Alfa Romeo's new 3-door 147

The new and rather attractive Alfa Romeo 147 hatch will be officially launched in Australia. It wasn't originally slated for a local release, but Alfa Romeo Australia said customer demand was so high, they will bring the car here in September.

The sexy new 147 hatch has been one of Europe's most popular small cars, winning the prestigious 2001 European Car of the Year award. Why did it win this award? Read on...

The brand-spanking 147 hatch proved very popular in Europe. So much so, that in its first month on sale, 55,000 vehicles were snapped up - in Italy alone!

The production numbers were a generous 80,000 units, but this has recently been upped to 120,000 as the car is selling like proverbial hotcakes. The UK saw a 82 per cent sales increase, thanks to the 147 hatch and now orders for the car stretch well into 2002.

Even here, 200 Australian's have already put their cash on the table. The first shipment has been completely sold, with the second delivery mostly accounted for.

It would be sufficient to say the new 147 hatch is one of this year's, and perhaps even next year's most desired European cars.

The new look 147 hatch is bold, but not obnoxiously so. The nose of the car gives it a retro angle, similar in philosophy to the PT Cruiser. The tall grille drops down quite low and the result is a look quite unlike any other hatch in existence.

The sculpted headlights look very suave and both from the rear and the side, the 147 hatch is poetry in motion. The new design is so far removed from the generic Japanese-built models that people instantly warm to the Italian car.

But why is it so popular? Alfa Romeo attributes much of this to the cars trim levels. Even if you ignore the PR spin about how good these cars are inside, there is no denying that, for a hatch, you get almost luxury-car features.

For starters, the 147 comes with no less than six air-bags, fitted as standard. You get an eight-speaker, CD sound system, steering-wheel buttons to operate radio and, if you don't want the manual five-speed model, why not opt for the F1-inspired Selespeed gear-box, instead?

Other extras include 16-inch alloy wheels, tinted windows, cup holders, an exterior temperature gauge, leather steering wheel, trip computer and cloth-trimmed sports seats.

To top it off you get dual-zone climate control with air quality sensor and automatic recirculation, a rain sensor for automatic wipers, cruise control and more - but to get to it all, we'd have to upgrade our servers!

Running the whole show is Alfa's famous Twin Spark, 2.0-litre mill. The twin spark is, as the name suggests, uses two spark plugs per cylinder to ensure more instant acceleration.

The four-cylinder engine has four valves per cylinder, double overhead camshafts and uses a Bosch Motronic (ME.7) electronic injection system, complete with variable geometry inlet manifold. It also makes use of variable valve timing for extra oomph at various revs.

Most of this technical jargon means that the 1,970cc engine offers a wide spread of torque, whether spinning close to the redline or cruising slowly through traffic. The dual spark engine outputs a maximum of 110kW (150bhp) @ 6,300rpm. Like most four-cylinder engines, this one loves to rev hard. It is capable of just under 210km/h and can accelerate from 0-100km (from standstill) in a smidge over nine seconds. The car weighs about 1250kg and has a fuel capacity of 60-litres.

At the end of the day, we can't help but be impressed with the new short-wheel based 147. It will go head-to-head with the likes of the VW Golf and Audi A3 hatches, but it goes into the fight as the odds-on favourite.

The European models all come with a funky digital navigation system in the centre console, though this has not yet been confirmed for the local release.

Alfa Romeo has mixed traditional and modern design cues to great effect - heads will turn when one of these babies flies by - that much is certain. The 2001 European Car of the Year will make a huge impression on Australian roads when the car hits Alfa dealerships in September. It may not revolutionise the way we look at cars, but it will come very close. No price point was available at the time of writing.