There’s life in the old snake yet. Just when we thought Alfa Romeo’s petrol-powered era was quietly being tucked into its museum glass case between a 155 V6 Ti and an 8C Competizione, the brand has decided to crank up the V6s once more. Yes — the Giulia and Stelvio Quadrifoglio are coming back, and they’re bringing all 513 horses with them.

That’s right: the cars that defined Alfa’s return to proper rear-wheel-drive swagger will not be quietly pensioned off in favour of an all-electric future. Instead, they’ll keep selling through 2027, defying both time and emissions legislation — a kind of automotive Sinatra comeback tour with exhaust pipes.

Giorgio’s Greatest Hits

Launched way back in 2015, the Giulia and Stelvio rode in on the then-new Giorgio platform, which Alfa designed with nothing but feel in mind. The steering? Still unmatched. The balance? Beautiful. The looks? Let’s just say even parked next to a brand-new BMW, the Giulia still has the sort of sultry stance that makes Munich’s efforts look… managerial.

But while rivals have spent the last decade learning new tricks, the Giulia and Stelvio have aged like Italian wine — complex, maybe a touch unpredictable, but utterly intoxicating. They’ve had the odd facelift, sure, but their bones are nearly a decade old. In car years, that’s almost Jurassic.

Which is why this decision feels both romantic and slightly rebellious. Alfa’s UK boss, Jules Tilstone, told Autocar: “Eighty per cent of the market is still ICE. People are looking for fun-to-drive performance ICE cars, and the Giulia and Stelvio offer that in spades.” Translation: the world might be plugging in, but Alfisti still want the noise, the soul, and the smell of hot brakes.

Return of the Quadrifoglio

In an unexpected twist, Alfa will restart production of the Quadrifoglio twins in 2026 — the six-cylinder symphony that was supposedly retired for good. Built at the Cassino factory, these will use effectively the same 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6s as before, though no one’s saying how they’ll get past the new Euro 7 regulations. Magic, probably. Or lawyers.

Tilstone insists the “powertrains will be effectively the same,” which in Alfa-speak means we’ll still get the same manic, rear-biased, tail-happy brilliance we’ve come to love — only this time, it’s a greatest hits encore before the electric curtain falls.

Why the Delay?

Originally, Alfa’s plan was to go all-in on electric successors: a new Stelvio EV in 2025, followed by a Giulia EV with as much as 1,000bhp — think Italian Tesla Plaid, but with cheekbones.

But then, the market shifted. EV demand slowed, especially in the premium and performance space. Porsche’s electric Macan isn’t exactly storming the charts, and Alfa’s own data showed that customers weren’t quite ready to swap fuel pumps for plug sockets. So, the brand hit pause.

The new Stelvio is now due in 2027, built on Stellantis’s STLA Large platform — the same one underpinning the new Dodge Charger. That means flexibility: full EV, hybrid, and good old-fashioned combustion. Somewhere, someone in Modena just smiled.

Electric Dreams, Gasoline Heart

Don’t mistake this as Alfa abandoning its electrification mission. The smaller Tonale and Junior crossovers — especially the latter — are steadily building Alfa’s EV credentials. In the UK, 30% of Junior buyers already go for the full-electric version, and Tilstone seems perfectly content with that balance.

“Everyone is talking about the transition to full electric,” he said, “but it’s important that Alfa Romeo continues to offer the Stelvio and Giulia for the foreseeable as jewels in the crown of our range.”

He’s not wrong. These cars are Alfa’s heartbeat — the ones that remind us why the brand still matters in a world of silent torque and range anxiety. They’re flawed, sure. They’ll drink more than your average Tesla owner’s monthly power bill. But they’re alive.

So, the Giulia and Stelvio will soldier on until 2027. The Quadrifoglio badge will return, roaring into a world increasingly uncomfortable with noise. And Alfa Romeo, against the grain of an industry sprinting towards silence, will give us one last chance to feel something.

Because if the Giulia Quadrifoglio taught us anything, it’s that emotion still matters. And in a future of electric efficiency and algorithmic speed, Alfa’s refusal to let go of petrol passion feels like an act of beautiful defiance.

Bene. Now let’s just hope they keep the six-cylinder snarl — and not replace it with a sound file called “Emotion_01.wav.”

Source: Autocar