Apart from the DNA switch, another cabin novelty on the Veloce model is Blue&Me - a hands-free, voice activated, Bluetooth system developed jointly by Fiat and Microsoft, and which also incorporates a media player via a USB port on the centre tunnel.
Externally, the Veloce can be distinguished by red brake callipers, a rear spoiler, a sports rear bumper with an air-extractor, and exclusive 17-inch alloys. And you can distinguish the 155 version from the fact that it is probably pulling away from you. Press the DNA button forward and wait for Dynamic to kick in - it's not instant - and you can feel the revs change as the throttle-response is re-geared, as if a miniature after-burner has been ignited. And the thing is, you know it's meant to feel that way.
Compared to, say, the VW Polo, which is first and foremost a rather passive city car beefed up for the GTi version, the Alfa Romeo Mita strikes you as having been born a 155 Veloce, and then developed into milder versions to satisfy a compliance officer in his small, germ-free, risk-assessed office somewhere in the corner of the factory. I guess the lesser models are for regular blood-donors - you would have to be a few pints short not to choose the 155.
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born a 155 Veloce, and then developed into milder versions |
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But all the models have the distinctive Alfa face with its asymmetric number plate, reinforced by the inclusion of design cues from the Alfa 8C Competitzione supercar. And if you buy a car designed in Milan and built in a factory called Miafiori, wouldn't you expect it to have more flair than a car from Swindon or Burlaston? From every angle, the Mito draws attention, and even if you decide on a lead-in model, you need to get quite close to spot the details that mark you down as a 95 bhp person. Even so, with DNA, you can kid yourself you have 98 horses.
Only 3-door Mitos are available, and accessing the rear seats is a bit of a squeeze on the Veloce as the deeply bolstered front sports seats leave little space when tipped forward. Apart from the sports seats, which are exclusive to the Veloce, all Mitos get air-conditioning, a proliferation of airbags, LED rear lights, a fire-protection system, and follow-me-home lights. The Veloce also gets a front armrest containing a small compartment. None of them gets a decent boot; with the rear seats in place, the boot volume is a meagre 9.5 cubic feet. But does it really matter? All you need as an honorary Italian are a few silk briefs and a change of handbag. What the girls would carry, I've no idea.
A copper called yesterday to return my plate. Apparently they caught a suspect after a lengthy car chase. "Lucky he didn't have one of these," mused the policeman, nodding at the Mito parked in the driveway. "Fortunately he only had an old banger. He's down the station now, and the Sarge is about to grill him."
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