The Italians are Coming

[HashiriyaS14]

Anyone excited about some of the Italian cars that may potentially be headed to our shores?

I've always been a big Alfa Romeo/Lancia nut, and so I'm borderline frothing about it, but I feel like I might be the only one. I've always lusted after a GTV 2000, and I'm also a big fan of the 164, 124 Fiat Spyder, and the original 500/500 Abarth.


Disclaimer: Not sure we're getting all of these, the only CONFIRMED model is the Fiat 500. The rest have been hinted at, but it's really just speculation.


Fiat:

500 and 500 Abarth:






Punto Evo:






Bravo: (I think this is what the Alfa Brera / Spider are based on)




Panda (it's goofy, but I like it)






Alfa Romeo:

Brera: (YES PLEASE)



Guilietta: (meh)



MiTo (basically a badge-engineered Fiat 500):




159 Sedan:






Alfa Spider (based on the Brera). I wwwwwaaaaaaaaaannnnntttt this sooooo baaaaaaaaaaaad.











And....uh.....Lancia: (KILL IT WITH FIRE)






WTF happened to Lancia? They brought us the Delta Integrale, the Fulvia Coupe, the Stratos....and now this monstrosity?

[Koshin]

Youve always been a Lancia and AR fan? ...glutton for punishment

...Even though the Integrale EVO is on my top 5 favorite cars ever....And if you dont like the Stratos, youre not a cool car guy

[infinitgkid]

I don't think that Lancia looks all THAT bad...

Alfa Romero is cool and I really dig the 8C, but there is only one italian manufacturer that I'm concerned with... And they are already in the states...

[Koshin]

poser

[Otto.]

They're all so beautiful. I hope we get all of them!

The Lancia looks like they tried too hard with the styling though.

[ProudNissanFreak]

Convertible looks amazing.

[Koshin]

Lancia will never produce another car like the Stratos or the Delta....for this alone I dont care if they ever make it to the states....I have been hunting for a Delta EVO for 2 years now....the only one I found that was willing to sell, wanted 25 grand for it...

I am dissappoint

[Jesda]

I'm looking forward. I just hope they don't turn them into spaghetti and meatballs for the US market.

[HashiriyaS14]

I'm looking forward. I just hope they don't turn them into spaghetti and meatballs for the US market.

I was worried about that when they announced that the US was going to be the first market to get the "updated and improved" 500.

Then they announced that it's actually going to be a lighter body-in-white and the physical dimensions will be the same, and it'll also be the same car everyone gets, but we'll just get it first, so no larded-up "US-only version"

http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2010 ... odels.html


I don't really expect us to get any other Fiats other than the 500, although there will probably be some platform sharing with Chrysler. The Alfas are supposed to come over true-to-form though.

I just want that Spider, although I might be able to sell my wife on a 159 Sportwagon:

[lino]

The Panda is one of the most successful cars Fiat ever made. It's a bargain in Europe. They had a scrapage scheme in the UK where if you traded your old car towards a Panda, you could buy a new 2010 model for £4995.

The 500 has done very well too. Only select dealers have the Abarth model.

The Brera looks great in person. Quality today is the best it ever has been for Alfa.

The MiTo is probably one of the best looking cars in that size, especially in red.

The 159 sounds great and but BMW dominates the market in that category. People who buy that car usually buy it for its styling. It's styling speaks for itself.

[drksolest]

Alfa Spider looks so angry... i like eeetttt

[Bubba1]

WTF happened to Lancia? They brought us the Delta Integrale, the Fulvia Coupe, the Stratos....and now this monstrosity?

hey, my 10,000th post!

Hash, you're not the only Fiat/Lancia/Alfa fan. I was not only a fan, I worked at a dealership summers/vacations all thru hs/college. I've driven just about every model fiat/Lancia, and more Alfa's than I can remember.

My tastes are with the older ones. 60's-early 70's.

What happened to Lancia? Nothing. They just pulled out of the US market at the same time as FIAT (1982) due to poor sales. The Betas were pleasant driving FWD cars, but poorly built and unreliable. Of all the Beta models, I liked the HPE best. (hatchback wagon).
The Stratos was a sexy little car, but you couldn;t buy them here. Closest thing to it sold here was the Beta Scorpion, (also known as the Monte Carlo in europe). Sleek little mid engined 2 seater that looked faster than it was. They didn't sell many of them.

[infinitgkid]

poser

Call me what you want... but I really, REALLY like Ferrari... There are nothing like 'em!

[HashiriyaS14]

I'm just sad that Lancia doesn't really make performance cars anymore, at least not like they used to.

I have heard very good things about modern Fiat/Alfa/Lancia quality and reliability.


I feel like the 159 would do decent business here just because people would like the styling and the Italian-ness of it. For people in that segment wanting to stand out, I think it stands out more/better than anything else available.


A Zagato is essentially a Beta, right? I was looking at one awhile back, but someone beat me to it.

[wingFeather]

I might buy a 500 if they don't screw it up.

[Bubba1]

I'm just sad that Lancia doesn't really make performance cars anymore, at least not like they used to.

I have heard very good things about modern Fiat/Alfa/Lancia quality and reliability.


I feel like the 159 would do decent business here just because people would like the styling and the Italian-ness of it. For people in that segment wanting to stand out, I think it stands out more/better than anything else available.


A Zagato is essentially a Beta, right? I was looking at one awhile back, but someone beat me to it.

yep, the Zagato was a convertible Beta Coupe. It had a targa like top and folding rear section to it which was unusual. They did not sell that many of them.

the 159 is sexy. I wouldn;t mind checking one out.

[Jesda]

I just finished a massive project for a business policies class that required me to save Chrysler.

Fiat Group reliability and quality in the UK are ranked above only one other manufacturer: Chrysler. But now that Chrysler is part of Fiat, Fiat gets to claim the crown for worst-made cars in Europe.

China is of course worse (and possibly Indonesia) but too few are sold to be statistically relevant.

[HashiriyaS14]

In other Euro-car news, Peugeot has apparently decided to design a Hyundai Genesis with a different front end and call it the 508.





I still like it though

[PBfrEAk]

This makes my pants fit tight.

[hbpignosePA]

eh

not that excited about most of these.... id rather get an italian bike. than a car.

[Bubba1]

This makes my pants fit tight.

If a station wagon makes your pants tight, then I'd hate to think what a minivan will do to you... j/k

[King Ranzo]

I'll take a 500 Abarth Essesse preez with extra sprinkles. :3

[MinisterofDOOM]

Bravo: (I think this is what the Alfa Brera / Spider are based on)

The Brera is based on the incredibly beautiful 159 Sedan (the black sedans from the car chase at the beginning of Quantum of Solace).

Guilietta: (meh)

[/img]

Alright, I'm getting annoyed now. It's becoming a fad. It will stop, or there will be suffering.
I don't want to see ANY MORE cars with only the rear door handles hidden. You're not fooling anyone. The door seam is still there. It doesn't look like a 2-door, it looks like a 4-door that is missing two door handles. KITFO. If you want to blend the door handles into the pillar trim, do it on all four. It looks like s*** if you just hide two of them.

159 Sedan:

Yeah, that 159. Beautiful body, I just hope Fiat is smart enough to offer the right engine choices if they bring it stateside. Europeans might grin with glee at 182 whopping hp from a 2.2 liter four, but even the top-end 3.2 liter GM-sourced V6's 260hp barely keep up with even the most average family sedans on US soil these days..
Too bad GM and Fiat are no longer affiliated, or we might be lucky enough to see an LLT-powered 159 (the 3.2 in the euro versions is closely related to the LLT). THAT would be an appealing car.

The other complaint I have with the current euro-market 159's powertrain options is that the V6 can only be had in AWD guise.

If Fiat brings it over, it needs to have a ~300hp V6 available with FWD. I don't even know if the 2.2 liter 4 would pass as a base engine option over here.
I don't want 500 extra pounds of pseudo-AWD idiocy. There's nothing wrong with FWD.

[Mr1der]

I like Alpha's...

I hate myself enough to wanna own a GTV.

and that Punto Evo. Gimme. I love me some Hatches

[Looneybomber]

eh

not that excited about most of these.... id rather get an italian bike. than a car.

Agree'd. I'd take a German car over an equally priced Italian car any day.

[Mr1der]

and lack style and character!

[flohtingPoint]

If we get the 500 Abarth, I will gladly sell the Corolla and use the 500 in the as a stock class autox'er.

[Mr1der]

can I make some DOW stickers for it?

[Jesda]

Anything to break up the corolla/cobalt/altima/malibu/camry monotony on the roads....

[sbird1]

Alfa Romeo makes the most beautiful cars. I would love to have one.