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Oh Me oh Mi

Tuesday, 16 June 2009

In nearly all the cars I write about black is the predominant interior colour, with only a dash of grey to lighten up the seats or a bit of silver to brighten the dash. So it was a pleasant change to pick up the new Alfa Romeo MiTo which had bright red leather seats. The exterior was also a gorgeous shade of red and it certainly gave me a lift on what was yet another wet Irish Monday. While I wasn’t too excited about picking up a two-door car, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the MiTo was not set as low as previous sports cars from Alfa Romeo. In fact it’s a decent-sized, hot-hatch supermini that has plenty of room for four people. An American fashion writer once said that you can take fashion out of Italy, but you cannot take Italy out of fashion. The Italian love of style and elegance extends to every corner of daily life, especially their cars such as their very own Alfa Romeo. The MiTo continues that trend of classy-looking cars. The front end is stunning with beautiful headlights and the number plate is of course located in its trade mark position to the left of the grille. The boot is small, but you do get a ‘mini’ spare wheel rather than the dreaded repair kit. Also surprisingly for a sporty type motor there is a rear wiper, which was much appreciated. It also had an alcohol tester in the glove compartment, but thankfully I didn’t need to see if it worked. The car handled very well and it definitely attracted envious glances from both male and female passers by. I parked in South Anne Street and was surrounded by a group of admirers from home and abroad who clearly loved the car. One local man thought I had won the Lottery, as I was driving a car with a 09 reg! Two small complaints. The cigarette lighter, which I used to charge my mobile phone, was much too near the handbrake. And the speedometer was obviously meant for a country where miles are more important than kilometres. Prices start at e18,995 for the 1.4 model (also available in diesel). Incidentally the MiTo gets its names from the first letters of the two Northern Italian cities of Milan and Torino. This current recession is really hurting the car industry and Alfa Romeo sold only 103 cars in Ireland in the first four months of the year. Alfa Romeo is distributed by Fiat, and their Irish managing director Adrian Walsh admits that times have been tough for the Italian company. The man in charge at the Fiat’s Irish headquarters adjacent to the infamous Red Cow Roundabout, said: ‘‘We were very successful in the past, but we fell from grace quite dramatically.’’ There is no doubt that Fiat and Alfa Romeo don’t have a great reputation in Ireland in recent years. But if they keep building attractive and good value cars like the Fiat 500 and the Alfa MiTo then their fortunes could be about to turn around.