http://i1.tinypic.com/minazc.jpg
http://i1.tinypic.com/minb0m.jpg
This car was first spotted when someone took a few pictures of it at what was supposed to be very private showing at Pebble Beach last year. Alfa Romeo doesn't like these photos being out and has asked other sites to take them down, like the previous set.
Otherwise, still no official announcement on when or if Alfa Romeo will return to the North American Market. However, people in Seattle and Los Angeles have reported seeing taped up 159 sedans driving around although no pictures yet.
Alfa Romeo Corporate websites say they will return by 2007 and if they do it will be with this car, the Brera Coupe and possibly the 159 sedan (they all share the same platform) and will be sold through Ferrari/Maserati dealers.

the top is ugly.....

...and will be sold through Ferrari/Maserati dealers.

And serviced by those guys? hmm.. I would LOVE to see Alfa here too, but can they really expect to compete with volume (relatively) premium companies like BMW and Merc utilizing Ferrari/Maserati dealer network?

AR had their own dealers here in the US at one time... if they plan to bring it back, I'm sure they'll try to have their own dealers or maybe through the likes of BMW, Benz or whoever but Ferrari/Maserati will filter high volumn of this vehicle, since they don't have high volumn themselves.

Yes everyone in the Alfa community is wondering how exactly they're going to set up a dealer network here again given the number of cars they need to sell and the inability of the Ferrari dealers to service/sell so many cars . They're also wondering how Alfa can compete against BMW/Audi in volume, pricing and product in the US. Also apparently the Alfa dealerships that were here weren't that great when they left in 1995 and certainly not what customers expect now. Alfa management at the time wasn't the best either from what I understand.
Hopefully the transformation of Ferrari, Maserati and recent changes in Fiat have rubbed off on Alfa Romeo and they'll figure out how to be successful in the north american market again.

My biggest concren would be (obviously) reliability. VW is just about at the rock bottom in the US in that aspect, and yet it is considered fairly reliable in Europe. Can AR do at least as "well" as VW?

My biggest concren would be (obviously) reliability. VW is just about at the rock bottom in the US in that aspect, and yet it is considered fairly reliable in Europe. Can AR do at least as "well" as VW?

No one is quite certain about reliability at this point in time. The cars are completely new, new platform, new engines (at least the ones we would see here) and are only now being introduced to the european market. Karl-Heinz Kalbfell who is nominally in charge of Alfa Romeo (think Bob Lutz) is a former BMW executive with lots of experience there, and I think he's been a good influence. Hopefully it will turn around.
Also remember some of the cars that have been very successful here - like the Mini and the Cayenne have done very well despite lots of introduction problems. I think a lot of it depends on market perception, ie are the dealers eager to address complaints and do people think the company capable of building reliable cars. I think Alfa will have to work to counter these preconceived notions the market here may have.

ugly Subaru looking grill.

I'll have to see how this turns out in the end. I've also heard that reliablility is an issue. Hope to see more new and exciting cars come out of this line

IMO the whole car is pretty fugly

ugly Subaru looking grill.


:lol:

ugly Subaru looking grill.

wow... alfa had the grill first... Besides the top, that car is pretty hot

Official Pictures from Alfa Romeo
http://autoblog.it/uploads/art_16321_2_brera_03_bis.jpg
http://autoblog.it/uploads/art_16321_2_brera_01.jpg
http://autoblog.it/uploads/art_16321_2_brera_02_bis.jpg

159 Sportswagon too, Even if Alfa returns to the US this is about as likely to show up as a Forester STI. Although Jaguar brought their X-type estate.
http://autoblog.it/uploads/159sportw.jpg
http://autoblog.it/uploads/159sportwagon.jpg

wow... alfa had the grill first... Besides the top, that car is pretty hot

Whoops, I forgot I posted that till this thread just got bumped :lol:

Yeah, I meant it as a joke.

Glad to see the Beauty shots..