The New Alfa 156 and Sportwagon, created by the prestigious hand of Giorgetto Giugiaro himself, represent an ideal marriage between sportiness and elegance, performance and formal balance. All the hallmarks of the brand, in other words. 

exterior

The famous designer explains: "It is not easy to revise the architecture of a hugely successful car. It was a real challenge but in the end we succeeded in giving this model even greater appeal. We achieved this by making the front end more desirable through significant changes to the grille". 

The Italdesign team blended the grille even more into the shape of the car's front end to emphasise its importance and its sporty nature. Changes to the headlights give the new model an additional sporty flavour. Not to mention the fact that the homogeneity, fusion and integration now so evident at the front add undeniable sporting grit and breeding. 

Giorgetto Giugiaro continued: "The grille is bigger and reshaped and the headlights feature round chrome-plated parts on a black ground and are joined by a single glass lip. The lower part of the bumper has also been reduced in width compared to the previous version to increase the sporty, aggressive feel. These were the key aims of Alfa Romeo's restyling brief, apart from full respect for distinctive brand features. All the horizontal lines at the front converge on the grille at an angle to increase the sense of potency".

At the rear, Giugiaro's team has gone all out for class and elegance. The tail-lights have thus been slightly reworked so that their lower part is emphasised by two slight side-whiskers and the upper part by a motif that frames the Alfa logo and emphasises the rear bonnet volume.

The Italian designer concludes: "The reinterpretation of a winning model such as the Alfa 156 had to convey maximum determination and aggression to add even greater appeal. Hence the decision to model the exterior shape to bring it up to date and also to adjust the volumes and sizes, and the work that had already gone into the development of today's car helped us to enhance the appeal of this great product".

And so yet another challenge has been taken up and won. This new success confirms a profitable collaboration that has continued for more than thirty years and saw Alfa Romeo and the master craftsman voted 'Designer of the Century' by more than 120 international journalists at Las Vegas in 1999. Production models include the 2000 and 2600 Sprint (1960), the Giulia GT (1963), AlfaSud (1971), Alfetta GT/GTV (1974) and AlfaSud Sprint (1976). These were joined by prototypes and special versions: 2000 Spring (1962), 2600 HS (1963), Giulia Sport Special Canguro (1964), 33 Iguana (1969), Caimano (1971), New York Taxi (1976), Scighera/Gt (1997) and the gorgeous, multi award-winning Alfa Brera (2002). 

At the launch of the New Alfa 156 and Sportwagon, Alfa Romeo is adopting new colour naming references that respect historical brand values. The body shades that interpret the exclusive style of an Alfa Romeo in sporty, dynamic fashion are named after the many circuits where Alfa cars have triumphed, from the early road races to recent wins with the 156 GTA. Colours that are reminiscent of a more classic style are named after Italian places and names that best express the thrill of being Italian and its positive values of elegance, beauty and taste.

This is the philosophy underlying the 16 model colours. Three are non-metallic: Alfa Red, Carrara White and Kyalami Black. Eleven shades are metallic: Siena Red, Stresa Green, Light of Amalfi Green, Taormina Blue, Capri Blue, Daytona Blue, Le Castellet Blue, Gonzaga Grey, Vesuvius Grey, Lipari Grey and Jarama Black. Lastly, two are metallescent: Nuvola Blue and Nuvola White. 

Four of these colours are also brand new: Light of Amalfi Grey, Lipari Grey, Capri Blue and Siena Red. The first two, one light and other dark, are warm shades that ideally reflect the Brand's exclusive feel of sporty elegance. Capri Blue is a more sophisticated colour, ideal for versions of the new model that need to make an impression. Last but not least, Siena Red adds a touch of elegance to the colour that is traditionally most dear to the Brand. 

interiors

As with the exterior styling, the New Alfa 156 interiors have also been radically altered by major and minor changes. Admittedly, the passenger compartment still displays the same smooth, unbroken lines of the previous model and Alfa have not attempted to improve on the distinctive traits that have always distinguished the 156: the attention devoted to the driver's cockpit and the classic, uncluttered control panel. But the New Alfa 156 adds important new features to the classic Brand and model details. The aim: to increase the sensation of light and elegance while pursuing the close family ties with the Alfa 166 and the Alfa 147.

The facia has been completely revised and made even better looking by three colourways: black on beige, black on grey, dark grey on light grey (tone on tone matches). The current sporty black facia complements these alternatives. The New Alfa 156 and Sportwagon are the only cars in this band to offer a leather-trimmed facia, ideal for sporty yet sophisticated customers. 

The facia is treated with a special laser technology that creates surface micro roughness that alters the way light is refracted and makes the material more pleasurable to the touch.

The trims vary according to version and specification level and take the form of specially made cloth designed for quality and good looks. In particular, the new model now features Alfatex, a new high-tech cloth used to trim seats and door panels. Alfatex was patented by Alfa Romeo and takes the form of a microfibre used to improve transpiration and assure outstanding seating comfort and great elegance. The special cloth comes as standard on Distinctive versions and is an option on Progression specifications. It comes in light grey, beige and two shades of dark grey. 

The seats may also be trimmed in beige or grey cloth in the case of the Impression specification. The Progression specification is trimmed with dark grey, beige and light grey flock. The leather trims come in six colours: black, blue, red, natural, grey and a brand new Sahara beige shade. Special care has been taken over the seat and under-facia trim colour matches (black, grey or beige). A sporty black leather upholstery is also available. 

The middle of the display, at the top, also features a new multifunction display of innovative and up-to-date design (it differs according to the version). On the New Alfa 156 and Sportwagon, the device fulfils the twofold function of informing the customer of the main trip parameters (Trip computer) and also indicates any car faults quickly and accurately together with information on the action required.

The built-in radio and controls for the automatic dual zone climate control system (manual mono-zone on Impression versions) are located low down in the middle of the facia and produced with a sophisticated design. In detail, the radio, complemented by tape or CD player according to the specification, also offers an outstanding sound system designed and adjusted to the passenger compartment that consists of six speakers and delivers a power output of 4x40 Watts. The radio may also be activated by controls on the steering wheel (optional).

The cars retain their big upper central diffuser air outlets with horizontal and vertical adjustment modes.

The steering wheel button panels, climate control system and gearbox control panels and the dial frames are also in grey while the facia outlet surrounds and door handles are chrome. The outstandingly ergonomic position of the mirror and foglight controls is also unchanged. The same applies to the central console where the sensation of space has been increased by oddment compartments.

A passenger compartment full of new features with linear styling in the very best Alfa Romeo tradition and the spirit of a fast, powerful sports car. This is borne out, for example, by the red instrument panel, the range of brand new design steering wheels (foam-padded, leather and wood) combined with special gear knobs and electrical radio controls.