Alfa Romeo’s Giulia Quadrifoglio lives on with a wild new special edition
Just ten Luna Rossas will be made, which is a tiny amount given the quite substantial aero it’s grown
As the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio enters its tenth year on sale, in comes the latest in a long line of special editions, the Quadrifoglio Luna Rossa. Quite unlike the stickers and trims jobs we’ve seen before however, something is immediately very different about it.
You will have seen it before clicking on the story, so let’s get it out the way – that… or er, those wings. Yes, we are properly in ‘oh god, we can’t discontinue it yet. What do we do?’ territory. Unexpectedly, Alfa Romeo calls the overall treatment the ‘low drag’ kit and the Luna Rossa ‘the most efficient Quadrifoglio ever’.
In addition to the swooping rear wings, we see canards on the front and sides (the latter reminiscent of those seen on the Giulia GTAm). The result is, Alfa claims, up to five times more downforce than the standard Quadrifoglio. In numbers, that’s a peak of 140kg at 186mph – that speed itself suggesting the aero doesn’t add drag, giving credence to Alfa’s efficiency claims.
The iridescent grey with black and red highlights colour scheme and indeed the name, come from the Luna Rossa race boat team and their AC75 boat, competitors in the 2024 America’s Cup. Alfa Romeo will be sponsoring the vessel for the 38th America’s Cup, to be held in Italy for the first time ever.
That influence carries through to the cabin, with the Sparco bucket seats featuring upholstery inspired by the crew’s life vests. Meanwhile the dash is trimmed in material from the Luna Rossa boat sails. The partnership has inspired those wild wings, too, their split design a nod to the efficient hydrofoil appendages of a proper race boat. Just don’t take them too literally and put your Quadrifoglio Luna Rossa upside down in the Bay of Naples…
Powertrain and chassis hardware remain unchanged – not even the damping and spring rates to account for the added aero load. That means no more than the standard car’s 517bhp from its 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6, the same mechanical limited-slip differential and the same electronically adjustable dampers. No protests here, we love the Giulia Quadrifoglio as is.
The changes that have gone into the Luna Rossa special edition come courtesy of Bottegafuoriserie, the ultra-exclusive division shared by Alfa Romeo and Maserati that handles highly bespoke creations. The Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale and Maserati MCXtrema are previous creations it brought to life. All ten Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio Luna Rossa editions are sold.
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Don’t worry though, they won’t be the last Giulias. The model is set to live on throughout 2026 and possibly beyond following the delay of its successor, as Stellantis gets to grips with a rethink of the all-electric strategy the next Giulia was until very recently, set to be a part of. Again, no protests. We’d happily see it stay on sale for the rest of the decade, if only as a continuous reminder to its competitors that smaller, lighter and simpler is better when it comes to sports saloons.
