Just as the Alfa Romeo Giulia sedan made it’s Australian debut, it was revealed that the resurgent Italian automaker has something to show off at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show in March: a Giulia-based coupe tentatively called the Sprint.
The news came from Motoring, who said that the sleek two-door will go on to rival similar coupes based on the specific brand’s compact exec saloon like the BMW 4 Series, Audi A5 Coupe, and Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe.
The ‘Sprint’ name calls back a car from Alfa’s past, a 1980s 3-door coupe based on the Alfasud of the period that, like its donor car, was powered by a flat-four engine which provided a lower centre of gravity and, hence, better handling.
A logical next step for Alfa is to then unveil a drop top version of that coupe. Should that outcome materialise, it would be the perfect way to reintroduce the Spider nameplate back into their stable. What isn’t know, though, is how quickly Alfa Romeo might want to roll out these offshoots from the original Giulia.
Introduced in 2005, Alfa Romeo’s last coupe was also a 3-door called the Brera, which also spawned a convertible version called - shocker - the Spider.
Their first ever SUV, the Stelvio, will break new ground for the company who have been traditionally associated with motorsport, fast coupes, soul-stirring saloons, and convertibles. The Stelvio also built upon the foundations laid by the Giulia’s development, such as the all-new modular Giorgio platform on which both will sit as well as a mirrored assortment of powertrains.
Alfa Romeo’s five year plan talks of 8 models based on the new architecture by 2020, including a successor to the Giulietta hatch as well as a new version of the small MiTo. Parent company Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) also plans to use the new platform in many new models across its portfolio of brands under the Group.
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