It's Saturday night and I'm out on the town. My friend – like half of the guys in the room – is eyeing the pretty blond across the bar, but at least he knows he doesn't have to worry about competition from my corner. Because there's a smolderingly hot redhead sitting across the room, and she's stolen all of my attention. Objectively I'd have to admit the blond is the better choice, but there's just something about those fiery crimson locks that make short order of blocking out everything else. It's something that – while I've never been officially part of the club myself – I suspect I share with Alfa Romeo owners around the world.
For decades Alfa Romeo has been coasting by on its image and heritage. Buying an Alfa has long been an irrational choice, motivated by the subjective longing for that indefinable x-factor despite their many objective dynamic flaws. With the new Alfa MiTo, however, that era draws to a close. The MiTo demands no excuses and, drenched though it is with that charm that only redheads Alfas do best, the MiTo doesn't ask that you ignore its flaws because countless manhours have gone into making sure they've been eliminated.
Following earlier speculation, reports now confirm that Alfa Romeo will produce a high-performance version of its new MiTo hatchback that will wear the vaunted GTA badge. The nameplate was historically used on top-of-the-line performance-oriented Alfas, and will make a comeback with the range-topping MiTo.
Pictured above is a rendering of what the GTA could look like. Power will come from the company's 1750cc 230hp turbo four, with variable valve timing and direct injection. Little else is known at this point, but with 230hp, the MiTo GTA promises to leave the less powerful turbocharged 175hp MINI Cooper S behind in its tracks.
That's right, more Alfa Romeo Mi.To media. Hot on the heels of the large batch of high-res pics we got yesterday comes this video of the Mi.To in motion. We see the car both being flogged on a track and driven leisurely around what we presume to be is Italy. What's most impressive is how flat the Mi.To corners through the slalom. The small three-door hatchback appears able to maintain composure with sharp inputs to the steering wheel despite its super short wheelbase. We also get a tour of the Mi.To's interior that looks to be made of high-quality materials and features some interesting design details. Bonus points for whoever can figure out what that chromed lever on the dash does. Check out the video after the jump.
Click above for high-res gallery of the Alfa Romeo Mi.To
Though Alfa Romeo unveiled the Mi.To back in March, we've only had a few images at which to stare in disbelief over how there's a part of the world that produces small cars this beautiful. Not so anymore, as Alfa has released over 40 new high-res images of the Mi.To today. Named after the place in which it was designed (Milan) and the place in which it will be built (Turin), the Mi.To is basically a Fiat Grande Punto wrapped in a skin that was inspired by the luscious 8C Competizione. As such, Alfa included a number of images in the gallery below of the two cars side by side so you can see how much supercar DNA was stuffed into the Mi.To's design. The three-door hatch will be available with three engines, including an anemic 78-hp 1.4L, a more potent 155-hp turbo 1.4L and a 120-hp 1.6L JTDM turbo-diesel. All engines will be paired with the proper transmission for small car fun: a six-speed manual. Check out all the pics in the gallery below and hope beyond hope that one day the Mi.To lands on our shores to take the premium small-car crown away from the MINI Cooper.
Hey, the pseudo-video-game as a car ad technique worked well enough for Pontiac, so why shouldn't Alfa Romeo give it a try too? While we think Alfa's take on arcade-style driving enjoyment is clever, it's not quite as cool as the G8's Spy Hunter recreation, which, as children of the era of excess, we were totally smitten with. Regardless, the expert driving Italy's newest hot hatch looks to have had a great time racing through all 11.1 kilometers of the Forest Track stage, which is actually Arjeplog, a town in Lapland, Sweden, and a popular European destination for winter automotive testing. This video makes us wish even more so that an official announcement regarding the Mi.To's hopeful trip across the Atlantic is impending shortly. Follow the jump to watch it.
Newly-installed Alfa Romeo CEO Luca De Meo needs to double the brand's sales to 300,000 units by 2010 to make it profitable, and the Mi.To is central to that goal. Alfa hopes to sell 70,000 to 75,000 units of the junior hatch, which goes on sale in European markets this July starting at Є16,000. Alfa hasn't officially confirmed that the new hatch will make it Stateside, but the Mi.To was reportedly engineered to meet U.S. safety and emissions regulations. While we wait for confirmation, you can check out the high-resolution images in the gallery below, and, as a special treat for all you Alfaphiles out there, a video after the jump.
Click above to view the Alfa Romeo Mi.To in hi-res
Months upon months of spy shots, teasers, renderings and endless speculation have come to their culmination as Alfa Romeo this morning released official images and details of the highly-anticipated new Mi.To. As we previously reported, the Mi.To name – an abbreviation for Milan and Turin (also meaning "myth" or "legend" in Italian as our astute commenter Nick pointed out) – won out for the final nameplate over the internal designation "Junior" and the proposed name "Furiosa".
Alfa is quick to point out that the Mi.To is the first new model introduced since the 8C Competizione, and the new hatch draws heavily on the supercar's styling, as you can see from the images in the gallery below. If you tried to morph an 8C with a Fiat 500, you wouldn't be far off, but the Centro Stile Alfa Romeo appears to have bridged the gap with considerable finesse. Alfa Romeo also confirmed that the Mi.To will initially be offered with a range of four turbocharged fours, with horsepower ranging from 90 to 155, with even stronger engines to follow. The Mi.To's official presentation will come in June before market introductions begin in July. For more details, scope out the press release after the jump.
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