Alfa Brera Review

Alfa Romeo Brera Review

When first seen as a concept, the Alfa Brera had people swooning in the aisles at the Geneva Motor Show.

That was back in 2002 and despite the stunning, award-winning design, it was uncertain if the Brera would ever make it into production. So, there was a certain amount of anticipation when Alfa Romeo finally announced that the concept would indeed become a reality. Generally, production versions of concept cars tend to lose a great deal in translation. How much would the Brera change?

Designer, Guigiaro was clearly pleased with his handiwork when he described the concept as, “very sexy”. Many agreed and thankfully, the company chose not to change too much. The production model still retains the V-neck rear windscreen and sporty good looks as per the original. What has changed is the vertically-opening doors have been dropped in favour of a more traditional means of access and the front headlamps have been replaced by the three-cylinder clusters as found on the Alfa 159. In fact you could think of the Brera as a 159 coupe. The rest is fairy true to the original design and has more than a hint of Giulietta Sprint about it.

The front end features the new Alfa grille as per the 159 and also forms the basis of the new Alfa Spider. Depending on the trim level, the Brera comes with a panoramic sunroof that runs almost the full length of the car. Alfa also say in their literature that the side windows are also almost full-length but this is most definitely not the case and, to my mind, one of the things that should have been changed.

Although the Brera is aesthetically pleasing, the rear quarter features an awful lot of metal behind the short, rear windows. It looks great from the outside but from the driver’s point of view, it creates a huge blind spot, making emerging from angled junctions a nightmare. I was told that taller people didn’t have a problem but I suspect that is because they can lean forward further.