Alfa Romeo unveils ‘Gloria’ design concept ahead of Geneva Auto Show

By Nick Jaynes February 18, 2013

Gloria concept — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Alfa Romeo has turned to European Design Institute students in Turin, Italy to design its latest concept: the Gloria.

Alfa is preparing to re-launch here in the U.S. and the Italian automaker is keen to reinvigorate its long-held image as a design innovator. Specifically, the brand wants to recapture the excitement that was built around its visual aesthetics in the 1966 film The Graduate, which featured Dustin Hoffman driving the Spider Duetto.

Although it’s simply a design exercise, Alfa has said given Gloria’s dimensions, which are roughly 15 feet long, six feet wide, four feet tall, and with a wheelbase of 9.5 feet long, the sports sedan could be powered by either a “state-of-the-art V6” or a twin-turbocharged V8. Being the plucky Italians they are, surely Alfa would offer at least a six-speed manual transmission with this high-power, rear-wheel drive sports sedan, making it one heck of a daily driver.

Should you find your way to the Geneva Auto Show, Alfa will have some iPads set up where you specify trim levels, body color, and rims to your liking. The design students designed five distinctive 20-inch rims that can be swapped in and out.

We’ve long loved Alfa Romeo’s design passion but have had to ignore it, as the Italian beauties weren’t offered Stateside. By 2015, though, that’ll all change. We’ll finally get our chance to embrace our inner Itali-ophile and rekindle our love/hate relationship with the fickle Italian beasts.

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

Nick Jaynes is the Automotive Editor for Digital Trends. He developed a passion for writing about cars working his way…

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