10.09.2004 Further spy photos, just shot earlier this week present a close-up look at some of the more exciting features being trialled for the Alfa 156-replacement

Further spy photos, just shot earlier this week by a photographer from Club Cuori Alfisti in the Sicilian City of Catania, present a close-up look at some of the more exciting features being trialled for Project 939, the soon-to-be-unveiled successor to the Alfa Romeo 156.

Taking advantage of the recent very hot, dry conditions, recently prevailing in Southern Italy, this 'mule', fitted with a 2.4-litre JTD engine, and automatic transmission, has been climate testing.

The new model, known internally as Project 939, is expected to debut at the Geneva Motor Show next March.

This is the car that will pitch Alfa Romeo straight into a head-on into a fight with the well established executive sector benchmarks: BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz.

To take on the German marques, which have forged a tradition of dividing the prestige executive sector up amongst themselves and set the levels to which others have to aspire, Alfa Romeo are going to have to offer standards of excellent in every single department, standards which are well in excess of what they have to date achieved.

So far the signs are good. The Project 939 prototypes that have been seen pounding the European roads in recent months, as Alfa's engineers seek to get this car exactly right, have been bursting with innovative features, ergonomic niceties, and much improved engineering standards.

Earlier this week we presented a detailed look at the new, stylish interior, which builds on the Alfa cockpit tradition, while reaching out to grasp new levels of harmony. Individual details such as the 'engine start' button and more robust switchgear are encouraging signs.

These photos take a close-up look at the exterior. The heart-shaped front grille, continues the style first seen at the turn of this decade on the Alfa 147, a theme that has been absorbed across the range, including this model's predecessor, the 156.

However the new model, expected to be known as the 157 or 158, boasts an even more prominent and aggressive evolution of this theme, a feature which will be the starting point of this car's oozing prestige and style.

Three similar sized optical units draw on the Brera for inspiration, while the chrome-finished strip between the inner light and the grille, is a sharp, prominent touch of class, first seen on the recently facelifted 156. This taut detail featuring is also played out along the car's flanks with a wing repeater that captures the marque's tradition it its tight lines.

While it had been thought that the car would gain somewhat in overall length, dimensionally pushing it towards the larger 166, in fact these photos reveal that the new model will in fact be very little different different in length, a welcome development. At the rear, the sporty exhaust system will feature twin exits from the 2.0-litre JTS engine version upwards.

The keyless ignition system, with its steering-column mounted card entry-slot, clearly identifiable on the interior photos we brought you earlier this week, offers some further clues on the exterior of the heavily clad doors.

Alfa Romeo are trialling several alternatives, with the most likely solution being a card which incorporates a push-button, activating a solenoid on approach to the vehicle.

Also clearly visible is a large billet Brembo brake caliper which will become standard across the range. This pre-production example is fitted with an anodised brake caliper, while the final version will be painted in eye-catching red.

As the Geneva 2004 launch draws ever closer, Project 939 continues to betray more and more signs that it will be a genuine segment contender, a worthy bearer of the famous 'serpent' badge.

by Edd Ellison & Paddy Granger

Photos: Club Cuori Alfisti