Modern upgrade of timeless classic

A MEMORABLE moment occurred some years ago at the Geneva Motor Show when Ferrari unveiled a new supercar.

The Italian sideshow was always going to be a big event in that year's motoring calendar. Sure enough motoring journalists (myself included) gathered around like bees around a honeypot.

Eventually, after peons of praise and some pomp, a new red Ferrari (it had to be red) was unveiled to spontaneous applause.

I remember one Italian journalist nearby was awestruck. For some unknown reason he held a red rose in one hand. As the supercar emerged from its shroud the photographer I was with stepped forward and snapped the man with the rose who had moved very close to the new Ferrari.

The result was a great photograph that a while later we used large in a motoring column I was writing at the time.

It was a great moment and one I recalled this week as I took delivery of this week’s drive, the magnificent Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio 510HP in red (naturally).

Red to a lot of people is synonymous with Italian sports cars, especially Ferraris. True to form, the red of this newly arrived Alfa was a gorgeous hue. It was called Competizione Red and came as a tri-coat paint option (£2,500).

There was strong DNA swirling around here: the great Enzo Ferrari founded Ferrari in 1939 through Alfa Romeo's race division.

Those famous great design lines are still apparent today. For me, nothing looks as good as Italian-designed cars. The Italians see beauty in the design of cars, whereas other carmakers get bogged down in the practicalities.

Not so long ago I reviewed what I called “the fastest and certainly the most stylish sport utility vehicle (SUV) around”, the Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio. Equally, the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio test car had design character in abundance.

You can’t say that about many cars today. They are usually well made, and perform adequately, but offer a necessary blandness of being. However, though you might fancy the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio, it might not prove to be your cup of tea. You may not be interested in what we used to call being “involved” with a car.

In plain terms, this means that driving a car gives you a buzz, rather like the much talked about “wow” factor requisite when viewing a new home.

For some there is no wow factor in driving a car. A car should be functional and practical, to get you from A to B. With the advent of all-electric cars (and self-driving cars) this good feeling about driving and connection with a car is in danger of disappearing.

But for the present at least we still have cars such as the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio. Let’s start with the important bit: the power source. This week’s Alfa Romeo had a 2891cc V6 510hp engine fuelled by petrol and Bi-turbo. In simple terms the biturbo car engine is a term for the twin-turbocharged car engine.

This mechanical combination shoots the car from 0-62mph in 3.9 seconds. The Giulia Quadrifoglio has a top speed that nudges 200mph (191mph).

So you can see it is a car with tons of power and torque (pulling power). Everything about it is attuned to style and speed. Its wheels, for example, were 19in, Dark 5-hole Alloys (£695 option).

But the power and stylish design is not quite the sum total of what the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio was all about.

It was attractive inside, too. The ambience was that of a car of comfort and character with a trim displaying black leather/Alcantara with green and white stitching.

There was a pleasing flat-bottomed carbon fibre steering wheel (£425 option), great sounds from the Harmon Kardon Sound Theatre (£950 option), and comfort at speed and when cornering from the Sparco Carbonshell bucket seats (£3,250 option).

I liked the largish paddles on the steering wheel that gave you a nice alternative way of driving to relying on the efficient automatic eight-speed gearbox.

Other nice style touches were the dark tinted rear windows, ambient LED lighting in the cabin’s front and rear, satin-finish speaker surround, and driver and front passenger seats with six-way manual adjustment.

Alfa Romeo keeps the driver connected with Alfa Connect 3D Nav 8.8in infotainment system (radio, 3D Nav, MP3), Digital Audio Broadcast, European map and Bluetooth. There was also Apple CarPlay/Android Auto connectivity with USB and Aux-in armrest ports.

This was a car for those who appreciate “real” cars that is those that display antecedents of a great age of motoring, yet are fully equipped for 21st century driving. That matters to those who value such things, such as myself.