Autoblog

Click above for a hi-res gallery of the Alfa MiTo

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.

All Photos Copyright ©2008 Noah Joseph / Weblogs, Inc.

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.

[Source: 4Car]

The 2003 Lancia Fulvia Coupe concept that tantalized showgoers at the Frankfurt Motor Show with its crisp lines that strongly evoked its namesake predecessor was presumed dead after Fiat canned the idea due to financial woes and want of a modern platform. It seems that plans for a new coupe carrying the Lancia badge is resurgent inside Fiat, though the clearly retro styling of the 2003 concept will likely fall by the wayside instead of getting mired in a retro rut.

It's rumored that we'll see a Fulvia riding atop the MiTo's chassis at this year's Paris Motor Show. Rather than relying on the work of 40 years past, the new Fulvia will share nothing but a name with its predecessor. The car may follow the current trend of other Euro coupes and incorporate a folding hardtop, but there are conflicting reports that it may also be a conventional fixed-head-coupe. We certainly wouldn't complain about giving the MiTo an appropriate coupe roofline, so please send some our way.


[Source: Autocar, Photos: ultimatecarpage]

Since revealing exterior shots of its upcoming MiTo hatchback, Alfa Romeo has kept the wraps over the car's interior. Maybe they were still working on the cabin, or maybe they wanted to keep something a mystery until the car's official unveiling this summer. Either way, the cat is apparently out of the bag, with this shot found circulating the internet.

Although the picture is a little grainy and poorly lit, from the looks of things, the MiTo's interior looks like a nice place to be. The center console with its large circular vents closely mirrors that of the 8C Competizione that inspired the MiTo's exterior styling. The dashboard has an intriguing swoosh to it and the steering wheel looks fittingly aggressive and modern, though this example seems to be lacking the manettino switch tipped to come on the more powerful versions.

[Source: Progetto955 via CarScoop]

When Alfa Romeo revealed the engine line-up for the new MiTo hatchback, at the top of the list sat a turbocharged 1.8-liter four producing 230 horsepower. The notion of the punchy turbo sitting in the sumptuous little package set of a rash of speculation that the range-topper would warrant the application of Alfa's stoic GTA badge. Those rumors have now been rendered by Projetto955 into the image you see above, portraying what an Alfa MiTo GTA might look like. It's boiling over with go-fast features including jumbo wheels housed in bulging arches and connected by contoured side sills, with a big black lip spoiler jutting out the front and fender vents fore and aft to provide extra cooling for the added goin' and stoppin' power. While it has yet to be confirmed that the top of the range MiTo will indeed be a GTA, if it does, it's likely to look something like this.

[Source: Projetto955 via CarScoop]

Alfa Romeo has mounted a concerted campaign to get the public involved in shaping the brand image of its new Mi.To hatchback. One of the earliest steps was to hold an online contest to determine the vehicle's name, but ultimately rejected the winning proposal "Furiosa" in favor of the quirky MiTo nameplate. Since then the Italian automaker took a page out of our favorite playbook by launching the MiTo blog, and most recently held another contest to select the car's badge.

Out of all the proposals, this is the one that won out. The dynamic script that was our first choice came in second, followed by five more proposals that scored farther down the chart. Although we think it was a mistake to ditch the more evocative Furiosa name in the first place, we wonder what people were smoking when they picked this badge. Where's the rest of it? If you think otherwise, voice your opinion in our comments section below.

[Source: Alfa Romeo]

Click above for high-res gallery of the Alfa Mi.To

Alfa Romeo just released initial details and images of the long-awaited Mi.To hatchback, and already industry analysts are predicting the MINI rival could make it across the ocean when the company returns to the American market.

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.

[Source: Automotive News (subscription required) via eGM Car Tech]