A four-seat fastback with a hybrid twin-turbo V6, shown at the Paris Motor Show as a design manifesto. It won't be built as shown, but its look arrives on a new Alfa SUV in early 2028.
Alfa Romeo unveiled the Cuorerosso on October 11 for its world debut at the 2026 Paris Motor Show. It is a low, deep-red four-seat fastback that Alfa calls a manifesto rather than a preview of a production car (Alfa Romeo). It won't be built as shown. What it does is set the look, the cabin ideas and the performance thinking for the next wave of Alfas, starting with an SUV due in early 2028 (Auto Express). For the rest of the show's performance debuts, see our Paris Motor Show 2026 roundup.
The name means "red heart," and Alfa leans on that idea in the paint, the lighting and the way the cabin color deepens toward the driver (Alfa Romeo). It is not a hypercar, and Alfa hasn't given a power figure or a price.
Alfa's Centro Stile in Turin, led by design chief Alejandro Mesonero, started by modeling the car as one solid shape with no wheels, glass or details, so the team could get the proportions and surfaces right before adding anything else. Alfa calls the philosophy behind it "bellezza necessaria," or necessary beauty: strip out what isn't needed and give every remaining part a job (Alfa Romeo).
The result is very clean. The windows sit flush with the body, the logos are built into the bodywork, there are no conventional door handles (the doors open from a touch control on the roof) and Motor1 notes the absence of the gloss-black trim common on new cars. A wedge line runs the length of the side and ends in a Coda Tronca, the cut-off tail Alfa has used for decades. There is no active aero or moving wing, yet Alfa quotes a drag coefficient of 0.28, which Automotive News points out matches the Tesla Model S (Alfa Romeo; Motor1; Automotive News).
The front keeps Alfa's Trilobo layout: the shield-shaped Scudetto grille in the middle, flanked by slim headlights. The grille is a weave of small backlit triangles that form the cross and serpent from the Alfa badge and pulse like a heartbeat. The shield shape carries on into ridges down the hood and even into the shape of the rear window (Alfa Romeo).
The forged wheels are a modern take on Alfa's classic "telephone dial" design. Motor1 sees the 33 Stradale in the swollen rear wheel arches, and Alfa says the thin horizontal dashboard was inspired by both the 1967 33 Stradale and the new 33 Stradale. Auto Express sees the 8C Competizione in the tail, down to the round lights and the flick on the trunk lid. A Quadrifoglio badge sits on the front fender (Alfa Romeo; Motor1; Auto Express).
The paint is a new color called Liquid Ink red, made with an aluminum base under a tinted clear layer. Alfa says it reads as glowing red in direct light and shifts toward black as the angle changes (Alfa Romeo).
Alfa gives these figures: 4,700 mm long (about 185 inches), 1,980 mm wide, 1,331 mm tall, a 2,930 mm wheelbase and a weight of 1,750 kg (about 3,860 lb). Motor1 compares the length to a Lexus IS or Tesla Model 3, and says Alfa kept the dimensions deliberately realistic, with room for two adults in the back. Access is through four doors hinged at opposite ends with no center pillar. Autocar notes the rear-hinged back doors and the lack of a normal trunk are features unlikely to reach a showroom (Alfa Romeo; Motor1; Autocar).
The cabin is built around four individual seats and the driver. The instrument pod, which Alfa calls the Cannocchiale Vivente, can physically merge its two dials into one in its Concentrato setting, so there's less to look at as driving gets more serious. Drive modes are Cruise, Sport and Quadrifoglio. A screen Alfa calls the Magma Display sits on the center console and stays dark until needed, next to physical switches for the gear selector, modes and climate. Motor1 reports Alfa has patented the instrument and console systems (Alfa Romeo; Motor1).
Materials include Poltrona Frau nubuck only where your body touches it, a regenerated leather made with 60% post-industrial waste, and a transparent dashboard fabric developed with the Luna Rossa sailing team. There's even a removable bag built into the passenger side of the dash. Steering is steer-by-wire. Alfa describes a reinterpreted three-spoke wheel, while Auto Express, which saw the car early, describes it as yoke-style (Alfa Romeo; Auto Express).
Alfa describes the "epitome of performance" version as a full-hybrid 2.9-liter twin-turbo V6, the engine family from today's Giulia and Stelvio Quadrifoglio, with Q4 all-wheel drive, a torque-converter automatic and a carbon fiber driveshaft. Hardware includes air suspension and Brembo carbon-ceramic brakes. Alfa hasn't published horsepower; Motor1 says the company suggests electrification could take it beyond the current Quadrifoglio. Alfa also says future models will offer electric, plug-in hybrid, mild-hybrid and full-hybrid options, in a lineup with models up to 4.7 meters long and room for Quadrifoglio versions (Alfa Romeo; Motor1).
Alfa CEO Santo Ficili told Auto Express the first production car to wear this look is a model launching "at the beginning of 2028" in the upper part of the compact SUV class, which Auto Express reports is the Tonale replacement. Motor1 instead links the design to the compact SUV Alfa has announced for 2027. We are going with the CEO's own on-record timing. Auto Express also reports the current Giulia and Stelvio end production next year, a larger hatchback is planned after the new SUV, and Ficili says Alfa is "evaluating" its larger models. Automotive News reports that Alfa is looking for partners on a midsize model, with no guarantee of production (Auto Express; Motor1; Automotive News).
As soon as we launch that car, you will immediately recognise something coming from this concept.
— Santo Ficili, Alfa Romeo CEO, to Auto Express
Not confirmed: whether any production car keeps this fastback shape, and whether the hybrid V6 gets built. What is clear is that Alfa still plans a six-cylinder Quadrifoglio in some form.
What it means for buyers: there is nothing to order. For Alfa fans, the takeaway is the design direction, which should show up first on the 2028 SUV. The current Giulia and Stelvio Quadrifoglio are near the end of their run, and they may be the last of the V6 cars without hybrid help.
Paris is a heritage show this year: an 816 hp Peugeot hatch, a 500 hp electric RCZ revival, a carbon NSX rebuild from €880,000, a retro Alpine and a hybrid V6 Alfa. Porsche's Mission S is still to come on October 15.
Italian race car builder JAS Motorsport is showing the finished Tensei in Paris: a first-generation Honda NSX rebuilt with a carbon body by Pininfarina, a Judd-tuned V6 and a six-speed manual. Only 35 will be made, from €880K plus your own donor car.
Peugeot's 205 T16 tribute has three electric motors, 816 hp and a 2.5-second 0 to 62 mph time, making it the most powerful Peugeot ever. It's a concept, but the CEO says it can be built, possibly for €200K+ in a run of fewer than 1,000 cars.
