Louth Motors: Junior by name, Alfa by nature? Stylish EV tries to stand out

Let’s face it, us humans are all made up of the same things by and large.

We have the same amount of limbs and eyes and nose etc. but we don't all look the same. We also don't have the same specification on the inside like say lung capacity which makes the difference to a sprinter.

So on paper we are the same but a little digging and you quickly discover that we are not all the same and huge differences exist between us.

That’s what Stellantis the owners of Alfa Romeo, Jeep, Peugeot, Citroen and others hope we all appreciate because we get cars that on paper are the same but the difference is in the detail.

Now not for a minute does Stellantis think there is the infinite difference you get between people with their cars, but just enough to sway you between one or the other.

This Alfa Romeo Junior shares its platform with the Jeep Avenger and the Peugeot 2008 as well as a lot of the components. They share the all-electric battery and motors and a lot of switches that, if reliable, offers a lot of reassurance - if they get it wrong they have to fix it in a “lorra lorra” cars.

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Alfa Romeo has one advantage over the others both now and throughout its 115 year history that they use to tempt buyers. Looks. Plain and simple. In a Miss/Mr World Car Competition it would be safe to say that Alfa Romeo would have a lot more winners than its cousins and competitors.

They always appeal to the eye and then that leads on to the heart yearning for one.

The Junior doesn't disappoint when compared to its direct competitors and they have made the Junior look better than the Avenger or 2008 in a sector that’s hard to deliver good looking cars.

They have alas scored an own goal with the front logo that is black and part of the grille which makes it look like something is missing when you see it first and might miss it. At the back they have dispensed with the logo altogether and spell Alfa Romeo instead.

Part of the pleasure of owning an Alfa Romeo is that beautiful logo and I think it should always be used and they missed a trick in not using the new celebration 115 year old logo Alfa Romeo recently showed us.

The side view shows the curvy looks of the Junior and the famous hidden door handle, that first debuted on an Alfa Romeo 156 that has now been copied by virtually everybody which is what Alfa Romeo does best, is present beside an Alfa Romeo logo with the logic of losing none at the back but gaining two at the side perhaps.

The Junior is Alfa Romeo’s first EV which puts them on a path to an all EV lineup and that shows the seismic change going on in the car world.

Whenever you think of Alfa Romeo you think petrol engine and some fine petrol engines too but if the all EV mantra sees its fruition that rasping sound will no longer be from an exhaust but from a speaker.

Inside they have made it somewhat Alfa Romeo unique with new drivers dials but the different layout of familiar switches and knobs keeps it from feeling special.

ABOVE: The interior of the Alfa Romeo Junior

I owned four Alfa Romeos and they all, in their own way, felt special. The lack of colour on the logo on the steering wheel particularly irks me and should be dropped.

The EV drive is good. Alfa Romeo made some changes to the suspension to make it feel more like an Alfa Romeo that are welcome and dare I say expected but they are hidden and you don't get to visually appreciate them.

The steering is noticeably sportier and the chassis is stiffer and you can get an even more powerful motor in the Veloce model.

You do notice this when driving it as well as getting to appreciate it. As EV’s go, those Alfa Romeo changes, albeit invisible, work.

EV’s by nature have a torquey response and have linear acceleration and in the normal model is good enough for most. Range is a claimed 410 kms on par with the Avenger but way ahead of the 2008. I managed 17.8 kW/100 kms, as did previous drivers, for a real world range of just over 300 kms but I know the previous motoring journalists are not in any way light footed - not me of course - so it's not really reflective of what the car can achieve.

Which brings me to my conclusion. Are the Alfa differences enough to make it feel like a proper Alfa Romeo? I’d have to say knowing the changes and seeing them in effect, the Junior felt like any other Stellantis car that uses the common platform but just a bit more upmarket with a sportier feeling - goal achieved?.

The hardnosed me would probably opt for the Jeep Avenger that seems to be in the spot that I’d have expected to find an Alfa Romeo by being distinctively different and fun and without the €5k premium (prices start at €34,995) for that hard to see Alfa Romeo badge.

Am I hanging onto an old fashioned belief that Alfa Romeo’s should be sleek and sexy? Probably. The All-EV CrosSUV path for Alfa Romeo is the direction and their way forward and I just hope it retains some much loved, old school AlfaRomeoness.