We all know that Alfa Romeo plans on expanding its lineup in the next few years, but no one could imagine a minivan being among the brand’s future models – until today. Alejandro Mesonero-Romanos, head of design at the Centro Stile Alfa Romeo, hinted at a possible return of the Autotutto minivan during a recent interview.
Mesonero Romanos was speaking to Autocar about the new Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale supercar and somehow the conversation led to the Autotutto. For those not familiar with the term, it was used for a series of Alfa Romeo-branded all-purpose light commercial vehicles that remained in production between 1954 and 1983.
The design boss described the Autotutto as “beautiful” and said: “By the way, you wouldn’t be surprised if this returned one day”. What makes things more interesting is that the original Autotutto was also mentioned a little while ago by Alfa Romeo’s CEO, Jean-Philippe Imparato. While those remarks are not a solid confirmation that the brand is working on a successor of the classic van, they do open the door to the possibility of such an offering.
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Luxury minivans are becoming quite popular in China and other Asian markets, prompting premium automakers like Lexus and Volvo to enter the segment. Alfa Romeo could take advantage of modular underpinnings by the parent company Stellantis for cheaper R&D costs.
A possible candidate is the next generation of the Citroen Spacetourer, Peugeot Traveller, Opel Zafira Life, and Fiat Ulysse siblings. In any case, Alfa Romeo’s take would need to distinguish itself in terms of styling rather than being another case of rebadging and offer a far more luxurious and tech-filled interior than the aforementioned LCV-based passenger vans. Finally, a fully electric powertrain with a decent range would be in line with Alfa Romeo’s EV-only future.
So, could Alfa Romeo offer the most luxurious and sporty-looking version of Stellantis’ next-generation vans? The answer to that question likely remains hidden in the drawers of Centro Stile Alfa Romeo and it’s probably too early for a potential project to get the green light for production. Until we get more information on the matter, you can check out our purely fictional rendering below.
Note: The illustration is an independent creation – Alfa Romeo isn’t in on it.
