Alfa Giulietta by name

You should have been reading this last Friday but, at the last moment, there was an unusual hiccup with the announcement of the Alfa Romeo Giulietta.

It wasn't going to be called the Giulietta. It was going to be the Milano.

Trouble is, Alfa is moving to the nearby city of Torino and Alfa's workers weren't happy about calling the car Milano when it wasn't going to be made there. So Alfa had to make a change.

Fortunately this cock-up isn't likely to happen over here because Vauxhall is hardly likely to call a car the Ellesmere Port.

Anyway Alfa Romeo pulled a name out of the history books and is calling its 147 replacement the Giulietta. It's quite a nice name, if a bit tricky to spell.

It's a rival to the VW Golf but slightly longer -- by 130mm -- and has a 50mm longer wheelbase. Unlike the Golf and the 147 it'll only be available as a five-door model but like the 147 and 156 the rear-door handles are subtly disguised so it looks more like a three-door in any case.

Like the new Mito the Giulietta is a looker. The front has the classic Alfa grille in its sexiest form yet with two lateral air intakes above. But you can judge from the pictures whether it has the X factor.

Inside, and this is usually the bit where Alfa is brilliant (even in the 80s when Alfas weren't exactly reliable they were lovely to sit in while help came), the Giulietta is no exception.

There's a classic twin-binnacle for the important dials and novel trim textures together with body-coloured metal inserts.

All engines will be turbos -- they'll start with a 120bhp 1.4-litre petrol engine and carry through to a 170bhp 2.0-litre diesel.