[Berlinista]

But really, I have read all 14 pages here, and find I most agree with Aghlevi and M3Dude.
There are a lot of Alfa's around here in Holland, and already quite some 159's .
But to me they are rebadges Fiats. I have driven just about every Alfa made since the early sixties, and really, the last real Alfa was made by Alfa. When it was (more or less) an independent company. I don't really hang on RWD, because any Sud is a hoot to drive.
Alfa used to be expensive, but value for money then. When any other car struggled to make 90 Horses, Alfa got you 130. When everyone had drum brakes, alfa had discs all round. A TC engine. LSD, stuff like a rev counter standard, a clock. Five speeds! Those things were NOT normal then.
It would outgun, outhandle and outbrake just about anything, and be FAR cheaper than other cars with similar performance. So more expensive than most other small coupes, or four door sedans, but far cheaper than other makes in the performance bracket. AND you could get your family in.
Enter Fiat. A 145/6 a 156, a 166? What plus do these cars have over any Jap? Styling? Is that it?
A 159: grossly overweight, no match for a similar beemer in handling, or quality or whatever, yet at least over here, priced similarily.
A Brera? Looks good, but it weighs HUGE!!!
It cannot by any name be called a sports car. Same for spider.
The 8C: Since when does a real Alfa need someone elses engine to perform? Sure it looks great. But then, as someone said, who needs another 100K sportscar?
What Alfa SHOULD do is get back to its roots. Build a new Giulia. Not that it should be retro, but the Unique Selling Points!! A new Bertone.
Light, spacious interior, fine handling, cheaper than a Boxster, but just as agile and fast. And most of all, a new Sud. Cheap, lightweight, chuckable, fun to drive and cheaper than a Golf or japanese box.
Alfa will NEVER have japanese or german quality, so stop trying.
Make it cheap and fun. If it can be both these things, young buyers will forgive the quality.
Someone mentioned an Alfa SUV. FORGET IT!!!!!
Knock off those ideas. That can NEVER be an Alfa, because a Suv does intrinsically NOT handle, which is what you buy an Alfa for.
Alfa should design a new kind of 105 engine, that is state-of-art, can be available in several displacements, and gung ho compared to the competition.
And STOP trying to outBMW BMW . I can go on for hours like this, actually it makes me angry......