1988 Alfa Romeo Spider - Quadrifoglio on 2040-cars

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It's the Alfa Romeo Brennero after all

In an "X-Files" television episode called "Teliko," the show changed its usual tagline during the title sequence from "The truth is out there" to "Deceive, Inveigle, Obfuscate." Both taglines would apply to the mystery around the name of Alfa Romeo's coming subcompact SUV. For the longest while, based on information from unnamed sources, the urban runabout twinned with Europe's Jeep Avenger was expected to be named the Alfa Romeo Brennero, honoring Italy's Brennero Pass (Brenner Pass in English). Then automaker design head Alejandro Mesonero-Romanos said something to Autocar over the summer that led Autocar to write, "that name was ruled out by Mesonero-Romanos." Autocar didn't quote the designer's words used to dismiss the expected name, it only quoted what came next, Mesonero-Romanos saying, "The model name is now decided. it will be Italian and it will be beautiful. But more than that, I cannot say for now." Maybe we’ve known it all along.#AlfaRomeo pic.twitter.com/dE10xGYXwO — Alfa Romeo (@alfa_romeo) December 6, 2023 The decided, Italian, beautiful name is Brennero. That's what we get from an automaker post on X bearing the caption, "Maybe we've known it all along," and a 15-second animation flashing four GPS coordinates. One coordinate picks out Alfa RomeoÂ’s history museum, the Museo Storico, another the Balocco Proving Grounds, another the Stelvio Pass, and finally, the Brennero Pass. This post could be considered Alfa answering its own question from June of this year — a month before Mesonero-Romano's supposed denial — with the caption, "A game-changing #SportyUrbanVehicle is on the horizon. What will be the name of our new Alfa Romeo? Take a guess in the comments below." Speculation has gathered around a few hard points. The Brennero sits on the CMP/e-CMP platform utilized by the Avenger, the Fiat 600, the Peugeot 2008, and the DS 3 Crossback. In electric form, it fits the Avenger's 54-kWh battery and front axle e-motor making the same 154 horsepower and 192 pound-feet of torque, and will likely get around the same 248 miles on a charge on the WLTP cycle. As the new entry-level offering beneath the Tonale, if the Brennero adopts Avenger dimensions, the Brennero will be about 16 inches shorter than the Tonale, its roof about three inches lower. More speculative speculation supposes there could be a dual-motor all-wheel-drive Brennero evolved from the drivetrain in the Avenger 4x4 Concept.

Junkyard Gem: 1979 Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce

During the middle-to-late 1970s, things got pretty grim for American car shoppers wishing to drive a (non-exotic) new European two-seat convertible. British Leyland would sell you a 1979 MGB, Spitfire, or TR7 at a good price, but you got only 67.5, 52.5, or 88.5 horsepower, respectively, in those cars (yes, BL claimed the half-horse in official ratings, because that's how the Malaise Era was) plus the Prince of Darkness riding shotgun. Fiat offered the 124 Sport Spider for a bit more than those British machines in '79, but that car had a mere 86 horses under the hood. That's where the Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce came in; for a bit more money, you got 111 fuel-injected horsepower and a car that still looked futuristic more than a decade after its introduction. Alfa Spider prices have gone way up in the last decade, so I don't see many of these cars in the self-service car graveyards I frequent. That makes today's Junkyard Gem, found in a yard near Denver, a fairly rare find. Someone yanked the cylinder head off, probably years ago, and then never finished whatever engine work had been planned. This is a common sight with vintage sports cars in junkyards. The 1994 Colorado State Parks pass shows that at least this Alfa was running 28 years back. Inside, there are many receipts for extensive mechanical work done during the 1980s. These cars were better-built than their British Leyland and Fiat rivals, but that doesn't mean they were easy to work on. How about getting a head-gasket job plus a bunch of other work done for just over 500 bucks? Even with inflation, that's a deal! At some point, someone sliced up the factory radio faceplate to install this 1980s Blaupunkt cassette deck. This looks like a CR-2001, which was high-end factory equipment in Porsches and BMWs around the time this Spider was new. The interior has some parts that look nice enough to be worth buying, so let's hope that some Front Range Alfa Romeo enthusiasts show up and score some nice pieces for their project cars. The MSRP on this car was $11,195, or about $45,700 today. The Fiat 124 Sport Spider went for $7,090, while the TR7 convertible cost $9,235. Meanwhile, a new 1979 Chevy Corvette with the optional L82 engine listed at $11,425 and had 225 horsepower; it also weighed 917 pounds more than the Alfa and had much more ponderous handling.

Lightly-camouflaged Alfa Romeo Stelvio snapped testing

With the Alfa Romeo Stelvio's expected reveal date at the Los Angeles Auto Show quickly approaching, we're not surprised to see prototypes testing in broad daylight with less and less camouflage. But even these latest spy shots make it difficult to determine details about the upcoming SUV. Just like before the headlights are disguised by heavy tape, but appear to be nearly identical to the ones found on the Giulia sedan. There's also a small v-shaped grille at the front with two rectangular ones on the bottom of the front fascia. The hood has three oddly-shaped ridges, but those are probably more camo to disguise actual creases. Previous SUVs were spotted with much smaller ruffles on the hood. The overall profile of the prototype remains the same as the ones we've spotted earlier with a design that mimics the Porsche Macan. The bulbous rear end of the SUV hasn't changed much either. The familiar taillights are still taped off, but appear to be taken straight from the Giulia. The massive exhaust tips, though, are new and would be more at home on a sports car. With the Stelvio expected to get the same gasoline and diesel powertrains as the Giulia, the weapon-sized exhaust tips on the prototype hint towards the possibility of the SUV getting the 2.9-liter V6 from the Giulia Quadrifoglio. Related Video: Featured Gallery Alfa Romeo Stelvio Exterior Spy Shots View 12 Photos Image Credit: CarPix Design/Style Spy Photos Alfa Romeo Crossover SUV alfa romeo giulia alfa romeo stelvio