While the Brera 2+2 coupe has already been officially presented, Alfa Romeo are holding right on to the last minute before revealing the official images of their highly-anticipated, Geneva-bound Alfa 156 successor, the Alfa 159. This waiting game is both in order to protect the interest of the Brera, but more importantly to protect the last sales of the Alfa 156, which went out of production in late January.

The Alfa 159 will be presented at Geneva, despite much confusion earlier on this year as to whether it would make a dealer debut in May or a delayed launch at the Frankfurt IAA in October.

A Geneva appearance has casually been confirmed by multiple sources including a hint thrown in by Italdesign themselves. Namely, their ‘Geneva 2005’ preview includes two individual Alfa Romeo badges, clearly representing the Brera and Alfa 159 separately to be presented alongside Italdesign’s other newcomers, the Fiat Croma and Mitsubishi Nessie Concept.

Quite a surprise to all was the confirmation of the Alfa 159 name, with prototypes already running around the infamous Alfa Romeo Balocco test track bearing the chrome badge. Journalists, who have seen the cars, have also confirmed that the Alfa 159 badge is present, and it is believed that ‘Alfa 159’ will become a trademark for future Alfa Romeos in this class.

The Alfa 159 name was chosen for multiple reasons, firstly to mark a new chapter in Alfa Romeo’s history without loosing hindsight of the newcomer's highly successful predecessors; the Alfa 155 and Alfa 156. The Alfa 159 name is also legendary, harking back to the marque’s most successful racing car, the 1951 Tipo 159. This car, powered by a straight-eight 1.500 cc supercharged engine, which in later guises pumped out 450 bhp, gave Juan Manuel Fangio has first ever World Championship title. The Tipo 159 also gave Alfa Romeo their fifth consecutive championship title in the ‘Voiturette’ class.

The Alfa 159 must be rated as having the most covered development in automotive history, so strong is the interest in this particular vehicle that it has already become legendary. It is also not surprising, seeing that Alfa Romeo have put fleets of prototypes on the public roads to ensure a top-quality product.

Whereas the cars remain covered up with camouflage, it is easy to digest the Brera-inspired lines and logical progression from its design icon predecessor - the Alfa 156.

In general the front of the car has a lot in common with the production Brera coupe, with many parts believed to be shared such as the grille and powerful bixenon headlamp projectors. Differences will be found on the wings, which have a more pronounced lip on the sedan to give a more elegant and less broad look. The bumper will also be different, with twin air intakes in place. Flanking these intakes are mist lights positioned within chromed bezels as on the production-ready 8C Competizione. Whereas the Brera will use fine wire mesh, the Alfa 159 will use tougher-looking plastic gauze.

Journalists and VIPs that have driven the car are deeply impressed. Not only does it handle superbly, but they are impressed with the car’s build quality, stating that “it is built like a German car should be”. If only this could be said with the latest cars from Mercedes-Benz, with German taxi companies shying away from the Brand with a Star due to quality problems.

Based on the Premium platform, a luxury base developed jointly with Saab in Pixbo (Sweden) until the Swedish automaker pulled out due to financial problems, the new Alfa 159 will offer both front-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive drivetrains.

The petrol range will include the 1.8 JTS (130 bhp), 1.9 JTS (160 bhp), 2.2 JTS (190 bhp), 2.8 V6 JTS (230 bhp) and 3.2 V6 JTS (260 bhp) engines from the launch. 2007 will mark the introduction of the 3.2 V6 GTA Biturbo with 405 bhp, whilst there is also a 2.2 JTS Biturbo with approximately 310 bhp planned as well.

The diesel lineup will be spearheaded by the 1.9 JTD (120 bhp), 1.9 JTD (150 bhp) and 2.4 JTD (200 bhp), and will later be accompanied by the 3.0 V6 JTD (250 bhp) supplied from VM. There is also a 3.0 V6 JTD Biturbo on the cards with 300 bhp on tap.

The Alfa Romeo 159 is heading to America

Without doubt, the Alfa 159 will be an exceptionally important model for Alfa Romeo, with the car fully engineered for export to the USA.

The Stateside debut will most likely occur in 2007, when the automatic versions of the Pininfarina-built Alfa Spider soft top are introduced along with the launch of the Alfa 166 replacement, the styling of which is currently being completed. We are expecting a highly unique fastback shape, very much in the style of the 2004 Italdesign Visconte concept.

The 2008 model year will also mark the introduction of the astounding all-wheel-drive Alfa 159 GTA, Brera GTA and Spider GTA versions, with 3.2 litre V6 engines coupled with UNIAIR and twin turbochargers knocking out 405 bhp and 680 Nm of torque. There is also an increasingly likely chance that the 8C Competzione will have been produced in series by that time, further bolstering Alfa Romeo’s global image as a serious sportscar manufacturer.

With the recent declaration from Fiat that Maserati and Alfa Romeo will cooperatively work together, this gives an indication as to how the Alfa 159 will be marketed in the USA: a true, high-quality luxury sports sedan with all-wheel-drive, set to give a certain brand from Bavaria a harder time in this market segment.