Alfa Romeo still on the comeback trail in the USA

For a long time Alfa Romeo was absent from the American market, but with the introduction of the 4C last year, the comeback began. Now the boys in Turin have decided to launch the next instalment for those lucky folks across the pond in the US of A - the Giulia sports sedan. This is a rear-wheel drive beauty that packs 505 Ferrari stallions under its hood and sprints to 60mph in less than four seconds, continuing on to a top speed of nearly 200mph. With that amount of stallions under the bonnet, you could well argue that this is no mere comeback - this is Rocky Balboa in the 15th round type of comeback.

The Giulia story begins back in 1962 when the first model bearing that name was launched. It was your classic front-engine rear-wheel-drive common during that era with basic, yet what most will tell you beautiful styling that still inspires collectors and enthusiasts. The performance was a little less spectacular with just a 91bhp engine, making the overall performance somewhat wheezy.

Fast forward to the latest rendition of the marque and things have changed somewhat. The new 2017 Giulia Quadrifoglio still bears the same, simple contemporary sedan look as its predecessor from more than 50 years ago, but new subtle lines effect a lot of style. The saloon hood is shaped to flow from the V-shaped grille, and narrow slit headlights look out over air scoops that forego bezels in favour of body shaping edgework.

You get an indication of the vehicle’s performance from the simple vents behind the front wheel well, contrasting the sport coupe sedan aesthetics. The rear wells flare out slightly to give notice of the rear-driven powertrain and large exhaust openings on the left and right corners complete the muscular accents.

Underneath the hood of the 2017 Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio is a mighty Ferrari-derived 505hp bi-turbo, 90°-angled V6. Amongst all Alfa production cars to date, this is the most powerful. The 2.9-litre V6 offers those 377 kilowatts of output with 443lb-ft of torque to match (thanks to the bi-turbo churning out 35psi at peak). The short-shifting six-speed manual transmission variant can cruise from zero to 60 mph in all of just 3.8 seconds and onward to a top speed of 191mph. This car completed the Nurburgring lap in a record-setting time of 7:39. But Alfa Romeo assures us that this Giulia Quadrifoglio is also fuel-efficient.

Of course, if hurtling around the Nurburgring is not your cup of tea, then there will also be a more sedate two-litre direct-injection four-cylinder turbo that has a mere 276 horses under the bonnet to drive all four wheels; no further information on that one yet, but we're sure we will be able to tell you about it soon.