Brera

Brera may refer to:

Alfa Romeo Brera and Spider

The Alfa Romeo Brera and the Alfa Romeo Spider (Type 939) are two sports cars manufactured by Alfa Romeo respectively between 2005-2010 and 2006-2010. The Brera is a 2+2 coupé, while the Spider is its roadster version. Both models were built by Pininfarina.

12,488 units of the Spider and 21,786 units of the Brera were built. Production of both models ended in late 2010, although remaining stock continued into 2011. The car also appeared in Need For Speed Carbon as a starter exotic vehicle.

Concept

The Brera originally appeared as a concept car at the 2002 Geneva Motor Show. It was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro at Italdesign Giugiaro. The concept version was powered with a Maserati V8 engine producing around 400 PS (290 kW; 390 hp). The Brera was widely acclaimed, and production plans were subsequently announced for 2005.

Production

The Alfa Romeo Brera was introduced in production form at the 2005 Geneva Motor Show. It translated the original's exterior appearance on a much smaller scale, becoming a mid-size coupé on the GM/Fiat Premium platform (shared with the Alfa Romeo 159), and designed to replace the outgoing GTV. A convertible Spider version of the Brera was also announced, to be launched shortly after the coupe and to replace the existing GTV-based Spider.

Alfa Romeo

Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. (Italian pronunciation: [ˈalfa roˈmɛːo]) is an Italian car manufacturer. Founded as A.L.F.A. ("Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili", translating to Anonymous Lombard Automobile Factory in English) on June 24, 1910, in Milan, the company has been involved in car racing since 1911. It was owned by Italian state holding company Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale between 1932 and 1986, when it became a part of the Fiat group. In February 2007, the Alfa Romeo brand was transformed into the current Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A., a subsidiary of Fiat Group Automobiles, now Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Italy.

The company that became Alfa Romeo was founded as Società Anonima Italiana Darracq (SAID) in 1906 by the French automobile firm of Alexandre Darracq, with some Italian investors. In late 1909, the Italian Darracq cars were selling slowly and the Italian partners of the company hired Giuseppe Merosi to design new cars. On June 24, 1910, a new company was founded named A.L.F.A., initially still in partnership with Darracq. The first non-Darracq car produced by the company was the 1910 24 HP, designed by Merosi. A.L.F.A. ventured into motor racing, with drivers Franchini and Ronzoni competing in the 1911 Targa Florio with two 24-hp models. In August 1915, the company came under the direction of Neapolitan entrepreneur Nicola Romeo, who converted the factory to produce military hardware for the Italian and Allied war efforts. In 1920, the name of the company was changed to Alfa Romeo with the Torpedo 20-30 HP the first car to be so badged.