2023 Alfa Romeo Stelvio Sprint on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Alfa Romeo 8C and GTV: Classic names revived as high-powered hybrids

BOLOCCO, Italy — There were grand plans for Alfa Romeo at FCA's last five-year plan. By 2018, we were supposed to get eight new products, including a new "specialty" vehicle. In reality, we've gotten the Giulia and Stelvio. At this year's follow-up, Alfa Romeo brand head Tim Kuniskis called the last plan ambitious, but he offered a new vision that was both more realistic and more far-reaching. Beyond doubling down on utility and electrified vehicles, by 2022 Alfa has plans to revive both the 8C and GTV names as high-performance hybrids. Since 2014, Alfa sales are up 160 percent, with an estimated 170,000 vehicles to be sold in 2018. The North American market counts for 16 percent of that, up from nothing back in 2013. Future products will focus on Alfa's current strengths: styling and performance. Look for new compact and full-size utility vehicles to slot on each side of the Stelvio. Plans for a larger sedan seemed to have been nixed, though a long-wheelbase version of the Giulia will make it to the ever-increasing Chinese market. The most exciting news obviously comes from the return of the 8C supercar and GTV sports car. We have few details, but what we do know looks promising. The 8C will use a carbon-fiber chassis with a mid-mounted twin-turbo V6. More than 700 horsepower will be sent to all four wheels thanks to an electrically-driven front axle. The car should hit 62 mph in fewer than 3 seconds. The GTV will be slightly more tame, though Alfa is promising more than 600 horsepower from its hybrid powertrain. The four-seater will also have all-wheel drive, torque vectoring and a 50/50 weight distribution. The brief teaser image shows a car that looks like a two-door Giulia, though it's unclear if we'll actually get a new coupe. Electrification, autonomy and connectivity are coming, too. Obviously, the 8C and GTV will get electrified powertrains, but look for each Alfa Romeo model to have some sort of electrification available. Look for six plug-in hybrids with all-electric ranges of more than 30 miles. Level 2 and 3 autonomous systems are coming, too. Related Video: Design/Style Earnings/Financials Green Alfa Romeo Aston Martin Coupe Crossover SUV Hybrid Luxury Performance Supercars FCA alfa romeo 8c

Alfa Romeo's new CEO sees room to bring back the GTV and the Duetto

Alfa Romeo is open to reviving the GTV and the Duetto, two of its most emblematic nameplates, in the coming years. Whether either model returns partially depends on how well the firm's more mainstream models sell. "I'm very interested in the GTV. There is no statement or announcement at this stage, but I'm just giving you a personal feeling that I'm very interested in the GTV. I also love the Duetto," said Jean-Philippe Imparato, the Peugeot veteran who became Alfa Romeo's CEO under Stellantis, in an interview with Australia's CarSales. It's far too early to tell what each model would look like with any significant degree of certainty. Besides, we've been here before: in 2018, former Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) boss Sergio Marchionne outlined a born-again GTV with 600 horsepower, some degree of electrification, all-wheel drive, and seating for four when he presented Alfa Romeo's bold five-year plan. That model has been canned, along with a 700-horsepower halo coupe called 8C. Playing it safe, Imparato cautioned that neither two-door has been approved for production. Alfa Romeo's range currently consists of the Giulia, the Stelvio and the 4C, though the latter is a niche model at the end of its life cycle. It needs to achieve volume before executives can begin exploring coupe and convertible options, and we're in a market where the quickest and most effective way to increase sales is to make SUVs and crossovers. The next new addition to the Alfa Romeo range is widely believed to be the production version of the Tonale concept from 2019. "Allow me to bring Alfa Romeo to a certain level of economic performance, and then we speak," Imparato stressed. "In this time of big changes for the industry, the first priority is to protect Alfa Romeo and drive it through the challenges related to electrification, connectivity and safety," he added. Coupes and convertibles will come later. Interestingly, he strongly hinted the reports claiming the rear-wheel-drive Giorgio platform is on its way out are false. In Alfa-speak, the GTV nameplate traces its roots to the Bertone-designed 105-Series coupe released in 1963. It was called Giulia Sprint GT at launch, and it became the Giulia Sprint GT Veloce (which means "fast" in Italian) in 1965. GTV is the acronym that stuck throughout the model's career. Alfa put the nameplate on the coupe version of the Alfetta (pictured), and it added the 6 suffix when it stuffed the 2.5-liter Busso V6 in the engine bay.

Alfa CEO says 4C can manage more power

With 240 horsepower from a 1.75-liter engine, the Alfa Romeo 4C does a lot with very little. But there's always room for improvement, says the company's CEO. Speaking with Automotive News, Alfa Romeo chief Harald Wester indicated that the historic Italian auto marque could squeeze more out of the 4C's already high-strung engine. "We are only at 134 horsepower per liter," said Wester, "so there is space" for it to produce yet more power. To accommodate the extra muscle, Wester says, the Alfa would also need bigger brakes, but the chassis may already be as stiff as it needs to be. Considering that Mercedes gets 355 horsepower out of the 2.0-liter turbo four in the A45, CLA45 and GLA45 AMG (for a specific output of over 177 hp per liter), Wester may be right, opening the door for a 300hp version with a 0-60 time of around four seconds flat. And his saying so more than subtly suggests the possibility of a more powerful 4C becoming a reality. But then the prospect of shoehorning a bigger engine into the same chassis to make a new Maserati GranSport - another prospect which Wester (also CEO of Maserati) suggested earlier in the 4C's development - never came to pass, largely due to engineering roadblocks. Featured Gallery 2015 Alfa Romeo 4C: First Drive View 57 Photos News Source: Automotive News - sub. req.Image Credit: Copyright 2014 Matt Davis / AOL Alfa Romeo Coupe Performance alfa romeo 4c alfa 4c