RAY MASSEY: Alfa Romeo Tonale not just for alpha males By Ray Massey Updated: 16:50 EDT, 7 June 2024 e-mail View comments Ever since seeing Dustin Hoffman drove his Alfa Romeo Spider in the classic film The Graduate, I've coveted one of these Italian sports cars. There's something romantic even in its name. I once got close to buying a second-hand Spider, though the tantalising soft-top's £2,500 asking price proved too much for my meagre budget at the time.
Adventurous youth gave way to wisdom and, instead, I am having fun living with the more sporty SUV incarnation of the Alfa Romeo stable — the Tonale crossover. WAGs are said to have dubbed it the 'toenail' but the correct Italian pronunciation is 'toe-nah-lay'. Its face combines beauty and menace in equal measure.
And with fewer Alfas on the road than other brands, you can better exhibit your individuality. It is available as both a mild self-charging hybrid with a 1.5-litre petrol engine at its heart, or as a 280 hp, petrol-electric plug-in hybrid (PHEV) marrying a 1.
3-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine with an electric motor, 15.5kWh battery and a six-speed automatic gearbox. Hot stuff: The Tonale Ray was driving came in a fetching shade of Alfa Red This is what I have been driving in a fetching shade of Alfa Red, one of three colours for the special edition model, Tributo Italiano.
The others are Montreal Green and Banchise White. Riding on 20 in alloy wheels, it has a claimed electric power range of 39 m.
