Apr 2001
In this issue:
Pocket rocket
While Arabia is busy buying cars the size of small yachts, the rest of the world is learning to love compact cars
Issue: May, 2008
Not that the Italians needed much in the way small-car education – this, after all, is the country that gave us the sewing-machine-sized Fiat 500 four decades ago – but they seem to have forgotten the art of the urban runaround in recent years, concentrating on multi-horsepowered phallic symbols. We love a Maserati as much as anyone, but on our summer streets, there’s very little point have a speed dial that tops 300kmh, when the needle rarely flickers above 30.
This little belter from Alfa Romeo is so in tune with big-city motoring that it’s actually named after two of the biggest – Milan (Mi) and Torino (To). And those drivers who fear instant emasculation by merely looking at a car with less than 2,000cc, this is based on the Grande Punto chassis and is designed on the 8C Competizione.
Squeezing the throttle ought to further banish the accusations of effeminacy, too. The 1.8-litre turbo engine whacks out 180bhp, with 230bhp available after factory tuning. There is a five door version, too, for added trouser-swelling, and the price of $20,000 might persuade any cynic to take a punt.
