After seven months of sensible, practical, mini-MPV Meriva long-term ownership, I’m about to enter a very different world. Out with the perfunctory, in with the passion: I'm about to run an Alfa Romeo.
And after speccing up my new Alfa Romeo Giulietta Cloverleaf (can we drop the Romeo from now on in these blogs? Yeah? Thanks), the very next day I drove past my local Alfa dealership and began wondering if it was a place I’d become well acquainted with.
There are two clichés associated with Alfa Romeos. One, that you can’t consider yourself a proper petrolhead until you’ve owned one and two, that the Alfa dealer network has a reputation that would even make Gerald Ratner blush. The first? Well, as I won’t technically own the Giulietta, I might have to make a bid for Phil McNamara’s GTV. And secondly, modern car dealerships are surely less likely to get away with poor service in the digital age, aren’t they?
In the meantime, my Alfa (Romeo) recently arrived, so that spec…
Alfa Romeo Giulietta Cloverleaf OTR price: £24,995
Rear parking sensors and multifunctional display: £260
Antracite Grey metallic paint: £510
Bi-Xenon headlights with headlight washer system: £715
Sports leather upholstery with (deep breath) height adjustable passenger seat, rear armrest with storage compartment & third rear head restraint, electrically adjustable, heated front seats with memory’s on driver’s side and electric lumbar adjustment on driver and passenger seats: £2,680
Electrically folding wing mirrors: £160
Radio NAV satellite navigation system with TMC PRO and 6.5" colour display with European maps on SD card: £1230
Total: £30,550
