Alfa Romeo celebrates 100

One of the world’s finest motor cars celebrates its centenary this year. Peta Lee digs into the archives and agrees there’s good reason to share the toast

The story goes that Henry Ford used to tip his hat when he saw an Alfa Romeo. And on the day he beat Alfa, Enzo Ferrari cried like a baby.

Since 1910, enthusiasts and admirers have been inspired by the evolution of the Alfa Romeo. The brand has been the subject of books and films, an object of desire, a status symbol, an image of beauty and an Italian expression of devotion.

From the Torpedo to the Duetto, by way of the Giulietta, they are the unforgettable masterpieces that captured the imagination of car lovers around the world.

Each new model is a source of pride for Italian industry and are previewed to the president of the republic.

The iconic Giulietta was emblematic of the concept of “Made in Italy”. The name was suggested by a poet, Leonardo Sinisgalli, and thanks to its Shakespearian allusion, the car immediately struck a chord all over the world.

It wasn’t just male drivers who fell in love with the cars: Alfa Romeo also became a firm favorite with the ladies, like Italian film Gina Lollobrigida (the 1900 TI). In fact the 1900 proved its incredibly versatility when two women reached the Arctic Circle in one in 1958.

New models through the decades have continued to woo fans – as has the latest, remarkably different Alfa to roll off the production line.

The eye-catching and very striking Alfa Mito (a finalist in this year’s South African Guild of Motoring Journalists’ Car of the Year Award) is no different.

The name MiTo has great evocative resonance for Alfa Romeo: it was chosen to mark the deep-seated link between the past and the future of the brand; between Milan, the city of design that brought the car’s style into being, and Turin, which is responsible for its industrial production. The decision highlight’s the brand’s strong desire to consolidate its Milanese roots.

The site chosen for the car’s debut presentation was the fairytale Castello Sforzesco in Milan where it is said that nearly 100 years ago a young designer found the inspiration for the Alfa Romeo logo when he saw a serpent carved onto the Filarete tower.

SIDEBAR

The MiTo is exquisite, and the first in the stable to benefit from the Alfa DNA system, an innovative device modulating the main driving parameters (engine response, stability control and power steering). The system acts on the engine, brakes, steering, suspension and gearbox, allowing three different vehicle behaviour modes based on the driving style best suited to the situation or the driver’s wishes: supersport (dynamic), town driving (normal), maximum safety even in low grip conditions (all weather). Essentially, you can go from normal to bat-out-of-hell to split seconds.

The selector is in front of the gear lever on the tunnel and allows one of the three modes to be selected by simply moving the lever (the choice is displayed by the lighting of a specific LED and also by a message on the control panel).

Incidentally, although the all-weather mode is geared to conditions more severe than we experience here, I used it during a crazy thunderstorm, and felt a whole lot more comfortable driving home.

But it’s not just this which makes the MiTo stand out from the crowd.

Actually, just looking at it made me so damn happy my father was a Rossini. But then, after driving it, who wouldn’t be proud of their Italian DNA?

Forget that the three door super-mini doesn’t look like a traditional Alfa. It’s small, it’s unusual, it’s way cleverer than many other cars around, and undeniably an Alfa – in the finest sense of the word.

What’re you’re getting is something radically different: unique styling and a premium three-door 1400cc compact with its revolutionary DNA styling.

I loved the car. With its surprised looking face, and those round headlights, its stylish frameless windows, 17-inch alloy wheels, LED taillights, twin rear exhausts (so butch!), seven airbags (including kneebag), fully adjustable steering wheel with remote stereo controls . . . plus many more features (I have to include the traction and stability control, as well as hill holder facility) . . there’s little missing from this loaded package. There’s also an eye-catching carbon-fibre dashboard.

It parks anywhere, the six-speed gearbox is smooth and typically Alfa, and despite it being a small car, there’s enough space in the rear for two grown-ups.

A brilliant drive, superb handling on KZN’s notorious bends and sweeping corners, and with a suitably impressive enough engine noise to keep even my junior petrol-head daughter happy.

Now R241 000. The sublime MiTo has a six-year/90 000km service plan.