There are times when I just trust people absolutely. Like the pilot who is lifting my plane off the runway, who I figure wants as much to make a successful takeoff (and, later, landing) as I want him to do.

And like the professional race drivers who sometimes take me around racetracks at speeds which are far beyond my ability, in order to show me just how far their cars can be pushed.

It’s at time like that last that I realise just why they put a grab handle in road cars. Because they don’t have racing harness for passengers being chauffeured around roads like the Alfa Romeo test track at Balocco in Italy. Shufting down from 220kph into a double whammy bend when you don’t have a steering wheel to hang onto is precarious.

But you trust drivers like Alphonse, who was doing just that with me in the passenger seat. Because they know what they are at. And because they know their track.

And you trust the car in which they are raising both temperatures (on tyres especially) and heartbeats (mine!). Because it is an Alfa Romeo 156 GTA.

(And you trust both because, once you’ve agreed to be driven, you have run out of choice.)

The GTA is coming to Ireland shortly. No price set yet, but it won’t be cheap. And for those, probably relatively few, who will go for one, performance will transcend price.

It is, on first view, a mighty machine.

Not the most powerful road car ever - the 250bhp which it outputs is not exactly extraordinary, though with the imminent arrival of the 220bhp Mondeo ST220 it will have that particular car out-bhp’d at least.

And it will be planting those horses on any tarmac its owner chooses under seriously good control and without any unnecessary fuss.

It will also be reviving the GTA suffix which was proudly borne by the Alfa Giulia Sprint in saloon racing from the mid-60s.

The latest GTAs are saloon and Sportwagon (above) versions of the 156, using the theme that it is a ‘champion to drive to work’.

Under the hood is a 3.2-litre V6, an engine derived from the classic 3-litre 24-valve unit topping the range of the standard 156 and GTV Alfas. The capacity has been increased by lengthening the stroke, which has a byproduct effect of making the car more tractable at lower engine speeds.

A 6-speed gearbox allows the best use of the power and 300kgm torque, but the underlying smoothness of the car permits easy pulling away from less than 2000rpm in even sixth gear. There’s a Selespeed option which allows clutchless gearchanging using either the F1-type steering wheel shifting or the ‘Tiptronic’ style central lever shift (which I still prefer).

They’ve done things to the steering and the suspension. The first is exceptionally responsive and easy in use for a sports car. But not overlight. The front suspension is specific to the GTA in practically every respect to deal with the special needs of a high-powered FWD car, which can otherwise suffer from massive torque steer.

The rear suspension is also pretty far advanced from its basic MacPherson configuration, providing increased grip on corners and a better car balance.

An anti-slip regulation (ASR) is operational by default and optimises traction at any speed with the aid of brakes and engine control. You can turn it off. Alphonse did. For me, at much lesser velocities, it meant I could drive free of worry that mucking things up might be majorly embarassing at the least.

OK, so most of you won’t be driving under test track conditions, and part of the GTA ownership benefit is that people in the know do know what you are motoring in.

Externally there’s first a strongly-sculpted front end underneath the bumper, with inplace foglights. Wider wings make space for 17” wheels with special to GTA 5-hoop wheels. At the back there’s an ‘extractor’ element in the rear bumper, and a fairly discreet dual tailpipe gives away the special car to those just passed out.

There are also special interior elements, including leather-trimmed sports seats. Instrument dials are also special to the GTA.

I value my value to those who depend on me, and, honestly, I don’t overcook any excursions on the track which I may have to make from time to time. There are younger immortals in my company who can do that if they wish. And, equally honestly, I didn’t try to be an instant F1 driver when Alphonse ceded the GTA's wheel to me at Balocco.

But I was getting quite comfortable with the car on my second and last trip around the circuit. Comfortable is what they tried to make this 156 from its inspiration, because what became apparent to me was that once I was beginning to get that way with it, I was starting to let it do what it was able to do best: be a car which I could be at one with.

There wasn’t time for a full getting to know the car, or learning the track on my own. But I came away with the distinct feeling that if I’d had a couple of hours real instruction, and the rest of the day practising at Balocca, I could have come close to achieving what Alfa has spent a lot of engineering effort into providing: a seamless oneness with the car.

Meantime, my eldest son, who has owned - and loves - an Alfa 156 for the last couple of years, will be very jealous of me when he reads where I’ve been and what I’ve been in. He has a right to be.

I’ll be using a GTA in Ireland soon, on real Irish roads and Irish driving conditions. That’s the acid test. Even could be, maybe, for Alphonse.



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