Alfa Romeo MiTO
Jun 24, 2008
Alfa Romeo
The name MiTo has great evocative resonance for Alfa Romeo for it was chosen to mark the deep-seated link between the past and future of the brand: between Milan, the city of design that brought to the car’s style into being, and Turin, which will be responsible for its industrial production.
The site deliberately chosen for the car’s presentation was the fairytale Castello Sforzesco in Milan where it is said that nearly 100 years ago a young designer found the inspiration for the Alfa Romeo logo when he saw a serpent carved onto the Filarete tower.
The best spirit of Alfa Romeo is beautifully encapsulated in this statement by Orazio Satta Puliga (1910-1974), one of the brand’s great designers: ‘Alfa Romeo is not just a car factory: its cars are something more than automobiles built in a conventional manner. Enthusiasm for a means of transport is a kind of disease. It is a way of life, a very special way of seeing a motor vehicle. Something that defies definition. Its elements are like those irrational traits of the human spirit that cannot be explained by logic’.
For young people, it represents a chance to gain access their first sports car that is safe with its own distinctive style and technical content.
Its dynamic attributes, good fuel economy and low emissions and petite dimensions also make the car an attractive proposition for a more adult audience, within a motoring scenario that now seems to set a premium on downsizing.
The car offers an outstanding weight-to-power ratio, absolute manageability due to cutting-edged suspension systems and direct steering, all features present for the first time on a car of this category.
Lastly, the MiTo, like any Alfa Romeo, is a distillate of state-of-the-art engineering including very special features such as the Alfa D. N.A. system, suspension with coilover springs, Q2 Electronic and DST, all available as standard – coupled with small yet powerful turbo engines.
