As the 90s rolled around, Fiat, having recently acquired Alfa Romeo, needed a replacement for the aging transaxle-based 75.
Although the transaxle platform was indeed aging, that wasn’t the real reason Fiat were keen on replacing it. They wanted to make the whole Alfa thing profitable, and transaxles were (still are) expensive to build, limiting profitability. So it would be ideal to switch to an existing Fiat platform, i.e., their Type Three platform, but to do that it still needed it to look and go like an Alfa.
For that, they would first dig around a bit in the parts bin for viable powertrains, and then get a proven designer to pen their “all new” car.
10 Ercole Spada Design
Having previously done some incredible work for Zagato in the past, Spada was very familiar with the Arese brand.
In what was a fairly unconventional move for the 90s, he stuck with the fairly boxy design of the 75/Milano for the most part (above). Making it something of an evolution rather than a complete departure, it works, frankly, it works incredibly well, and contrary to what most people think of boxy designs, this yielded a drag coefficient below the magic 0.30 mark.
9 Controversial Front-Drive
The design work might have been impeccable, but the one thing that was out of his control was where the drive wheels would be.
Moving to a front drive platform for this market segment proved to be a controversial move. Many enthusiasts balked at the thought of their beloved brand going down this route, but the decision was already made and you either love it, live with it, or simply choose not to buy it.
8 Busso V6
The saving grace for the 155 was to be the glorious Busso V6, this time mounted in a transverse orientation, like the bigger 164.
Surprisingly, it worked rather well, possibly better than even Fiat were expecting. For this model, the Busso was not actually intended to be the top of the line powertrain though, something more special was lined up for that.
7 Incredible Q4
The Q4 would be the first all-wheel drive Alfa Romeo, getting both the drivetrain and engine from the all conquering Lancia Delta Integrale.
Unfortunately this was not a big seller, with only around 2,500 of them sold, they have gone on to become some of the most desirable modern Fiat made Alfas, if not one of the most desirable Alfas, period.
6 The Almost GTA
The Q4 platform was slated to be transformed into the first Alfa Romeo GTA since the 70s, and it most certainly had the potential to become a truly special GTA.
They went as far as making a running and driving prototype (pictured), but for some bizarre reason they were unhappy with the power output, even though it was making more power than pretty much anything else in this segment. It was a decision that perfectly illustrated just how little Fiat knew about Alfisti at the time.
5 Racing Pedigree
What made the whole GTA debacle even more bizarre was the fact that they were already using the name for their 155 racing car.
It was subsequently changed from the GTA SuperTurismo to the 155 Ti and that 500 horsepower beast cleaned up in the local touring car scene. It would then go on to win the coveted DTM championship and the British Touring Car championship with Gabriele Tarquini, who actually ended up keeping his 155 after it was replaced with the new 156.
4 Big Fiat Influence
Ultimately, the 155 would turn out to be one of the best Alfa Romeos ever made from an accessibility point of view.
It was well-built, affordable and had more than enough performance, even in the base models. By 1998, it had done its job though, paving the way for the 156, which really was an all new model and broke away from what was left of the “old Alfa” brand.
3 An Alfa At Heart
As much as this was a Fiat effort, it was still very much an Alfa at heart, with all the good and bad that comes with their cars baked into the engineering.
It was, unlike most of their previous cars, profitable. This paved the way forward for the brand, even if they were under new management they were still able to produce some awesome cars along the way, unlike other smaller Italian brands that were acquired by the Fiat Group.
2 Zagato Specials
Zagato ignored what the Fiat suits feared and went ahead and built their own version of the GTA, with an uprated 215 horsepower engine, touring car body kit and all the “Alleggerita” in the world.
Like most Zagato models, this was exceedingly rare with only around 21 models made, with one of those apparently equipped with a V6 engine, i.e., the GTA everyone desperately wanted Alfa to make.
1 A New Era
One way or another, the 155 brought Alfa into the modern era, its bargain-basement front drive platform essentially paved the way forward for the brand.
Just like any Alfa model, it had missed opportunities and several infuriating quirks, but it also gave us enthusiasts an attractive, affordable entry point into the crazy world of Alfa Romeo.