Hard-core Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA unveiled

Sales-starved Italian premium brand Alfa Romeo has gone back to basics to turn its very fast Giulia Quadrifoglio into an ultra-fast GTA.

It has also made a road-legal, track-spec Giulia GTAm by ripping 100kg from the flagship Giulia QV and gutting its interior, including its rear seats, before replacing it with an FIA-spec half roll cage, fire extinguisher, race seats and six-point Sabelt harnesses.

The street-legal version, complete with an outrageous roof-height rear wing attached to the boot lid of the Giulia, will also offer a pair of carbon-framed sports seats.

The bewinged body kit of the GTA hides an uprated version of the Ferrari-built 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6, now boasting up to 402kW of power instead of the stock QV’s 375kW.

That makes it the most powerful Giulia ever built, and both the GTA and the GTAm will hammer to 100km/h in a claimed 3.6 seconds.

The road-going Giulia GTA found its weight savings via switching in carbon-fibre for the driveshaft, bonnet, sports seats, roof and front wheel-arches, while polycarbonate Lexan replaces the glass in the front and rear side window frames.

The GTAm takes it even further, throwing away the inner door skins and replacing the interior door handles with a simple belt to pull on.

The look-at-me aerodynamics, dominated by the deep front splitter and the sky-high rear spoiler, are active, with Alfa claiming lessons learned from its Kimi Raikkonen-powered Formula 1 team.

Other hard-core ideas include centre-lock 20-inch wheels and tyres, and an Akrapovic central exhaust.

Alfa claims high-seed handling will be improved after the front and rear tracks were pushed out 50mm. There are also custom-developed springs and new bushes at all four corners.

As predicted here in January, the new car will be named “Giulia GTA”, which is Italian shorthand for Gran Turismo Alleggerita (Gran Turismo Lightened), which throws it back to Alfa’s 1965 Giulia Sprint GTA.

While that original car weighed just 745kg, the modern Giulia GTA clocks in at 1520kg, though it has a lot more power to move it around than the original car’s 85kW.

Alfa will only build 500 of the cars, with each one certified and numbered, split between road and track versions. Every buyer will be treated to personalized customer experiences with helmet maker Bell and race-gear supplier Alpinestars.

Besides Alfa Romeo Driving Academy courses, GTA buyers will also receive fitted Alpinestars race suits, gloves and shoes to help them get the best out of the machinery.

The Giulia GTA’s specification list is every bit as outrageous as the car's looks and performance.

Inside, there's Alcantara on the dash, door panels, glove box and the A-pillars to reduce reflections, while the same material covers the rear of the GTAm.