Everything you need to know about Alfa Romeo

Alfa Romeo - a name that sparks immediate images of sports cars and hot-blooded racing success, despite the fact that the Italian brand hasn't really written much in the way of racing headlines in many years. Today, Alfa Romeo is just one of the many and varied car brands in the sprawling Stellantis empire, but its history is long and (mostly) glorious, dating back to the very early age of the motor car. Over about 115 years, it has had many ups and downs, produced some brilliant cars and some complete lemons, and built a passionate fanbase through its wide-ranging motorsport successes over the decades.

Founded in Milan and still wearing the city's insignia on its logo today, Alfa Romeo has one of the most loyal followings of any car company. Devotees of the marque ignore the fact that for much of its life it has struggled to make money, that for many years the brand was tarnished by the reputation for rusting that owner Fiat could not shake off, or the fact that some of Alfa Romeo's cars, especially around the turn of the millennium, were anything but evocative or iconic. No, to the 'Alfistas', driving an Alfa Romeo is something special 'because it's an Alfa...' And the brand has managed to hold onto this image through a changing line-up, adding the inevitable SUV to its range and now taking the first steps into an electric future.

So who or what is Alfa Romeo?

Alfa Romeo's history goes back to 1910, and began with the acquisition by an entrepreneurial businessman of a factory in Milan used by the struggling Italian subsidiary of one of the earliest French manufacturers, Darracq.

The name chosen for the new firm was A.L.F.A, which stands for Anonina Lombarda Fabbrica Automobil (in English, the Lombardy Automobile Manufacturing Company). The first car was called the Alfa 24HP, and was followed by a succession of increasingly powerful models. The logo chosen for Alfa combined two important local symbols.

On one side was the 'Biscione', the snake-like symbol of Milan's ruling Visconti family. On the other side was Milan's city emblem, a red cross on a white background (just like the St George's Cross in the UK). Together, they form the logo we all know today.

By 1915, the fledgling company had been acquired by Italian entrepreneur, Nicola Romeo. He added his surname to the company name, creating Alfa Romeo. Car production inevitably halted while the company produced hardware for the Italian military during the first world war, before resuming in 1919.

From the beginning, Alfa had been involved in motor racing, and Nicola Romeo continued that involvement. The company's reputation swelled on the back of many prestigious Italian race wins, which spread across Europe when the company won the inaugural world championship for grand prix cars in 1925. Nicola Romeo stepped down in 1928, and within five years, the company had been taken over by the Italian government.

Under Mussolini's government, Alfa Romeo was promoted as a symbol of Italy and built ever-more expensive and luxurious cars. Even Henry Ford was quoted as saying he would "tip my hat" each time an Alfa Romeo drove past. But with the start of the second world war, Alfa Romeo again turned to making military products for its country (as did virtually every car company in the world).

Aircraft engines accounted for 80% of Alfa Romeo's output, and its Milan factory was heavily bombed by the Allies as a result. The end of the war saw Alfa Romeo struggling as the European market for luxury cars almost completely evaporated. The company turned to making smaller, more affordable cars to get itself back up and running, while also continuing to race.

It won the first two Formula One World Championships in 1950 and 1951, and rebuilt its reputation for technological innovation alongside its styling and sporty image. The 1962 Giulia was a landmark model, which for a decade was one of the most advanced and best-performing cars from any European manufacturer. But Alfa Romeo - like many other European car companies - consistently lurched from one financial difficulty to another.

A second model to gain a cult following, the Alfasud, was launched in 1968, the name meaning 'Alfa South' because it was built in a separate factory in southern Italy. This model had many reliability and corrosion problems the car, which began to plague Alfa as a whole in coming years. By the 1980s, the Italian Government was paying Alfa Romeo to shut its plants for two weeks every two months in order to save money.

Cars of dated design that were never built in enough numbers kept the company's losses high, and after a failed tie-up with Nissan in 1983 that produced the short-lived Alfa Romeo Arna, the government put its car maker up for sale in 1986. Ford[1] and Fiat[2] proved the most interested and the Italian giant won the day, merging Alfa Romeo with its former rival Lancia. The Alfa Romeos that followed tended to be better than their predecessors in practical terms, while still managing to maintain the styling traits that had always been an Alfa signature.

In 2005 Alfa Romeo was pitched a little further upmarket when it was put into a joint 'sports and luxury' division with Maserati[3], which Fiat had re-acquired from Ferrari[4]. This was short-lived, however, and from 2007 Fiat operations were divided into four with Alfa Romeo in its own division.

1962 Alfa Romeo Guilia2017 Alfa Romeo Guilia

But the problems did not go away. Into its second century, Alfa Romeo was selling around 112,000 cars a year, only a third of what Fiat expected.

The introduction of the Stelvio[5] SUV in 2017 was seen as a surprise for a company with a sporting history, but was simply following the industry with customer demand driving all the premium manufacturers to launch SUVs. Alfa Romeo has since added two more, the Tonale[6] and the Junior[7] - the latter reviving one of the marque's classic names. The big change came in 2021 when Fiat's operations were merged with those of the French PSA Group, which owned Peugeot[8] and Citroen[9], to form Stellantis[10] - Alfa is now one of more than a dozen brands in this super-group.

Being part of Stellantis has provided Alfa Romeo with long-needed stability - the brand was losing big money in 2019, not for the first time, but the end of 2023 saw Alfa Romeo not only named third overall in the prestigious JD Power quality survey but turning record global profits. These were partly due to the arrival of the Junior compact SUV in 2024 - this car also formed the first step towards meeting Alfa Romeo's next big challenge, a complete switch to electrification which the brand intends to achieve by 2027.

What models does Alfa Romeo have and what else is coming?

Currently Alfa Romeo offers a six-strong line-up across four models, with the Giulia[11] mid-sized saloon carrying the name with the most heritage - the first Giulias dating back to 1962. The current and soon-to-be-replaced Giulia is a mid-sized saloon which when launched in 2015 wrote a few headlines, most notably being the first mainstream Alfa Romeo in more than 20 years to be rear-wheel drive - clearly targeting the company car favourite the BMW 3 Series.

The Giulia, and its high-powered sibling the Giulia Quadrifoglio[12], is popular as a driver's car although both are quite expensive to run and suffer from a poor reliability record. Alfa's first SUV, the Stelvio[13], dates from 2017 and has also earned praise for its driving dynamics, along with criticism in several other areas. Average safety ratings and adequate interior finish pale the car's appeal against its supposed premium rivals.

Both its and its high-powered Stelvio Quadrifoglio[14] version have the same concerns over running costs and reliability as their mechanically similar Giulia siblings. When Alfa extended its SUV range with the smaller Tonale[15] in 2022 it also introduced the brand's first mild hybrid and plug-in hybrid engines. The plug-in versions were seen as a significant step forward for the brand, though the mild-hybrid was considered to even fail to meet the Alfa must of sporty road performance.

The interior issues remained, too, but the safety spec was a big improvement, with a five-star Euro NCAP rating. Current Alfa Romeo range on our Expert Rating Index Most recent arrival in the Alfa Romeo range is the Junior[16], and while its name recalls Alfa coupes of the 1960s, this is, for UK buyers at least, the brand's first all-electric model - in Europe you can also buy it with petrol mild-hybrid power.

The Junior benefits from Stellantis economies of scale as underneath it's basically the same as a Peugeot e-2008[17] or Jeep Avenger[18]. True to form, Alfa does offer a more powerful version which is called the Junior Veloce. Alfa Romeo executives have said that the company's product strategy will see a new Stelvio in 2025, followed by a new Giulia in the following year, a new Tonale in 2027 and then an unnamed new model, believed by many to be a huge SUV.

All of them will be electric - although it remains to be seen whether these plans change in the light of an American-led pushback against EVs.

Where can I try an Alfa Romeo car?

Alfa Romeo is regarded as a 'premium' marque and so does not have as many dealerships dotted around the UK as some of the more mainstream brands. Currently there are around 40, numbers having fallen slightly in recent years following the formation of Stellantis and the inevitable consolidation. Generally the dealers are spread throughout the country with the Midlands and, to some extent, the South East having the most.

There are some big gaps, however. West of Southampton, there is only one English outlet in Exeter, while if you live in Wales you'll generally have to go over the border - even the capital Cardiff is without a dealer though there is one along the coast in Swansea. Stellantis was planning to change its retail network to what is known as an agency model, selling direct to customers without dealers operating in their traditional fashion, but these plans have been put on hold in recent times as Stellantis undergoes a huge management reorganisation of its own.

What makes Alfa Romeo different to the rest?

Alfa Romeo is one of those brands that lives on its glorious heritage.

While many of its more recent cars have been not a lot to write home about, the brand has a highly loyal following, the phrase "It's an Alfa" perennially used to justify forgetting the often several negative aspects of owning one of the Italian cars. This following has been built up over many years on two pillars - firstly the glorious sporting heritage, in both Formula One and sports car racing, and the styling of the cars, emphasised by the signature triangular grille design which eventually grew so large that in countries such as the UK, where front registration plates are mandatory, they had to be mounted awkwardly to one side of the grille.

An Alfa Romeo fact to impress your friends

The most famous sports car name of all, Ferrari, started its life as an Alfa Romeo racing team. Enzo Ferrari joined Alfa Romeo as a racing driver in 1920 and was modestly successful, but soon discovered that he had more talent as a manager than a driver.

When Alfa Romeo pulled out of racing in 1929, it sold its motorsport operation to Enzo, who formed Scuderia Ferrari as a semi-official Alfa Romeo racing team.

He wouldn't start making cars under his own name until 1947, almost 20 years later.

Enzo Ferrari in an early Alfa Romeo sports car

Summary

Alfa Romeo is one of those brands that seems to go on and on enjoying its reputation as an iconic make that stands apart from the crowd, despite several times in the past having done its best to dent that reputation with cars that lacked in several areas.

As part of Stellantis, however, Alfa Romeo seems at its most stable for some time, producing cars that customers seem to like and still attracting a devoted fanbase for whom driving an Alfa Romeo remains something special.

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References

1. ^ Ford (www.thecarexpert.co.uk)
2. ^ Fiat (www.thecarexpert.co.uk)
3. ^ Maserati (www.thecarexpert.co.uk)
4. ^ Ferrari (www.thecarexpert.co.uk)
5. ^ Stelvio (www.thecarexpert.co.uk)
6. ^ Tonale (www.thecarexpert.co.uk)
7. ^ Junior (www.thecarexpert.co.uk)
8. ^ Peugeot (www.thecarexpert.co.uk)
9. ^ Citroen (www.thecarexpert.co.uk)
10. ^ Stellantis (www.thecarexpert.co.uk)
11. ^ Giulia (www.thecarexpert.co.uk)
12. ^ Giulia Quadrifoglio (www.thecarexpert.co.uk)
13. ^ Stelvio (www.thecarexpert.co.uk)
14. ^ Stelvio Quadrifoglio (www.thecarexpert.co.uk)
15. ^ Tonale (www.thecarexpert.co.uk)
16. ^ Junior (www.thecarexpert.co.uk)
17. ^ Peugeot e-2008 (www.thecarexpert.co.uk)
18. ^ Jeep Avenger (www.thecarexpert.co.uk)
19. ^ Find out more (www.carparisonleasing.co.uk)
20. ^ Find out more (www.selectcarleasing.co.uk)