Light The Fire

At first take, the thought of an Alfa Romeo SUV is slightly off-putting – one can’t forget the brand’s best work in fast saloons and appealing station wagons, like the 156 Sportwagon, which was available in some markets as a Q4 all-wheel drive version.

Alfa also built trucks from the 1930s to 1950s, as part of its 107-year auto-building history, and also came up with the Jeep-like 1900M utility vehicle for the Italian military from 1951-1954. With a perky twin-cam 1900cc engine and independent front suspension, it was nicknamed the Metta (“Mad”) for its off-road capabilities, but was given the boot for the mechanically simpler Fiat Campagnola.

Meanwhile, in the SUVmad last decade, everyone from Porsche to Mercedes-Benz jumped on the raised-roof bandwagon, so why not Alfa’s keepers, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, who also have form in the genre? No real surprise, then, at the Stelvio that’s grown directly out of Giulia underpinnings; specifically the Giorgio platform that will have other spin-offs in the FCA group. In truth, it’s a decent looker that the marque needs to swell its sales volumes.