At last: We've waited far too long for an Alfa Romeo that drives as well as it looks, but the new Giulietta looks like it's done it

摘要

Amazing how often first impressions guide your eventual feelings about a car, isn't it? I knew I was going to like the new Alfa Giulietta the first time I moved its slick gearlever - topped by what must be the biggest alloy sphere in current production - from first to second gear. In so many cars the task of matching clutch action with gearlever throw and the fall of enginerevs has to be learned overdays; in the Giulietta it was instantly intuitive and close to perfect just as if Alfa's engineers had made it their first priority. Just, indeed, like the Alfas of the good old days.