Italy’s honeymoon with Sergio Marchionne would be well and truly over if the the Fiat CEO were to pass such a well-loved brand into the hands of the German VW Group, proving that the Germans are happy to tap the heritage and potential of a brand that the Italians either can’t or won’t. While on the basis of patriotism and nostalgia, the Italians are irked at the rumour, on the basis of car quality and bringing the brand back to life, there is more than one potential customer for a VW-built Alfa. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves - let’s look at the rumour in its detail.

According to Quattroruote magazine and Autoblog.it, VW design head Walter de Silva, has a soft spot for Alfas and has such has convinced Martin Winterkorn that if Alfa were to come up for sale, VW should buy. To this end, a project is already in place to quietly plan a takeover proposition which at this stage includes a one-billion euro investment. Given what is apparently a passion for Alfa design, de Silva has in mind already about eight models for Alfa, along with designs and drawings.

If this were true, things are already well underway at Volkswagen to buy Alfa Romeo without the Italian brand actually going on sale. But a stitch in time saves nine and despite the fear that Alfa models could start to take on German design characteristics - steady but a bit boring - could it be exactly what Alfa needs? We would need to do a double-take on the Alfa brand all of sudden becoming German, but if the rumour is to be believed things are more detailed than Volkswagen pipe dreams of owning a piece of history. Read on for the details.