A new deal between Alfa Romeo and an Italian entrant in the America's Cup sailing competition is set to spawn limited-edition, high-performance road cars.
Alfa Romeo is preparing a new range of "very powerful" special-edition cars inspired by – and using lightweight parts derived from – racing yachts.
It is thanks to a new partnership between the Italian car brand and Luna Rossa, an Italian sailing team competing in the America's Cup, and owned by the CEO of fashion brand Prada.
Included in the new Luna Rossa special editions will be models based on Alfa Romeo's flagship Quadrifoglio performance-car range, currently comprised of the twin-turbo V6-powered Giulia sedan and Stelvio SUV.
Alfa Romeo has confirmed the new variants will initially be based on its current-generation models, amid reports the next Stelvio has been delayed to late 2026.
"The partnership is going to start now, and I believe that the next six to eight months are going to [see us] really working together," Cristiano Fiorio, Alfa Romeo head of global marketing communication and strategic projects, told Australian and Asian media.
"We have started already. Then I believe that in Q1 [January to March] 2026, we would like to start with something we have in our mind – very limited, very powerful.
"Then we would like to continue ... [with] the apex [of the range] in mid-to-end 2026 to cover the America's Cup, which is, of course, in 2027."
It is unclear if the limited editions will offer more power than the regular Quadrifoglio siblings, which use 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6 engines with 375kW and 600Nm.
Fiorio instead hinted at incorporating technology developed from sailing boats, including lightweight materials.
"It's a technical partnership, but also the willingness of having the two brands working together.
"We are working with the team from Luna Rossa, and with Lorenzo [Sirena, team director] in order to put all the know-how, the expertise of the design, the speed, the light materials into some limited-edition cars."
Asked how the Luna Rossa editions will fit in with the Quadrifoglio brand, he said: "I remember there was a strong commercial of an Italian brand [Pirelli tyres] saying that power is nothing without control.
"So I would say the first thing that we are trying to work out together is starting from the Quadrifoglio, which is our top performance brand, to find something that embeds the research of materials that we are doing together ... and having power and control together.
"This is, of course, the idea that we wanted to embed in this special edition. The research of high-end materials, possibly materials coming also from the sailing world, which are very interesting – we are studying it.
"And on the other side, of course, putting together the beauty of these two historical brands ... it has to be something embedded into the Quadrifoglio brand. So it's going to be basically something around Quadrifoglio."
The special editions may also extend to other cars in the Alfa Romeo range, CEO Santo Filici told media.
"Junior, Tonale, Giulia and Stelvio, we will start from these four fantastic models we have today in our range. Then, we will see also in the future, but there is already space to work with the current range of Alfa Romeo."
It comes as Alfa Romeo prepares to launch new generations of the Stelvio and Giulia.
Earlier plans called for the new Stelvio to be shown this year for a European market launch in early 2026 – followed 12 months later by the Giulia – but recent reports suggest the former has been pushed back by about six months.
It is reported that Alfa Romeo has elected to delay the launch of the new Stelvio's electric variant to instead develop a hybrid, which would come to market first.
Electric Quadrifoglio versions of the new Stelvio and Giulia have previously been confirmed with more than 750kW, but it is possible they may be switched to petrol engines, given cooling demand for battery-powered cars.
Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner
