L.A. Auto Show 2015: 2017 Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio

Nov. 18, 2015 6:30 AM PT

What it is

A very fast Italian sport sedan with questionable styling and a sticker starting at about $70,000.

(Fiat Chrysler)

Why it matters

The Giulia is one of many new attempts by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles to sell more Italian cars in the U.S. Like the Alfa Romeo 4C Coupe and Spyder, it pursues a no-compromises strategy on speed and handling. Alfa says the 505-horsepower, twin-turbo Giulia blasts from zero to 60 mph in 3.8 seconds and runs track laps in a red blur. That’s a good thing, because you won’t want to look at this thing standing still, especially head-on. The three-piece black grill, awkwardly plastered on a rounded face, doesn’t necessarily hold up to the best traditions of Italian styling.

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What’s new

This is an all-new model.

The competition

BMW M3, Porsche Panamera, Cadillac ATS-V

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(Fiat Chrysler)

The details

Powertrain: “Ferrari-derived” bi-turbo 2.9-liter V6

Transmission: Getrag 6-speed manual

Fuel economy: not released

Horsepower: 505

Torque: 443 pound-feet

Autos

Brian Thevenot

Brian Thevenot is the former deputy Business editor of the Los Angeles Times. He previously worked for a dozen years at the Times-Picayune of New Orleans, where he and his colleagues won two Pulitzer Prizes in 2006 for coverage of Hurricane Katrina and he edited a Pulitzer finalist in 2009. Thevenot later worked as a writer and editor at the Texas Tribune in Austin and as the business editor of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He left The Times in 2015.