It's Saturday night and I'm out on the town. My friend – like half of the guys in the room – is eyeing the pretty blond across the bar, but at least he knows he doesn't have to worry about competition from my corner. Because there's a smolderingly hot redhead sitting across the room, and she's stolen all of my attention. Objectively I'd have to admit the blond is the better choice, but there's just something about those fiery crimson locks that make short order of blocking out everything else. It's something that – while I've never been officially part of the club myself – I suspect I share with Alfa Romeo owners around the world.
For decades Alfa Romeo has been coasting by on its image and heritage. Buying an Alfa has long been an irrational choice, motivated by the subjective longing for that indefinable x-factor despite their many objective dynamic flaws. With the new Alfa MiTo, however, that era draws to a close. The MiTo demands no excuses and, drenched though it is with that charm that only redheads Alfas do best, the MiTo doesn't ask that you ignore its flaws because countless manhours have gone into making sure they've been eliminated.
The 2003 Lancia Fulvia Coupe concept that tantalized showgoers at the Frankfurt Motor Show with its crisp lines that strongly evoked its namesake predecessor was presumed dead after Fiat canned the idea due to financial woes and want of a modern platform. It seems that plans for a new coupe carrying the Lancia badge is resurgent inside Fiat, though the clearly retro styling of the 2003 concept will likely fall by the wayside instead of getting mired in a retro rut.
It's rumored that we'll see a Fulvia riding atop the MiTo's chassis at this year's Paris Motor Show. Rather than relying on the work of 40 years past, the new Fulvia will share nothing but a name with its predecessor. The car may follow the current trend of other Euro coupes and incorporate a folding hardtop, but there are conflicting reports that it may also be a conventional fixed-head-coupe. We certainly wouldn't complain about giving the MiTo an appropriate coupe roofline, so please send some our way.
When I was a little kid I wanted to be like my big brother. I would dress the same as him, go to the same places as him, do the same things as him... It never really worked because, at the end of the day, I never looked anything like him. So while I doubt I was the only one, I had one eyebrow raised when Alfa Romeo set out to mimic the design of its show-stoppin', range-toppin' 8C Competizione with a new entry-level model. A mass-market hatchback designed to look like an ultra-exclusive supercar? Well Alfa arguably achieved just that with the new MiTo, and to prove that point it's graced us with a whole gallery of new images of the two siblings side by side. The kid brother may look that much more junior in juxtaposition, but the resemblance is uncanny. See for yourself in the gallery by clicking the thumbnails below.
Since revealing exterior shots of its upcoming MiTo hatchback, Alfa Romeo has kept the wraps over the car's interior. Maybe they were still working on the cabin, or maybe they wanted to keep something a mystery until the car's official unveiling this summer. Either way, the cat is apparently out of the bag, with this shot found circulating the internet.
Although the picture is a little grainy and poorly lit, from the looks of things, the MiTo's interior looks like a nice place to be. The center console with its large circular vents closely mirrors that of the 8C Competizione that inspired the MiTo's exterior styling. The dashboard has an intriguing swoosh to it and the steering wheel looks fittingly aggressive and modern, though this example seems to be lacking the manettino switch tipped to come on the more powerful versions.
Alfa Romeo has mounted a concerted campaign to get the public involved in shaping the brand image of its new Mi.To hatchback. One of the earliest steps was to hold an online contest to determine the vehicle's name, but ultimately rejected the winning proposal "Furiosa" in favor of the quirky MiTo nameplate. Since then the Italian automaker took a page out of our favorite playbook by launching the MiTo blog, and most recently held another contest to select the car's badge.
Out of all the proposals, this is the one that won out. The dynamic script that was our first choice came in second, followed by five more proposals that scored farther down the chart. Although we think it was a mistake to ditch the more evocative Furiosa name in the first place, we wonder what people were smoking when they picked this badge. Where's the rest of it? If you think otherwise, voice your opinion in our comments section below.
Months upon months of spy shots, teasers, renderings and endless speculation have come to their culmination as Alfa Romeo this morning released official images and details of the highly-anticipated new Mi.To. As we previously reported, the Mi.To name – an abbreviation for Milan and Turin (also meaning "myth" or "legend" in Italian as our astute commenter Nick pointed out) – won out for the final nameplate over the internal designation "Junior" and the proposed name "Furiosa".
Alfa is quick to point out that the Mi.To is the first new model introduced since the 8C Competizione, and the new hatch draws heavily on the supercar's styling, as you can see from the images in the gallery below. If you tried to morph an 8C with a Fiat 500, you wouldn't be far off, but the Centro Stile Alfa Romeo appears to have bridged the gap with considerable finesse. Alfa Romeo also confirmed that the Mi.To will initially be offered with a range of four turbocharged fours, with horsepower ranging from 90 to 155, with even stronger engines to follow. The Mi.To's official presentation will come in June before market introductions begin in July.
