Alfa Romeo launched its first crossover (if not it’s first SUV) with the new Stelvio this year, and we won’t be surprised to see additional versions proliferate in the coming months and years. We wouldn’t discount the possibility of a coupe variant to emerge among them, but this isn’t likely to be what it will look like.
The term “coupe,” you may have noticed, doesn’t mean what it used to – especially when it comes to crossovers. Derived from the French for “cut” or “chopped,” the designator has traditionally been applied to two-door vehicles. But nowadays it’s used (particularly by German automakers) to connote a crossover that’s had it’s roofline streamlined, but with no fewer doors in the mix.
Just look at the GLC Coupe and GLE Coupe from Mercedes, or the X4 and X6 that BMW refers to as “Sports Activity Coupes.” They still have four doors, though, plus a tailgate.
What rendering artist Theophilus Chin has done here with the Alfa Romeo Stelvio is virtually transform it into a coupe in the traditional sense, raking the windscreens more sharply – but also taking the rear passenger doors out of the equation (and increasing the ground clearance).
The result looks pretty good to us, if not without its measure of Mazda resemblance (which is not necessarily a bad thing). Alfa Romeo may very well perform a “coupification” on the new Stelvio at some point, but if it did, it’d be more likely to keep the doors – all of the doors – right where they are.
Photo Gallery
