Alfa Romeo Junior Ibrida - long-term review

During my time with the Junior so far, I’ve generally considered it to be a pleasant little runabout. It’s comfortable, reliable (very early days of course, so touch wood) and elicits a surprisingly positive reaction from fellow road users.

What it hasn’t done yet though, is satisfy my desire to own a ‘proper’ Alfa Romeo. So, when Alfa’s UK press team dropped us a line to ask – very kindly – whether we’d like to join their Italian counterparts on a leg of the modern Mille Miglia, I jumped at the opportunity.

These days the Mille Miglia is a regularity rally with over 400 classic cars competing, all of which were eligible for the original running of the race between 1927 and 1957. The 1,000-ish mile route is now split into five legs across five different days, but it still follows a similar path to the original race by starting and ending in Brescia.

For a brief moment I did consider a Junior road trip down through France and Northern Italy to the start point of our leg in Montecatini Terme. Bring our Alfa home, and all that. Although, as you may remember from the whole Milano naming controversy, the Junior is actually built in Tychy, Poland, so it’s about as Italian as pineapple pierogi on pizza. Luckily, Alfa then offered us a spot in its one-of-ten Giulia Quadrifoglio Luna Rossa to tail the time trial, and the Junior was relegated to airport taxi duties. Still, what better way to search for the real soul of Alfa Romeo than by following a load of supremely pretty classics in its current super saloon?

The Luna Rossa (or ‘red moon’, hence the wheels) probably won’t ever be described as “supremely pretty”. The Giulia underneath still looks fantastic today despite being launched way back in 2015, but this special edition was apparently inspired by the Luna Rossa AC75 sailing boat. We kind of see it in that ‘dual profile wing’, although aping the “hydrodynamic appendages” of a boat doesn’t necessarily make for an attractive car. There are new winglets for the Giulia up front too though, plus fresh side skirts for five times more downforce than the standard Quadrifoglio. Impressive, but again we’re not sold on the look of the two-tone grey and black paint. We prefer our fast Alfas to remain a little more understated. And it’s red or green only, for us.

Still, the Luna Rossa drives just as fantastically as any Giulia Quadrifoglio. The route starts with a short run dodging morning traffic towards Lucca, but then the run through the hills to just south of Massa on the coast is a glorious drive with the competitors at full chat and the local Fiat Pandas moving aside to let them race. It’s beautiful chaos.

An espresso stop in Pisa provides a chance for the cars to cool down in shady side streets or snap a picture with a wonky building. I use it as an opportunity to count classic Alfas. Apparently it’s the most represented brand in the event with 50 cars running this year, and you’ve got everything from a myriad of 1900 Super Sprints by different coachbuilders, some stunning Giuliettas, many beautiful 6Cs (including a 6C 1500 Super Sport Mille Miglia from the late 1920s) and a whole load of special 8Cs from the 1930s.

Photographer Simon and I push on towards lunch and end up taking a wrong turn into the medieval walled city of Siena. Oops. What follows is a magical mystery tour through tiny back streets in search of a way into the famous Piazza del Campo, the Quadrifoglio’s 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6 revving away for excitable passersby (and for the very helpful Polizia who bounce out of their diesel Giulia for a closer look). There’s still huge love for a hot Alfa in its home country, even if the look of this particular one is… questionable.

After a typically long lunch (we are trying to find the soul of an Italian car company, after all) we make up some time with a motorway blast on the run down to Rome. The Luna Rossa may look hardcore with its massive wing and Sparco seats, but it’s actually a fantastic cruiser and properly comfortable with its suspension in its soft setting.

The eight-speed ZF gearbox can be a little lazy in its auto mode, but you’ll want to use those lovely long paddles so leave it in manual. Plus, I don’t think you’d ever tire of dropping down a few gears and listening to the noise out of that Akrapovic exhaust.

As we roll into Villa Borghese in Rome late that night, we hear of the “small engine issues” faced by the Alfa Romeo Classiche team’s 1956 1900 Super Sprint by Touring.

They’re still a few hours from today’s finish line, which proves that even though the Mille Miglia may have been split into five and punctuated by proper meal breaks, it’s still a properly tough challenge for both car and driver. But what an absolutely glorious event. Enzo Ferrari once christened it “the most beautiful race in the world” and it certainly won’t lose that title any time soon.

All it’s done for me though is made me want to own a Giulia Quadrifoglio. Perhaps while hot EVs struggle to take off Alfa should do a pumped-up, combustion-engined Junior and stick the four-leaf clover badge on it? Maybe then this little crossover might qualify for a classic rally one day…