Alfa Romeo Could Bring Back The Brera As A Replacement To The 4C

TopSpeed

By Kirby Garlitos

Published May 27, 2016

It could be the Alfa we never knew we wanted

The Alfa Romeo Brera was a front-wheel drive sports car->ke506 that the Italian automaker built from 2005 to 2010. Despite garnering a handful of awards, the Brera->ke933 wasn’t the seller that Alfa->ke1386 hoped it would be. Only 21,661 units were sold in its lifetime before the company decided to axe the model entirely. Fast forward six years later and there’s talk that Alfa is looking into dusting off the Brera name as it searches for a name for the eventual successor of the 4C.

According to Autobild, the “new” Brera will have some notable differences from its namesake, most notably the switch from front-wheel drive to rear-wheel drive with all-wheel drive being considered as an upgraded option. The sports car will also make use of the same platform that currently underpins the Giulia, which would make sense considering how heavily invested Alfa is to its existing premium sedan.->ke142 Should the company proceed with this plan, the Brera will carry a front-mounted engine as opposed to the mid-engine layout of the 4C.->ke3773

Speaking of the engine, details an engine-sharing scheme with the Giulia is possible, although power levels will be tuned differently to fit the specific needs of both cars. In the case of the Brera and its status as Alfa’s new sports car, expect the company to gear the car towards a more power-oriented profile with the possibility of using the same 2.9-liter turbocharged engine found in the Giulia Quadrifoglio Verde. The sedan has 505 horsepower on tap, so if the Brera were to use it, that output could be a little more than what the Giulia has.

Needless to say, all of this still subject to a lot of approvals from inside Alfa Romeo. But with the 4C already entrenched in its lifespan, it makes sense for the Italian automaker to begin looking ahead on its possible successor. If the Brera does get the green light, it could lineup against some of the segments notable heavyweights, including the Mercedes C-Class Coupe and the BMW 4 Series.

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Why it matters

I was never a real fan of the old Alfa Romeo Brera, but I’m willing to have an open mind with regards to the company’s plan to bring back the name for its 4C successor. Say what you will about the 4C, but I love the car. It may not have the kind of power that most people wanted, but it did have an incredible power-to-weight ratio that more than made up for the lack of ponies coming out its turbocharged four-cylinder. The 4C also looked like a proper sports car, which is no small feat for Alfa Romeo. You also have to give credit to the Italian automaker for not cutting corners on its development as it even used carbon fiber on the entire body of the sports car.

So if Alfa is thinking of using the Brera name for the eventual successor of the 4C, I’m going to be very intrigued about the car’s development. I think it’s going to be good for the sports car if it ends up using the Giulia’s platform as it opens up a lot of possibilities on how it can be configured. The possible shift to a front-engine layout is understandable considering the platform, and the switch to rear-wheel drive with the possibility of an all-wheel drive option is going to be interesting to say the least.

I do understand that being optimistic on anything pertaining to Alfa Romeo is a risk in it of itself. The company still isn’t in any place to be comfortable with just throwing out one model after another. CEO Harald Wester even admitted that the Giulia is a make-or-break model for the company so jumping too far ahead into the development of the 4C’s successor could be inviting trouble. But that’s Alfa’s problem, not mine.

From my end, I like the 4C so much that I want the successor to be as good, if not better than the incumbent. That’s not too much to ask, right?