Fire up the... Alfa Romeo MiTo

CREATING a car must be a piece of a cake compared to the innuendo-laden challenge of coming up with a name for it.

Choosing the right words can be the difference between your latest model being lauded as a cool classic in the making or laughed at as an unfortunate joke, but given the chance, what would you come up with? Personally, I've always thought NyLa - as in New York to Los Angeles - is clever, rolls off the tongue nicely and comes preloaded with evocative imagery of cross-country adventures. And I reckon at least one Alfa Romeo marketing man will agree.

The company's chosen MiTo, as in Milan to Torino, as its moniker for the car it hopes will beat the MINI at its own game, but while it's neat I also reckon it's open to misinterpretation. Other motoring writers think it could be construed as meaning “Me Too”, but I don't think it's going to be long before someone cruelly christens this otherwise cool supermini as My Toe.

Which is a shame, because ambigious name aside it hits the right buttons long before you drive it. The styling - usually one of Alfa's strong points - is easily the most divise of the Italian firm's entire range, with other commentators reckoning it's got the upright stance of an old Austin A40, but the way they've incorporated cues from the 8C supercar has easily more verve than either the increasingly familiar MINI or the strait-laced looks of Audi's upcoming A1.

But it's the interior which comes across best with the baby Alfa, which thanks to sports car touches like dashboad pods for the instruments and a steering wheel surely stolen from an old sports car could come from a car costing several times as much, and any lingering memories of Alfa interiors being screwed have been long forgotten. I never thought I'd say this, but even the seats look like they've been styled rather than designed.

On the road it feels refreshingly more sporty than the Fiat Grande Punto it shares a platform with, but in terms of sheer sportiness you're still better off sticking with the MINI, despite it beating BMW's efforts elsewhere.

The My Toe's got the substance to back up its very Italian sense of style, which in the image-driven market largely dominated by the MINI is going to count for a lot.

Just remember to pronounce its name properly.

As published in The Champion on September 22, 2010