Alfa Romeo is 100 years old. The Italian car make started production in 1910 in Milan and soon made its name in racing cars.

Before the Second World War, only the rich could afford an Alfa Romeo. That changed in the 1950s with the arrival of the Giulietta, a sporty family car for the ordinary man on the street.

In the early 1960s Alfa Romeo tried to make new roads into the popular middle class market. But doubts about the quality of its Alfasud almost brought the company to its knees. In 1986, the ailing car maker was taken over by Fiat, which nursed it back to success.

Alfa Romeo is marking its centenary with the introduction of another version of the Giullietta. Plans to call the lastest model Milano were dropped as in the last 15 years, operations in Milan have been wound down.

Photo: Alfa Romeo - ANP