Alfa Romeo launched its first crossover with the new Stelvio this year, and we won't be surprised to see
additional versions proliferate in the coming months and years.
The term “coupe,” you may have noticed, doesn't mean
what it used to – especially when it comes to crossovers. Derived from the
French for “cut” or “chopped,” the designator has traditionally been applied to
two-door vehicles. But nowadays it's used to connote a crossover that's had it's roofline streamlined, but with no fewer
doors in the mix.
What rendering artist Theophilus Chin has done here
with the Alfa Romeo Stelvio is virtually transform it into a coupe in the
traditional sense, raking the windscreens more sharply – but also taking the
rear passenger doors out of the equation (and increasing the ground clearance).
The result looks pretty good to us, if not without
its measure of Mazda resemblance (which is not necessarily a bad thing). Alfa
Romeo may very well perform a “coupification” on the new Stelvio at some point,
but if it did, it'd be more likely to keep the doors – all of the doors – right
where they are.