Alfa Romeo Giulia: Why I'm sad to see Alfa Romeo move towards an electric future

The Italian super saloon has powerful engines driving the rear wheels in a beautifully balanced chassis which is lighter than its rivals from Germany.

It is right-sized, neither small nor large, wieldy, predictable, practical with fold-down rear seats and such a delight to drive briskly. Less so in car parks, needing a wide turning circle.

The Giulia is made south of Rome near Cassino in the factory which produces the Stelvio and the related Maserati Grecale. Once it made memorable Fiats like the 126 and duds like the Tempra.

Lightweight parts include aluminium for the doors, bonnet and suspension. The 190mph Quadrifoglio version set a new saloon car lap record on the Nurburgring. Updates over its decade included a touchscreen and selector wheel.

Triple LED adaptive matrix headlights with sequential triple front indicators were in the 2023 upgrade, plus a new digital instrument display.

Britain is not a strong market for Alfa Romeo. At the end of November sales had reached 1,532, up from 1,417 at the same time last year (source SMMT).

Jaguar (RIP) was a rival but they were tiddlers and the main contenders are BMW’s 3-series, the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, both rear-wheel-drive, and the Audi A4. Each brand sells far more in the UK than Alfa Romeo’s total world sales.

Happily for Alfa enthusiasts, its masters at Stellantis share their pride. It was founded as A.L.F.A. in Milan in 1910. Alfa is an acronym for Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili.

Romeo is the surname of the Neapolitan Nicola Romeo, who took over the company in 1915. Time passed. There were a couple of world wars. Alfa Romeo burst into post-war la dolce vita with gusto.

The first Giulia in 1962 was a boxy light one-ton saloon with a high power to weight ratio. Most were white. Weber carburettors sucked noisily under the bonnet of the hot versions.

It won epic races while the public stradas were serenaded by throaty induction and rasping Abarth exhausts.

In 1986 Alfa Romeo joined the Fiat group and both are now part of the Stellantis empire. Sales were poor but Stellantis had faith and money.

The 2015 model was a clean sheet, a classic light sports saloon with rear wheel drive, built under the guidance of a former Ferrari technical director. It led a €5m euro re-launch of Alfa Romeo which would lift world sales from 59,000 in 2015 to 400,000 by 2018.

It didn’t happen. After passing 150,000 in 2017, helped by the bullish Stelvio SUV, named after a mountain pass, sales fell and then rallied to 69,000 in 2023, boosted by the Tonale, a smaller SUV named after another mountain route. The hills are live with the sound of Alfa music?

This year they were joined by a smaller SUV, the Junior with electric or petrol power, reprising a famous Alfa Romeo name and built in Poland. It was called Milano but the Italian government said it would be illegal to sell an Italian sounding car not made in Italy.

The name Junior had once been used on pretty coupe versions of a Giulia. Being made in Tychy, the new Junior could have fared worse.

Giulia prices start at £41,645 for the Sprint. We were sent the better equipped Tributo which has the same four cylinder petrol turbo engine rated at 276bhp and 295 lb ft of torque. Drive is to the rear wheels through an eight speed ZF automatic gearbox, The 0-62mph time is 5.7 seconds.

Obviously, this is quick enough for UK conditions but for the fast man there is the Quadrifoglio with a 513bhp 2.9 litre twin turbo aluminium V6 from its chums at Ferrari. It will see off the 0-62mph debate in 3.9 seconds and costs £80,545 which should shake them in their pants in the Camshaft Arms. Just don’t tell them the top speed.

They are thirsty. The 2-litre Giulia struggled to beat a 31mpg average – driven within all speed limits and avoiding violent acceleration. Even a calm country drive in the hills failed to do better than 26 mpg. Cars like this are created to bring some brio to the daily drive, not watch the fuel gauge. I loved it but couldn’t afford the fuel bills.

A frugal diesel engine is no longer offered, nor apparently is four-wheel-drive in the UK on the latest Giulia.

Our Tributo special edition (£49,195) had a Q2 badge on the back – denoting rear wheel drive. The starter button was handy among many switches on the steering wheel. The touch activated information screen I did not find intuitive.

Happily, there were conventional controls for the cabin temperature, the radio and driving modes, helped by a selector wheel for the screen icons and by voice control. Navigation was accurate but the speed limit display was often wrong.

But…a car which looks this balanced and poised should be given some slack. The body is a lovely clean shape and manages its high performance without needing fins and ducts and bulges and spoilers.

Ciao Giulia and forza.

Alfa Romeo Giulia: Price: From £41,465 (£419 a month PCP). Engine: 2-litre petrol turbo. Power: 278 bhp. Torque: 295 lb/ft. Transmission: eight automatic gears. Top speed: 149 mph. 0-62mph: 5.7 seconds. Economy: 38.2 mpg (not matched in testing). Tank: 12.7 gallons (58 litres). CO2 emissions:167 g/km. Length: 177 inches (4.5m). Braked towing limit: 1600 kg. More: www.alfaromeo.co.uk