Remember the GT 1300 Junior of the late 1960s? Good, because it won’t be revived with a second generation. Alfa Romeo revived only the Junior name for a ritzy variant of the quirky MiTo supermini.
The Alfa Romeo MiTo (Type 955) entered production in 2008 and it’s getting a bit old now. Without a replacement model in the pipeline, this MiTo Junior variant will have to make do. According to the Italian brand, Junior stands for agility, determination and sheer driving pleasure. Right... you know that the MiTo uses a 9-year-old SCCS platform, do you?
I highly doubt Alfa Romeo did any proper go-faster stuff to it for the MiTo Junior, so let’s classify the above as the obnoxious Italian jibber-jabber the Fiat Group is so famous for. That being said, what exactly does the MiTo Junior boast with apart from its €17,650 to €21,500 retail price in Italy?
Well, the lower price will buy you a 1.4 mill with 78 horsepower, while €21,500 will get you a 1.4-liter LPG Turbo with 120 ponies on tap. There are a couple of other options in between, namely a 0.9 TwinAir two-cylinder engine with 105 hp at €19,200 or an 85 horsepower 1.3 JTDM turbo diesel at €19,650.
Our pick is the 140 hp 1.4 MultiAir Turbo mated to a TCT dual-clutch automatic transmission (€21,400)
For sheer performance and engagement, we’d go for the latter to be honest, but the oily bits aren’t all there is to the Junior. As you can see from the video and pictures below, a lot of visual treats are in too. 17-inch white-painted wheels, satin chrome headlamp surrounds, some stickers here and there, white mirror caps, a chromed exhaust exit and a little spoiler make up the Junior’s exterior add-ons list.
Moving on to the inside of the little Alfa Romeo supermini, the MiTo Junior’s cabin is characterized by sporty two-tone cloth seats adorned with white stitching, white graphics for the instrument cluster, floor mats and a flat bottom steering wheel. A final touch comes in the form of a 5-inch touchscreen multimedia system with AM/FM radio, AUX/USB ports, as well as Bluetooth and voice commands.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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