Alfa Giulia Driver Rescues Mini Electric Driver From Side of Road

Normally, a recued driver isn’t news, but in this Alfa Romeo Giulia review, we rescued David from his Electric Mini country drive. The irony of an Alfa driver recuing a BMW driver is not lost on me.

Alfa, and indeed all Stellantis brands, have taken a beating on reliability over the last decade or two. They’ve been serially accused of shoddy design, haphazard manufacture, and crime above all crimes, lacklustre after sales care.

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To combat this, Peugeot and Citroen added previously pondered quality control points, and Jeep Jumped up their warranty, but Fiat floundered which also alienated Alfa. Stelantis brands just do not sell well in Australia, but why?

While you ruminate on that poser, cast your eyes over this pretty little thing, Alfa Romeo’s Giulia Sport the subject of our next review. It shares the odd bit of DNA with the related brands, but the look-and-feel, is all Alfa Romeo.

Above: This Week 2021 Subaru XV Hybrid Review

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ABOVE: 2021 Alfa Romeo Giulia and Mini EV

How does the Alfa Giulia Tie in to a Review About an Electric Mini?

This brings us to the video due to be shot after a thrilling weekend of four-leaf-fun. I was to meet up with our intrepid, oft-edited, interloper, David Brown. He was on assignment deep in the carefully-corked heart of New South Wales’ wine country. His task was to travel 300km there, and 300km back, in a car with a theoretical range of 200km, but a practical range more like 160km. Could it be done easily? How was the charging dealt with?

Then it all went horribly wrong.

Our plans to shoot two videos, turned into a recue of one car by another, or rather, one driver by another. Recent heavy rain has turned the fabulously twisty bucolic bliss, into the East End of London during WWII.

To cut a long story short, low sidewalls don’t play nice with deep pot holes. Worse still, Mini EVs don’t have run flats, relying on a can of goo instead. I think you can guess where this is going right? The pothole terminated tyre, alienating the alloy into the bargain. David called the cavalry, who put him up in some local rooms overnight. Next day, he was no closer to being independently mobile. The Mini required two tyres, and none could be found.

Before you do the Mini pile-on, remember this applies to every single car out there without a physical spare, even if it a space saver. It can happen to any of you, any time of the day, in any weather, even with a car full of family and friends.

Texts and Calls Followed

Enter the Alfa Giulia.

I headed up the M1 towards Newcastle, a 2 ½ hour trip made considerably shorter by a gaggle of new toll-tunnels. In just over 2 hours of blissful, grand-touring, I rolled into the erstwhile steel capital buoyed by a Golden Arches toasty/Skim Latte lunch combo.

There was David, cutting a lone figure in the carpark of the local BMW dealer. He could have, and probably should have, been furious. Instead, he took it with his usual convivial demeanour.

Minutes later we hit the road. Sadly, the Mini key remained secreted about David’s person, only to be returned in a late afternoon drive-by.

Meanwhile, as a nod to 50’s Italian movies, the Alfa film was made against the backdrop of an autumn sun sliding behind the Newcastle cityscape with the crashing waves of the Pacific behind us. The film and review will come later this week, but let me leave with a few thoughts, if you think you can manage hassle-free without a spare, think again.

It doesn’t matter which brand, or which model, a can of goo will let you down. While we’re on the subject, Euro car makers have a deep love for run-flat tyres. They cannot be repaired, and a flat will cost you in the region of $800.