Alfa Romeo Stelvio – design
Careful styling tweaks have kept the Stelvio looking fresh – it's more desirable than it ever was
We weren’t so sure about the Alfa Romeo Stelvio when first observing it spinning on a turntable at the 2016 Los Angeles auto show. That car was in full Quadrifoglio specification and wore large alloy wheels, a lower ride height and a chunky body kit. It looked large, bulky and a bit heavy-handed in its details, and while the base model was more elegant, it had a different problem in that for an Alfa, it looked too generic.
Somehow, through a series of minor design tweaks, the facelifted Stelvio is genuinely attractive – particularly when specified in the wonderful Misano blue paint colour of our test car. Alfa has subtly reworked the front grilles and painted the lower body elements gloss black – combined with attractive SZ-inspired headlights, smoked tail lights and darkened exhaust tips, the overall look is decidedly more upmarket and distinctive than before.
There are still some uncomfortable angles – the rear overhang looks a little too long and overall it has the proportions of a jacked-up hatchback rather than a dedicated SUV, and it’s beginning to show its age in some areas, but the Stelvio is quite a handsome vehicle on the whole.
