Alfa Romeo Once Built a Bizarre MotoGP-Inspired Diesel Hot Hatch

After a little while away, Alfa Romeo is getting back into the world of the hatchback, and that’s likely to leave plenty of enthusiasts asking one question: will there be a hot one?

Alfa’s relationship with the hot hatch is a bit of a mixed bag – the Alfasud Ti is rightly regarded as a legend (even if it wasn’t technically a hatchback for most of its life), the 145 Cloverleaf is an underrated ’90s gem, the Giulietta Cloverleaf was fast but underwhelming and the less said about the MiTo Cloverleaf, the better.

Then, of course, there was the maddest, baddest and best-remembered Alfa hot hatch of all: the 147 GTA. Launched in 2002, this leather-clad Italian hot rod used the final 3.2-litre iteration of Alfa’s musical Busso V6, sending 247bhp through the front wheels alone, at a time when anything over about 200 was considered a bit much for wheels that also had to deal with steering.

Sure enough, the GTA was a dynamically flawed car, hampered mainly by its lack of a limited-slip diff to try and keep that power in check, but one that was bursting at the seams with charm and character and is now rightly viewed as a modern classic. Sadly, it didn’t stick around long – when the 147 was facelifted in early 2005, the GTA rumbled on for a while with its pre-facelift look before dying off later that year.

It wasn’t Alfa’s last attempt at a hot 147, though – it’s just that what came afterwards isn’t well remembered, and was really weird. Remember how we said the GTA was let down by its lack of an LSD? You should, it was only a paragraph ago. Well, in 2007, Alfa brought out a limited-run Sport trim level for the 147 which, along with a range of visual tweaks, came with the option of Alfa’s mechanical Q2 limited-slip diff.

There was just one thing – you could only get the diff if you ordered a 147 Sport with the 1.9-litre, 148bhp JTDm engine. That’s Jet Turbo Diesel MultiJet. Yes, the one thing the old V6-powered 147 GTA really needed later ended up on a diesel. And yes, that acronym has ‘jet’ in it twice. 

Just 350 of the Q2-equipped diesel 147 Sports were sold in Britain, but Alfa wasn’t done yet. In 2008, it announced another sporty diesel 147, this one a tie-in with the factory Ducati Corse MotoGP team. It was called, erm, the Ducati Corse, which also explains why literally all of Alfa’s UK press images feature 2007 MotoGP champ Casey Stoner posing with it. We’re sure you’re a lovely man, Casey, but can we please see the car?

As well as the benefit of the diff, the Ducati Corse also got a power bump to 168bhp, while torque went from 225 to 243lb ft, and it gained a Sport mode that sharpened up the otherwise dieselly throttle response. Meanwhile, visual changes included a set of unique 18-inch alloys, some highly questionable stripes on the sides, and the requisite smattering of Ducati Corse logos. Colours were limited to red, black or white.

This was an era when diesel hot hatches were officially A Thing – a year earlier, Renault had launched its own take on the genre, the Megane Renaultsport 175 dCi, and the oil-burning version of the Skoda Octavia vRS was popular too. With its 8.0-second 0-62mph run, the Alfa would out accelerate both of them, although its 134mph top speed was a little short of either. The 147 was cheaper too – it started at £17,495, compared to £18,950 for the Renault and over £20,000 for the Skoda. Sounds impressive until you remember the 147 was an eight-year-old platform by 2008.

Even when it was new, the Ducati Corse appeared to slip through the net a little, with contemporary reviews basically non-existent, and perhaps that’s not without good reason. This warm diesel 147, equipped with the one feature the earlier, properly hot petrol version needed but didn’t have, and inexplicably covered with the branding of a motorbike racing team, was always destined to become an obscurity. One thing’s for certain, though – if the upcoming Alfa hatch does spawn a hot version, it won’t be anything like this.