Scrapyard Gem: 2011 Alfa Romeo Giulietta
Alfa Romeo first applied the Giulietta name to its cars in 1954, producing that legendary generation through 1965. The name was revived on a wild-looking sedan for the 1977-1985 period, just before Fiat bought the company, and then returned on a compact hatchback for the 2011 model year. Today’s Junkyard Scrapyard Find is one of those first-year third-gen Giuliettas, found in a self-service yard in Yorkshire, England.
Copart-owned U-Pull-It has two stores in Great Britain, one in England and the other in Scotland. I have documented quite a few not-available-on-our-side-of-the-water vehicles found during my trip over there, including a 2005 Smart ForFour, a 2002 BMW 320td, a 2005 Vauxhall Tigra TwinTop, a 2008 Mitsubishi i, a 2007 Mitsubishi Colt, a 2006 Peugeot 307 CC, a 2006 Hyundai Matrix, a 2006 Ford StreetKa, a 2000 Honda HR-V, a 1994 Rover 620 Si, a 2010 Peugeot Bipper, a 2009 Alfa Romeo Brera S, a 2010 Citroën C4 Picasso, a 2005 MG ZT 190 and a 1963 Bentley S3.
This generation of Giulietta stayed in production through 2020, after which it was replaced by a Jeep Compass-related crossover that you can buy in the United States today.
This car’s closest U.S.-market relative was the 2013-2016 Dodge Dart, which was built on a widened version of the Giulietta platform; the 2015-2017 Chrysler 200 lived on a longer-wheelbase variation. The current Chrysler Pacifica still rides on a descendant of that chassis.
Alfa Romeo managed to get the Giulietta into a starring role in Fast & Furious 6, back in 2013.
There was talk in the early 2010s that the new Giulietta might be sold in the United States, but those tales turned out to lead nowhere. Instead, the 4C ended up being the first new Alfa Romeo available here since the last Spider Veloces and 164s were sold as 1995 models.
I couldn’t get the bonnet open on this car, quickly losing patience thanks to fingers frozen solid by Yorkshire January weather, so we’ll just have to speculate about the engine beneath. Giulietta shoppers in the U.K. market could get the ’11 with one of eight engine choices, ranging from the base 1.4 MultiAir straight-four petrol-burner and its 120 horsepower all the way up to a screaming 1.75-liter straight-four with 235 horses. Fiat Multijet diesels in 1.6- and 2.0-liter form were available as well.
This one has the base six-speed manual, which Dart buyers could get bolted into their cars (few did so).
Not only did European 2011 Giulietta buyers get a gratifyingly large list of engine choices, there were eight different alloy wheel types (and one Il Cheapo hubcap) to choose from.
This car has one of the two 16-inch alloy types.
A good-looking and practical machine that competed successfully against the Volkswagen Golf in its day, but which never stood much realistic chance of coming to our shores (and was squeezed out of relevance by the arrival of the SUV craze in Europe). It did stick around long enough to get a couple of facelifts, anyway.
Right-hand-drive used cars aren’t worth much on the other side of the Channel (Malta is the closest drive-on-the-left country outside of the British Isles, followed by Cyprus and then Kenya), so this one depreciated more quickly than its LHD brethren.
Uma Therman: “I am freedom. I am strength. I am technology. I am Giulietta. Without heart, we would be mere machines”. There was a battle-of-the-sexes version with Chris Isaak soundtrack as well. I think I prefer the higher-production-value Kylie Minogue Ford StreetKa commercial, if I’m honest.
It’s not a car. It’s an Alfa Romeo! We’re nearly certain nobody ever said that about the Dodge Dart.
