Alfa Romeo at the 2008 Paris International Motor Show
Essential style capable of conveying strong emotions, engineering that is always at the cutting edge – plus superlative road holding and driving satisfaction: these are the qualities that have always set Alfa Romeo apart in the world motoring scenario.
The same values lie behind the Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione, a veritable piece of poetry in motion that is remarkable for the sculpted and finely modelled surfaces that provide ideal attire for the engineering and mechanical excellence of this extraordinary car. The Alfa 8C Competizione is also the technical and stylistic template that will be used to create all the Alfa Romeo cars of the future, beginning with the Alfa Romeo MiTo, ‘the sportiest mini' that packs sensual style, agility and technical excellence made for driving satisfaction into a length of just 4 metres.
The concept of the Alfa Romeo stand at the 2008 Paris International Show arises out of this perfect marriage between design and technology. The exhibition area is dominated by a huge sculpted structure that reflects the taut lines and smooth, sparse lineaments of the Alfa 8C Competizione. This work of architecture is enhanced by an enormous Led Wall projecting evocative images of the brand, all set off to perfection by an imposing wall in Racing Red that provides an ideal backdrop to the lithe, unique design of the cars, making them the unquestionable stars of the show. All the cars on show are also in Racing Red, except for the Alfa 8C Spider, which appears in the attractive Mother of Pearl White shade. Another exhibit on the stand is a 33 Daytona (1968), a gorgeous car that renders homage to the brand's glorious sporting tradition while also emphasising the values of engineering and emotion shared by all Alfa Romeo cars of the past, present and future.
The scene-stealing exhibition area also perfectly expresses Alfa Romeo's main mission: industrial design of vehicles with state-of-the-art mechanics and engineering, featuring contemporary lines and shapes, that embody the concept of design in motion and emphasise the qualities of comfort, sportiness, elegance and power intrinsic to the Brand.
All the spotlights will naturally be turned on the latest addition to the family: the Alfa Romeo MiTo. With this car, Alfa Romeo wishes to offer a new generation of Alfa aficionados ‘the sportiest mini'. Their new baby is an up-to-date, innovative car that evokes, by its name alone, the glorious past of a brand that has written some of the most important pages of motoring history. The name MiTo has great evocative resonance and was chosen to mark the deep-seated link between the past and future of the brand: between Milan, the city of design that brought to the car's style into being, and Turin, which will be responsible for its industrial production. A decision that highlights the brand's strong desire to consolidate its Milanese roots. The site deliberately chosen for the car's presentation this June 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.
Five Alfa Romeo MiTo cars are present at the Paris show, all in the Selective specification: three come with a Sport Pack and are powered by the spirited 155 bhp 1.4 Turbopetrol engine while the other two are equipped with a 120 bhp 1.6 JTDM unit. All are equipped with the Confort Pack.
A second focus of the stand is an area dedicated to the exclusive Limited Edition Alfa Romeo supercars: Alfa 8C Competizione (introduced at the Paris Motor Show in 2006) and the Alfa 8C Spider, two sports cars that have had collectors and fans swooning with desire throughout the world and falling over themselves to place thousands of orders for both cars in just a few days. Five hundred of the cars have been produced by the Alfa Romeo Style Centre and are remarkable for their moulded surfaces that provide ideal attire for Alfa Romeo's engineering and mechanical excellence: a slender line that expresses all the beauty of a veritable piece of poetry in motion that harks back to the brand's glorious past while also carrying forward its attributes of engineering and emotion into the future.
The Alfa 8C Competizione and Alfa 8C Spider are equipped with a mighty 4.7 litre 8 cylinder engine that develops 450 bhp, teamed with a 6-speed robotised gearbox, and immediately turn heads due to their unmistakeable Italian elegance, an absolutely unique and unrepeatable style that promises the satisfaction of a sporty drive with full respect for Brand traditions.
The French motor show will also see the debut of the sporty TI version of the Alfa Brera that is due to go on sale in autumn 2008. TI stands for Turismo Internazionale, a name that Alfa Romeo gave only to the best equipped cars with the most sophisticated engineering.
The Paris show also welcomes the return of the Alfa 159 – saloon and Sportwagon – with a new 2008 range that offers some new additions in terms of style, specifications and equipment. The spirit of the two cars naturally remains unchanged: the Alfa 159 MY 08 is a prestige saloon that combines sophisticated Italian styling with the elegant sportiness typical of Alfa Romeo. Meanwhile, the Alfa 159 Sportwagon MY 08 revisits and reinterprets the concepts of Italian style, performance and handling typical of a true sports car, adding flexibility of use and the versatile use of space typical of prestige station wagons. Two cars are on show in Paris: the 159 MY 08 in a TI specification with the powerful 260 bhp 3.2 V6 engine and front wheel drive with a 6-speed manual gearbox and an Alfa 159 Sportwagon MY 08 in the Selective specification and equipped with a 200 bhp 2.4 JTDM 20v and Q-Tronic gearbox. It should be remembered that the Alfa 159 MY 08 models (saloon and Sportwagon) – and also the new Brera and Spider range – were the first to introduce the Electronic Q2 system that offers all the attributes of a front wheel drive and a 4x4 drive with significantly increased road holding, traction and stability during over-run. At the same time, it lessens understeer during acceleration and steering wheel interference.
Visitors to the show can also pick up information material to find out about products on offer from Fiat Group Automobiles Financial Services, a captive finance company created as a joint venture partnership between Fiat Group Automobiles and Crédit Agricole. The company backs Fiat Group Automobiles, in Italy and Europe, with a single mission: to support the sales of Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Fiat Professional and Abarth branded cars by offering innovative financial products incorporating high added value services that are aimed at the dealer network and also private and fleet customers.
