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Alfa Romeo’s heart beats in Paris: emotion, beauty, future

Alfa Romeo is back in the spotlight at the Paris Motor Show with a strong visual impact and great symbolic value, to encompass every aspect of the spirit of the brand of Italian sportiness, founded in 1910. Not merely a display of models like no others in the world, but an authentic journey through time and into the excellence of the Biscione brand.

By intertwining the appeal of Heritage with the visionary force of the present, it accompanies visitors on the discovery of a brand taken ahead to the mobility of the third millennium. Center stage, the new Cuorerosso concept car and its world premiere. to embody Alfa Romeo’s vision of the future. Its evocative setting is made up of the full current line-up, offered in the exclusive Edizione Luna Rossa and available on the Junior, Tonale, Giulia and Stelvio models.

Alongside them, the fascinating 33 Stradale – embellished with a celebratory livery that pays homage to the French capital – and the legendary 1966 “Duetto” Spider from the prestigious collection of the Alfa Romeo Museum in Arese: a timeless icon of Italian lifestyle that celebrates its 60th anniversary this year.

A wide range of cars in terms of era, concept, and vocation, united by an immediately recognizable identity. Together, they make up a collective tale punctuated by the Italian spirit, Sportiness and Red, the color that

more than any other expresses the brand’s intensity and ideally runs through the entire exhibition in Paris, featuring in the liveries of the models on display. A bridge is thus created between the past, present and future of Alfa Romeo, reaffirming its desire to evolve without sacrificing the most authentic traits of its DNA: Italian design, innovation, driving dynamics, and that instinctive human-machine connection that has always made every Biscione-brand car unique.

After all, the heart of every Alfa Romeo is always the driver and that visceral relationship that goes beyond the simple gesture of driving to become something deeper, masterfully combining performance, beauty, and emotional engagement.

Cuorerosso: Alfa Romeo's future, straight from the heart

 

Cuorerosso: Alfa Romeo’s future, straight from the heart

Intended to capture the eye on the stand, Alfa Romeo Cuorerosso is a spectacular concept car, making its worldwide debut in Paris as an ideal beginning to a new chapter in the history of the Biscione brand. Neither an anticipation of a production model nor a mere exercise in style, but a manifesto of the brand’s vision of the future, called upon to set out how Alfa Romeo intends to face a new era of mobility.

The car reinterprets with a contemporary flair the factors that have always contributed to defining its identity: beauty, sportiness, the Italian spirit and, above all, emotion and driving pleasure. A direction destined to translate into a multi-energy line-up for the future, with flexible architectures, a range of powertrain solutions and models up to 4.7 meters long, without ever sacrificing that visceral relationship between car and driver that transforms motion into emotion.

The project name and its three pillars – Red, Italy, and Sportiness – already tell the same story, which comes together in Cuorerosso in a new, profoundly Italian and unequivocally Alfa Romeo language. Giving shape to this vision is “Necessary Beauty,” a design philosophy that eliminates the superfluous to let the essential emerge, bringing together aesthetics, function, technology, and quality.

The Centro Stile approached Cuorerosso almost as a block of material to be sculpted, initially working only on the volumes to gradually bring out its form. The result is a monolithic, continuous sculpture with taut and fluid surfaces; it appears to have been modeled in liquid metal and conveys dynamism even when stationary.

A fascinating 4.7-meter-long 2+2 coupé has thus been created, which blends the elegance of a Gran Turismo with the stage presence of a supercar and takes some of the Biscione brand’s most iconic codes ahead into the future: the wedge line crosses the side to the Coda Tronca, while at the front the Scudetto and Trilobo acquire a new expressiveness through a light signature that beats like a heart.

The rear window in turn takes up the form of the Scudetto, while in the rear doors that open against the wind, their flush glass and forged rims reinterpret the classic ‘telephone’ design to complete a silhouette in which tradition and experimentation coexist seamlessly. The same philosophy enters the interior, literally designed around the person and inspired, in the lightness of the dashboard architecture, by the 1967 33 Stradale and its newly launched counterpart.

Everything converges on the driver, starting with the new “Cannocchiale Vivente” an evolution of one of the brand’s most recognizable stylistic features, which physically changes its configuration from “Immersivo” to “Concentrato” and progressively reduces information as engagement in driving increases. Alongside, the principle of “Con-tatto Volante” which maintains the strong human-machine physical relationship, and the “Magma Display,” a sophisticated phygital control center on the central tunnel.

The three Cruise, Sport and Quadrifoglio experiences also pursue the same approach: the technology remains discreet until needed, then becomes immediate and intuitive, maintaining the focus on the pleasure of driving. Right here, Cuorerosso anticipates the multi-energy approach with which Alfa Romeo is looking ahead to the future, imagining Full-Electric, Plug-in Hybrid, Mild Hybrid and Full-Hybrid solutions; the epitome of performance takes flight via a 2.9 V6 Full Hybrid with Q4 all-wheel drive, interpreting electrification as a tool to amplify, not dilute, the Alfa Romeo character.

Finally, Red, which in Cuorerosso is almost no longer a color, transforming itself into energy. The special Liquid Ink Red shade – obtained by combining a very fine aluminum base with a transparent colored layer – changes depth and intensity with the light, going from vibrant red to hues closer to black and making the bodywork appear suspended between liquid metal and incandescent lava.

That energy also makes an ideal entry into the interior, where color becomes matter, light and motion and meets hand-finished Poltrona Frau nubuck, regenerated leather, and new-generation composite materials. The collaboration with Luna Rossa also inspires a lightweight monofilament fabric for the dashboard, based on technical clothing from the world of high-performance sailing, while experimentation goes as far as the use of recycled carbon fibers combined with red resins.

A true gradient then accompanies the gaze towards the driver’s seat, where the red increases in intensity as if to concentrate passion and performance around the driver. In short, Cuorerosso becomes a declaration of intent for the future of the Biscione brand, where new languages, materials and technologies change the way of building and experiencing a car without altering what makes it an Alfa Romeo: regardless of the architecture or powertrains of the future, the focus will remain on the driver and on emotion. With no heart, we would be nothing but machines.

Further information on the Alfa Romeo Cuorerosso is available here .

Edizione Luna Rossa, a single signature across the line-up

 

Edizione Luna Rossa, a single signature across the line-up

Room has been made at the center of the Paris exhibition for the Junior, Tonale, Giulia and Stelvio, complementary expressions of a line-up in constant evolution, to offer each customer a car coming ever closer to their way of being, driving, and experiencing mobility. More specifically, the public will have the opportunity to discover the four interpretations of the new Edizione Luna Rossa, the special series that cuts across the entire line-up and marks a further development of the partnership between Alfa Romeo and the Italian sailing team.

The collaboration between the two symbols of Italian sportiness continues at pace, having already given rise to the spectacular Giulia Quadrifoglio Luna Rossa. The baton now passes to the Edizione Luna Rossa, one of the most distinctive Alfa Romeo special series of recent years, positioned at the apex of the offering of each model. It is first and foremost identified by the dedicated red Alfa Romeo logo and by a color palette inspired by Luna Rossa boats, where white, black, gray and red are reinterpreted through specific combinations and details.

The characterization continues on the exterior and in the interior, with distinctive components, specific customizations of the seats and the Luna Rossa logo featuring on all four cars.

Further information on the Alfa Romeo Edizione Luna Rossa is available here .

A special 33 Stradale pays homage to Paris

The spotlight falls on the Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale, the Biscione brand’s custom-built car produced in only 33 units, all of which have already been sold. At the Show, it is presented in an exclusive configuration created as a tribute to Paris. There could be no more evocative a setting than the world capital of elegance and Haute Couture to unveil this special model.

For the occasion, the sculptural character of the 33 Stradale is enhanced by special damask-style visuals, the heart of which is represented by the Alfa Romeo Quadrifoglio. The choice of motif celebrates the historic artistic and artisanal bond between Italy and France, as an ideal link between the great Italian tradition of silk – from the factories of San Leucio, Genoa and Como – with France’s, where Lyon and Paris wrote fundamental chapters in European textile history, partly thanks to the Jacquard loom that revolutionized the art of weaving in the 19th century.

The design also reinterprets volutes and floral motifs inspired by the Risorgimento, transforming them into lines that follow the car’s sinuous volumes and muscular surfaces. Standing out above all is the Quadrifoglio, a symbol of Alfa Romeo sportiness since 1923, which for this special interpretation abandons the traditional triangular frame and becomes the matrix for the entire decorative scheme.

Alfa Romeo: Power and Performance

 

Power and Performance

Acanthus petals and branches arise, in a refined contrast between tone-on-tone gloss and matte finishes, creating an iridescent texture that changes with the light and recalling the effect of a prestigious damask fabric. The visuals thus follow the forms of the 33 Stradale and enhance its proportions and surfaces, making the livery an integral part of the project and developing even further the tailor-made philosophy that distinguishes each model.

Matching the beauty of form are mechanics that live up to the Biscione brand’s sporting tradition: the model adopts a twin-turbo V6 that delivers over 630 hp, combined with the 8-speed DCT gearbox and rear-wheel drive, giving the 33 Stradale a top speed of up to 333 km/h and acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h in under three seconds. To transform such performance into an authentically Alfa Romeo driving experience, double-wishbone suspension with active shock absorbers and the Brembo carbon-ceramic Brake-by-Wire braking system.

Solutions that tell the story of the same quest for exclusivity and engagement expressed by style and customization, fully restoring the approach that led to the creation of the 33 Stradale. Inspired by its legendary 1967 forerunner, the new custom-built car arose from the ambition to combine beauty and performance, artisanship and innovation, by reinterpreting with a contemporary flair the spirit of one of the most fascinating Alfa Romeos ever.

Sixty years of an icon: the “Duetto” Spider

 

Sixty years of an icon: the “Duetto” Spider

A journey into the Alfa Romeo universe could not be separated from its extraordinary history. Its representative at the Paris Motor Show is the “Duetto” Spider, this year celebrating 60 years since its debut in 1966. One of the most recognizable Italian cars ever, it has gone on for decades without ever losing its appeal.

Its lines, its essential elegance and the pleasure of open-top driving have made it a symbol of Italian style around the world and one of the Alfa Romeos best-loved by the public. Its history began in the early 1960s, when – in their eagerness to replace the Giulietta Spider – Alfa Romeo management commissioned Pininfarina to design a new roadster equipped with the mechanics of the “Giulia.”

This gave rise to the 1600 Spider, featuring highly rounded, distinctive shapes. To name the car, Alfa Romeo management launched a public competition: of the various proposals made, the jury selected “Duetto.” Although “Duetto” was not officially adopted for copyright reasons, the name remained in the popular imagination with another monicker in Italian, “osso di seppia”

(‘cuttlefish bone’), to emphasize the roundness of the tail. The model on display in Paris can usually be seen at the Alfa Romeo Museum in Arese, which just this year celebrated the 60th anniversary of the Spider with a special day that culminated in a major parade of models from all over Europe and the opening of the “Spider is Alfa Romeo” exhibition, continuing until December 2026.

An itinerary divided into four thematic phases, one for each series of the model, in which private collectors’ cars can be viewed alongside others from the official collection: the Museum is a living venue where the Biscione brand’s history is intertwined with its community’s. The inclusion of the “Duetto” at the Paris Motor Show thus acquires a strong symbolic value, demonstrating how Alfa Romeo’s glorious past continues as a living heritage and an extraordinary source of inspiration for the future.

“Bottega Alfa Romeo” where design becomes emotion

Every Alfa Romeo is conceived of long before it reaches the road, when an intuition begins to take shape and talent meets Italian know-how. At the Paris Motor Show, this universe is opened up to the public with “Bottega Alfa Romeo,” an experiential area designed around the three pillars of Red, Italy and Sportiness, where the narrative explores the five senses and that visceral component of emotion that has always belonged to the Biscione brand.

In this space, design is not merely observed but discovered through the material. Setting out its story are the materials on display, including bodywork inspired by the forms of the 33 Stradale, Poltrona Frau leather and samples of aluminum and carbon fiber. A journey behind the scenes, to demonstrate how surfaces, colors and finishes contribute to building the character of an Alfa Romeo.

Yet “Bottega Alfa Romeo” also engages the senses of hearing, touch, and smell. The Alcantara®-covered walls envelop the space in a material dimension (the same material is used throughout the stand), while an LED wall accompanied by a Harman Kardon system builds the audiovisual landscape of the experience. To round off the itinerary, five perfumes created specifically as a tribute to Paris, authentic one-offs created exclusively for the Motor Show.

Alfa Romeo: Interior and Comfort

 

Interior and Comfort

The dialogue with the Italian brand’s long-standing partners runs through the entire stand in Paris. Harman Kardon – an international benchmark in the world of premium audio – also produces the systems for the Tonale, Giulia and Stelvio Edizione Luna Rossa; Alcantara®, an Italian excellence that combines technology, artisanship and sensoriality, covers the ceiling of the 33 Stradale on display at the Show; space in the Lounge also goes to Poltrona Frau, a symbol of Italian savoir-faire in leatherworking, whose products also appear in some of the prestigious elements of the cars on show.

The 33 Stradale in the special configuration dedicated to Paris features a full-leather interior, with Poltrona Frau leather on the dashboard, seats and door panels, while on the Cuorerosso concept car its savoir-faire is expressed through the nuanced Poltrona Frau In Motion nubuck used on the seats. Matter, color, perfume, images, and sound thus become different languages of the same emotion, giving shape to a space that does not limit itself to setting out the creation of an Alfa Romeo, but attempts to convey a perception of its essence even before the driver sits down behind the wheel.

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Tristan Wiggill
Special Features Editor at Business Fleet Africa
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