with an upcoming Jeep model as well. It should arrive in early 2022 if things stay on track from here. The express timeline also indicates that the new Stellantis STLA large-vehicle architecture will have to be ready before 2027. It's set to replace the sharp-handling rear-wheel-drive Giorgio platform that underpins the Giulia and Stelvio. And while it'll be shared across multiple Stellantis brands, Imparato has promised Alfa Romeo-badged cars will retain the qualities that have made the name so special. In the same report, Stellantis confirmed that Opel would go all-electric by 2028 and Fiat would follow by 2030. Related Video: 2021 Jeep Wrangler 4xe plug-in hybrid powertrain feature walkthrough | Autoblog