Isn't that what the 156 was?  

That's never gonna happen Rob. The 156 sold incredibly well for an Alfa, was also a fantastic looking car. Unfortunately the 159 is nothing more as a pumped up 156, no better design, bigger, much heavier and lost the agile handling of the 156(Alfa dna, because of that) That happened more in the period, the Peugeot 207 and 308 are also evoluted versions of the 206 and 307. To have real succes you need a revolution instead of evolution. Peugeot is back with the 208,lighter, well made, good modern looking, a refreshing car on the market!That's what Alfa needs in both in the small and midsize classes  BUT the resale value of everything non german is always a problem. Alfa can build the most fantastic quality car in the world, people buy a BMW because they can easier trade it in after a few years. The Fiat 130 was a great comfortable car and the building quality and finish was excellent for the period but it was a non seller because it was a Fiat and nobody buys new big Fiats. 35 years later Fiat has a Croma, excellent value for money but when you saw the last one? We saw recently one to trade in, but it should be one of 2 on the market here.................And when people don't buy the cars from the maker, the maker cannot invest in development etc etc etc.

The 159 was a reworked GM product so it was missing the Alfa DNA from its inception. Albert's point about Fiat's biggest problem being the fact they are Fiat with all the misconceptions that BMW and Audi buyers have about Fiat is a very valid one and the reason that makers like Toyota and Nissan created totally new marques in Lexus and Infinity to get away from their roots and peoples' misapprehensions. Then again BMW just used to make bubble cars and other small cars under licence and still managed to change their status in the car community to a prestigious car maker. ...    I think Alfa missed the boat by not following the 159 with another 3 series competitor. Even if the 159 wasn't as much of an Alfa as the 156, it was a good car and thanks to Alfa's German boss in charge the quality of build was better than the 156 and closer to its German rivals. Going to the Giulietta was a step backwards in their fight with the Germans even if the Giulietta is a great car and much more Alfa than the 159. Then again, as far as I'm concerned, it was a better way forward as I think it'll be a great loss to car enthusiasts if all Alfa was trying to do was to compete with BMW and Audi. There was and I think there still is something special about Alfa that shouldn't be lost in an attempt to simply compete with the Germans. The motoring world should be big enough for both BMW and Alfa. There will always be people like Simon and Kevin who will choose a BMW over an Alfa but equally there will also be people like me who will always choose an Alfa over a BMW    

I did like BMW's till I sold them and this has put me off for life ! BMW say the ultimate driving machine and it is true a "machine". A Germany car will never have the "alfa magic" that you get with an alfa romeo even in a FWD one

Alfa did make a come back with the 916 GTV & 156 and have lost they way again sadly

I don't know what alfa romeo are at only two models in the range I think they need to make a big come back and have a RWD cars in the range.

I never liked the 159, Brera/Spider as I don't like anything that has anything to do with GM. I hated that GM V6 engine that alfa in these models, it could never replace alfa's old V6 engine

There is talk of the new alfa spider that is based on the Mazda MX5 and it will be RWD and the Giulia too maybe

Two models are because Alfa is in a bit of a limbo at the moment while parent Fiat decides what to do. And I doubt there'll ever be a RWD Alfa to compete with BMW's 3 or 5 Series. If the Fiat Group were to produce a 5 Series RWD beater it'll probably be a baby Maserati and not an Alfa. I think Fiat's problem is too much overlap in its marques. Maserati was aligned with Alfa to raise Alfa's image and it didn't work so they aligned Maserati with Ferrari for a while but that didn't work either so realigned Maserati with Alfa again. The Alfa 8C Competizione (Maserati 4200, GranTurismo) was a nice result of the Alfa/Maserati marriage  . It's this make overlap that's killed Lancia and reduced it to rebadged Chrysler cars. I think the Alfa Giulietta on Fiat's Compact platform is a lovely car and I hope to own one sometime in the not too distant future (probably my 156 replacement?) but Alfa need a bigger saloon car if they are to compete with the Germans. Then again as I've said before, I don't think Alfa should be all about competing with the Germans    

Sorry your car is "too good" to trade against an Opel I think the sales man was telling the truth about the Opel's My Dad had an Opel Ascona that when on fire and was replaced with a good fiat 131

All new car loss money no matter what make they are, I can buy 3 month old cars from the distributor for a lot less then the cost of a new one. You could buy a very nice 131 super for the money your new car will lose when the number plate goes on. I don't think anyone in Ireland would buy a new fiat or alfa now, when they can buy a Ford, Toyota, VW for the same money.

They most certainly do and I am living proof! If you told me 10 years ago I'd own a Mercedes or a Diesel or an Automatic I would have said "no way!" But I have all three in one car now and in fact I have 3 automatics. I've even convinced or tried to convince other people that diesel automatics are the future of everyday motoring (at least until hybrids or electrics get a lot better). I think the world should thank Fiat for developing the common rail diesel engine technology