Artists impression of the new Duetto
Alfa Romeo Duetto
Side view of new duetto
Is this the new Duetto?
Alfa Romeo Duetto
As always there are rumours that Alfa Romeo will make this model or that model and often there is not a grain of truth in them, however I believe there may be some substance to the release of the new Duetto. It was hinted at by the CEO of the time, Antonio Baravelle, in a speech in late 2007 and these rumours persist. It will probably be based on the 149/Junior chassis and will be smaller and lighter than the Brera Spider as it will have to be in a different market sector. A lot of the blogs are comparing it to a Mazda MX5 but it would probably be fairer to see the Fiat Barchetta as its forbearer as that was also a small front wheel drive convertible.
Alfa Romeo's new CEO, Luca de Meo, has been widely credited with the phenomenal marketing success of the new Fiat 500, and he's generally considered to be the brightest thing in car manufacturing at the moment. So if the Duetto should ever make it into production, de Meo is the man to make it fly. Especially if Alfa Romeo's plans to re-enter the US market are realised.
The Duetto is likely to be launched to coincide with Alfa Romeo's centenary in 2010 and will probably share all the same engines and running gear with the Junior and 149. The Duetto is unlikely to get the smaller engines in the UK and so I would expect to see 1.8JTB engine with 184 bhp and a 230 bhp variant and they may well throw in one or two diesel engines. There is also likely to be a choice of manual or the new twin clutch and snappily named C635 Dual Dry Clutch gear box, this is a system along the lines of the Volkswagen DSG gear box and it has amazingly quick gear change times as it already has the next gear engaged and just needs to let the relevant clutch out.
Update 06/03/2008:
The New CEO of Alfa Romeo Luca De Meo has announced that the new small spider the "Duetto" will be produced to celebrate Alfa Romeo's centenary in 2010. With all the name changes and rumors we have had over the Mito don't expect the cars name to remain the same, they could easily change it. However whatever name they choose it will be good to have a small powerful convertible in the Alfa Romeo range and with an expected 230 BHP on tap in a smaller car it is going to impact on the Brera Spider's market so I would expect a "GTA" version of the Brera to be in production before this model is released and I think it will be producing in exess of 300 BHP.
JP
Related Links: Alfa Romeo 149 Review | Alfa Romeo MiTo | Alfa Romeo 169 Review | Alfa Romeo Crossover