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The futuristic Alfa Romeo Brera by ItalDesign appears at the Geneva Motor Show

Giorgetto Giugiaro and Italdesign have shown a new concept car for Alfa at the Geneva Motor Show this month - the Alfa Romeo Brera - a 300 kW V8 power sports coupe drawing both on Alfa Romeo's styling heritage and using the latest technology to produce a dramatic coupe which promises shattering performance.

The bodyshell of the Brera - a two-seater "plus room for two children" - is composed entirely of carbon fibre and its drivetrain is a powerful 90° V-shaped mid-front eight-cylinder engine of more than four litres with almost 300 kW. The seamless bumpers at front and rear hark back to legendary sports cars of the past but underneath all technology is state-of-the-art derived from Alfa motorsport experience - Alfa claim the Brera has striking road grip thanks to Transax mechanics, and a perfect balance of tyres and suspension.

The car is also designed to allow easy servicing - to speed repairs and larger mechanical work, the whole of the front can be removed by dismantling the belt band that descends vertically from the curvature ends. An interesting feature of the car is a door aperture
fitted with fixed windows and operated by a patented rotary and push knob. When rotated outward, the door is projected upward. The lower center of rotation (aligned to the lower part of the door) works towards pruning the high-opening door, which protrudes 360 mm only from the unitary body, a somewhat impossible space for unrestricted passenger egress from a conventional door (Alfa Romeo's words, not ours!). Also, with no baggage compartment, luggage loading is enabled by raising the hinged rear window inserted in the dark spoiler that houses the stoplights.

Italdesign and Giorgetto Giugiaro have drawn inspiration for the Brera from traditional Italian coachbuilders and have combined features of the 156 and 147 with a rear window modelled on the much older Giulietta Sprint. Alfa claim the car relies on existing technology and is fully production ready.

© italiancar.com.au 15/03/02

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