My brother and I, children of the 80’s, grew up in an incessant automobile conversation, knowing every make & model on the road, dreaming of the day when we could actually drive a car for ourselves. For as long as I can remember, we both always had a reverence for cars that wore the Alfa Romeo badge. The 164, Milano and Spider were some of the most unique and beautiful cars of the time, perennial favorites of ours. But Alfa was gone from the US market by 91’, and by the time we had our licenses in the mid-90’s, Alfa’s were rare, fragile, and there was no way we could afford one to share with our $500 budget that put us into a brown, manual Subaru wagon.
In the nearly 25 years since then, trips to Europe and foreign reviews/pics have reinforced my interest in Alfas, largely based on looks and desire for the unobtainable. Judging by the buzz around the new Giulia, I’m not alone. The Alfa obsession is as irrational as any other—until recently, Alfa Romeos in Europe have been more or less rebadged cheap Fiats. Yet the midsized 159 of the late 2000’s was gorgeous, and even if it were completely terrible by every other objective measure, I wanted one.
I had the fortune last fall to spend some time in the Swiss Alps, with a rental car originating from Milan. Europcar was willing to oblige to my request for that car being an Alfa Romeo. That’s how I find myself behind the wheel of a 1.6L diesel Alfa Romeo Giulietta, in October, in the Alps.
This Giulietta is a modern Alfa only in the European sense. In America, we have the 4C which is the most impractical vehicle you could possibly buy, the Giulia, which to my eyes is quite not pretty enough, and the Stelvio which is an Alfa crossover because of course. In contrast, the Giulietta I drove in Switzerland was a chromed-up Fiat, and yes, you used to be able to buy this same platform in the US as the peasant Dodge Dart. But if the Giulietta is a Dart in drag, then in the words of a good friend of mine...“If that’s a dude, then that’s a sexy dude!”
At first impression, even the rental-spec Giulietta is a looker. The detailing on the exterior is extremely well done, and despite the humble restrictions of a practical compact car format, they managed to make it a very pretty car, and one that is immediately recognizable as an Alfa (the vajayjay-grill certainly helps).
The interior is a mixed bag of black plastic and red lighting, similar to the SEAT Altea I drove last time in Europe. There’s a massive airbag cover on the steering wheel that looks anything but sporty, but with nice grooves for hand positions. The stainless steel shifter on the 6-speed manual is about the size of a billiards ball and feels great in the hand. Oh God, how I wish Alfa would offer something with a manual in the US. I would have to buy it.
The seats in the Giulietta have tremendous lateral support and long bases for leg support, which fit my tall and lean frame well but might not work at all for many. UConnect is featured as the infotainment system, and it worked pretty flawlessly paired with my iPhone. (By the way—shout-out to T-Mobile, which had tremendous 3G network & free data/texting throughout Europe. I used my regular iPhone and Apple/Google/Waze apps for all navigation purposes, with few hiccups.) I’m 6’3” and I was comfortable, although no one would want to sit behind me. In other words, the cabin was mostly unremarkable, but the main touch points for driving the car—shifter and steering wheel, felt good at hand.
The 1.6L diesel used in the Giulietta is rated at 120hp and 240lb/ft of torque. The torque is so abundant that it’s hard to stall the 6-speed manual. Off the line, the car is not quick, but there’s plenty of mid-range power available. The diesel, clattery upon cold start, was unobjectionable once warmed up.
Motoring north from Malpensa airport on the Autostrada, my first impression of my first time ever driving an Alfa Romeo was a bit underwhelming. It seemed more like a diesel Peugeot…competent on the roadways, but the feeling of something special just wasn’t really there. A Golf likely drives sharper and has a higher quality feel, so if character & emotion is lost on the Alfa Romeo, then what is it worth?
As the Alps loomed ahead and the roads went from highway to two-lanes I got a chance to better familiarize myself with the car. We spent three days high above Interlaken in Beatenburg, which required a 2000 foot elevation change up tight switchbacks and impossibly windy, yet impeccable roads each time we drove anywhere. By day two I was flogging the Giulietta up and down the mountain enthusiastically. Again, it’s true that a Golf might have driven better, but I want to love an Alfa Romeo so much more, so I did. It’s not hard to when you are driving a beautiful car, with a beautiful woman next to you, amongst one of the most stunning landscapes in the world.
One morning we descended into Lauterbrunnen valley, where 70+ waterfalls tumble from snow-capped peaks and glaciers above into an impossibly green and verdant narrow valley that might actually be the most stunning landscape in the world. Coming into the valley, Vivaldi’s Four Seasons began to play from my iTunes random mode as if God was choosing the soundtrack. I turned up the volume, wound the engine to redline (only 4500rpm) through each shift, took each curve too fast, and soaked it in. I thought the moment was perfect, but later that afternoon was even better. We drove from the charming town of Thun along the north bank of the lake at sunset, through hollowed out tunnels on the lakeside cliffs, past waterfront estates with flowers spilling out of window boxes, then up the winding passes of the mountainside, literally through and up above the cloud line back to our hotel. Driving up a mountain is infinitely better than down…you can ring it out rather than engine break all the way. This is not a fast car, but driving slow(er) cars fast is fun, and this was the most fun drive of my life.
Leaving Switzerland, we took the scenic (and often-closed) route back towards Milan, over the Grimsel and Novena Passes, at an altitude of over 8000 feet. At those heights the diesel was noticeably bogged down at lower rpm’s and needed to be revved to keep momentum going. But even after 5 hours in the driver’s seat I wasn’t fatigued. In Lugano, we pulled over for gas for the first time after driving 500+ miles. After filling up and converting from metric I calculated we were averaging over 40 miles per gallon, not bad when the terrain and driving style is considered.
I know my entire experience was very rose-tinted, but I obviously enjoyed my time with the Giulietta. Very much still afflicted by the Alfa Romeo spell, I would upgrade my next car to a Giulia almost certainly if they offered it here with the 4 cylinder/manual transmission setup. On a lease, or with an extended warranty, of course!
