Alfa MiTo Kit-One from Magneti Marelli Elaborazione isn't the GTA

Upon reading his own obituary, Mark Twain once famously quipped, "The report of my death was an exaggeration." Turns out, with apologies to the famous poet, that the same could be said of the Alfa Romeo MiTo GTA. The project may or may not be dead, but what we can tell you for certain is the spy shots that surfaced a couple of weeks ago were not of the GTA.

What we were actually looking at is a tuning kit by Magneti Marelli. Those who recognize the name may know it as Fiat's electronics division and a major OEM supplier, which produces everything from ECUs to headlights. It worked with Ford and Microsoft on the development of the Sync and Blue&Me in-car computer systems, and developed the Kinetic Energy Recovery System for Ferrari. In fact, the company's scope reaches so far that they claim their parts are in just about every new car on the road today, wherever it's made. Now the company is launching its own tuning division called Magneti Marelli Elaborazioni. The MiTo spied – as astute commenter "adpb" pointed out – was actually their first product, called the Kit-One.

The modification package is comprised of stiffer springs than lower the car by 30 millimeters, the "Parco Chiuso" dual-exit exhaust system with bypass valve, 305mm Brembo disc brakes, a competition ECU good for an extra 31 horsepower, 18-inch matte black wheels and a rather divisive body kit made by Carrozzeria Castagna Milano (who you might remember for their Aznom Corvette and various Fiat 500s) of which only 200 sets will be made. Each item can be ordered separately, and the division has also got packages in the works for the Fiat 500 and Grande Punto. And with their new facility going up in Auburn Hills, Michigan, we wouldn't be entirely surprised to see them modifying Chryslers, Dodges and Jeeps in the near future. In the meantime you can check out the MiTo with the Kit-One in the gallery below.

[Source: Magnetti Marelli Elaborazioni]