620hp GTA-badged Giulia set for Geneva | Update

Rumours of new headliner given massive boost by latest Alfa tweet...

News that Alfa Romeo scrapped plans to reinvigorate its sports car lineup with revived iterations of the GTV and 8C nameplates was greeted with widespread disappointment at the end of last year. The Giulia Quadrifoglio-based GTV coupe, in particular, was a car we could all get behind, given the sensational blend of power, performance and panache offered by the saloon.

Now, though, the Italian marque has dropped the strongest hint yet that it hasn't abandoned its enthusiast ambitions altogether. A brief video posted to Twitter on Saturday features a raspy exhaust note alongside the tagline "a momentous comeback".

Fans of the brand will be hoping that the combination reveals some truth in the recent rumours (detailed below) of a Giulia-based return for the GTA badge. With word of up to 20kg of weight savings and a significant increase in output from the Quadrifoglio's 510hp V6, noteworthy improvements on the existing car's 3.9-second 0-62 time and 190mph top speed surely ought to follow.

Further details remain scarce for now, although that won't stop us getting excited about the prospect of an even more potent take on what is already an excellent driving machine. Expect all eyes to be on Hall 5, Booth 5111 of the Palexpo centre come March 3rd.

Of all the automotive rumours floating around the internet at the moment, speculation that a 620hp Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA is on the cards has to be among the most tantalising. Consider: a Giulia QF saloon with a 110hp boost from its 2.9 twin-turbo V6, a chassis further honed for maximum performance underneath and steroidal Italian design on top. That’s what Mopar Insiders reckons is coming in June, and while that may yet prove codswallop, it does also feel like the sort of thing Alfa would do in the face of the new BMW M3’s arrival…

Certainly, it looks like a cost-effective way of appeasing fans disappointed by the culling of two-door GTA, which was affected by a decision to focus on only the most profitable models. Turning up the wick on the V6, making some suspension changes and slapping on appropriate exterior trim will obviously require significantly less investment than the production of a new body shape. While conveniently still making fans go all weak at the knees.

The same sources suggest that a 20kg reduction in the QF’s kerbweight plus the retention of an eight-speed automatic are likely. It doesn’t seem impossible that Alfa might choose to send said beast around the Nurburgring in an attempt to steal back the four-door record from Jag’s SVO-tuned XE SV Project 8. The original QF time is now 14 seconds off the 600hp SV’s time, although the claimed bump in Alfa output ought to be well placed to bring Green Hell honours back to Turin.

Alfa would no doubt benefit from such achievements. While the ‘regular’ Giulia QF and its identically-engined Stelvio sibling have successfully rejuvenated the brand’s image, the fast-approaching arrival of BMW’s next M3, not to mention the following launch of a hybrid four-pot C63 in 2021, will leave Alfa’s sports models adrift of the spotlight for some time. Cooking up a proper, hairy chested 600hp plus performance machine - even a low volume special edition one - sounds like a sure-fire way to keep enthusiast interest bubbling. Here’s hoping anyway.

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