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Alfa Romeo 159

Since the V6 is clearly the engine that is U.S.-bound, we'll concentrate on that. It is a brand-new unit of 3.2 liters and 260 hp, and features advanced direct gasoline injection. It sounds as sonorous as an Italian baritone, revs to heaven, and gives the 159 real vivace (0-60 in 6.8 seconds, top speed 150 mph). Six-speed manual, automatic and Selespeed sequential gearboxes are all offered.

Alfa Romeo - Brera concept

For now, only one Alfa Romeo Brera exists. It's the latest embodiment of all that the design studio, concept car builders and engineering trouble-shooters Gruppo Italdesign Giugiaro are capable of - the people who bought us the original VW Golf, Alfasud, Fiat Panda, Maserati 3200GT and, ahem, Daewoo Matiz, amongst plenty of others. As well as being a motorised advert for the company's talents, the Brera is a near-production-ready test of the public's reactions to the prospect of Alfa Romeo offering a direct rival to the Porsche 911...

The highlight of the Brera's visual treats is its incomparably startling bodywork, crafted entirely from carbon fibre. It's a low, very wide 2+2 coupe, painted in the loudest imaginable shade of metallic scarlet. At each corner are whopping 20-inch 'telephone dial' wheels sporting Michelin run-flat tyres, near-bald at the back because Giorgetto Giugiaro's son Fabrizio has been practising his doughnutting technique in the car.

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