When Alfa Romeo adopted the Junior name for one of its 1960s 105 series coupes, it designated a lower-powered version, and therefore a cheaper car than its more powerful variants, writes Brian Byrne. It was a good move, as the version sold in big numbers, showing that a car that looked the part is what most drivers really want, rather than raw performance. Ford did the same thing with the Capri around the same time.
So, looks have always meant a lot to the average car buyer, even those with sporty-image aspirations. In that, the 2025 Junior Ibrida I'm discussing the week does tick all the visual boxes.
Red may be the traditional colour of choice for Alfas, but the petrol blue (they call it Navigli) in the review car is distinctive enough for me, and suits the sporty theme just as well. Alfa have rarely done styling badly, and the Junior design is right up there with much of what they have done very well before. The ultra-modern redesign of the traditional shield-shaped grille is a fitting centrepiece for what is a very coherent and attractive overall fascia. The muscular curves over the wheel arches give the overall package a boost, nicely setting off the well-cut alloys. Even as a B-segment small car, the whole deal exudes the kind of presence that an Alfa Romeo should have. It replaces the 'baby' Alfa MiTo, which was shorter and narrower but taller, and it is in or around the same size as the Opel Mokka and the Fiat 600, no surprise, as it shares its underpinnings with those models, as well as with Peugeot and Citroën models.
Inside, stylists have created a new version of the Alfa double-cowl shape over the driving instrumentation, a little exaggerated, but it honours tradition. The centre screen is set relatively low, and it also requires fairly firm finger pokes to operate the virtual buttons, in part because of the angle you have to attack it with. Key heating-ventilation controls are proper switches, but seat heating required an additional double-tap through the screen menus. I also want brighter graphics on the switches, which are hidden in shadow. The sturdy steering wheel looks the part, the big Alfa logo on the boss making sure you remember what you're in. There's good room front and rear, and a decent boot capacity, way beyond the tiny one on the MiTo.
My car has the 1.2 petrol mild hybrid powertrain familiar from its Stellantis Group cousins. It clocks in at 145hp, which represents a 65 per cent increase over the motor used more than six decades ago, and offers 0-100 km/h performance of a bit over 9 seconds. Not particularly fast, but it does much better than the 12.6 seconds of that 1960s Junior. If you want real performance from the Junior today, pick the 280hp Veloce in the car's electric version, which will sprint in under six seconds. Go for the basic Elettrica version — which sells at the same price as this Ibrida — and you've got 156 horses in harness. The hybrid is matched to a 6-speed dual-clutch automatic, so there will be no mad ripping through a stick-shift gearbox.
We have to be blunt. Alfa Romeo sales in Ireland are abysmal at the moment. Not even in the top 30 brands here. Part of that is because for several years before Gowan Auto took up the franchise, the marque wasn't on sale. The good news is that since the Junior arrived, and it has been mostly available only in Elettrica form until the summer, sales are substantially up, albeit from a low benchmark. But the Junior is the model responsible for that boost. And it's a model that I'd be very happy to have, with either powertrain. It looks good, it feels good, and, as that first Junior proved, even an Alfa is not all about performance.
PRICE: €34,995. WHAT I LIKED: The style is the substance.
