Alfa Romeo Tonale review: ‘A competent SUV with some stylish touches’
Can Italian style rescue SUVs from the middle of the road?
In the days when Italy was a distant and exotic place, manufacturers would give their cars Italian-sounding names to enhance their appeal. So we had the Ford Cortina, the Ford Capri and the Triumph Dolomite. Even the uncharismatic Morris Marina was renamed the Ital to boost lacklustre sales. All were as Italian as supermarket pizzas but the marketing men hoped to borrow kudos from the likes of Ferrari, Maserati and Alfa Romeo, names spoken with awe among car enthusiasts.
Back then, only Italians could build the fantastic-looking machines that dominated motor sport and adorned bedroom walls. Half a century on, Italian marques have lost some of their allure, not because they’re less pretty but because we’re a bit more serious now. Playboys are out of
