This is potentially my last day with Giulietta, the keeper of the car is to be notified tomorrow. So to mark what has been a beautiful driving year I have decided to put together a list of things I shall miss most should I not be the lucky winner.

1. Admiring glances as I drive by or park up somewhere – people are impressed by this car.

2. Making handsfree phone calls with the Blue & Me system – voice activated so don’t even have to look up the number!

3. Little touches like this one when you close the driver door;

and then when you take the keys out of the ignition.

4. The incredibly cosy heating system. I put it to the test when disaster struch my Giulietta last week. Some little feckers smashed into my driver’s window, ignored the alarm going off and snipped out my sat nav – they then walked away (my neighbour watched from his balcony). So the lovely people at Alfa repaired it for me (thank you Aoife & Carl) and so I drove it to them with the window down – even with all that cold air blowing in I was toasty warm!

5. The beauty of the interior, particularly the dashboard. I must confess that I looked at a ‘just in case’ car a couple of weeks back. I was getting the car valeted for the ad recording and this was right beside a car dealership, so I wandered around. I saw a nice car, an estate, thought it looked ok so the guy gave me the keys. Walking towards it I was thinking ‘see this wouldn’t be so bad, it’s a nice car’ then the minute I sat in it my heart just sank. I read a review of an Alfa Romeo by Top Gear’s Richard Hammond and he described the interior as an high end italian espresso bar, he’s right it’s classy and beautiful and you only really appreciate it when you compare it to something else!

6. Having to engage central locking myself, I have really gotten used to a car that does it for you and I have felt nice and safe, particularly as I have a baba in the back.

7. Having to chose what gear to travel at myself – another beauty about the Giulietta is it recommends which gear is most efficient for the car. Even the odd time I have driven my husband’s car over the last year, I have found myself looking to the dash for the little arrow.

8. Driving a car with ‘a bit of poke’ in it, as my hubby describes it. Not that I’ve been racing it around the streets or anything but it is lovely to drive a car with a bit of power – heading up hills, taking off from traffic lights, you can just feel the strength of the engine. Plus it’s not a diesel guzzler, it’s pretty economical due to the engine’s design and the features such as the stop & start and gear change recommendations so you don’t pay for the power.

9. Just basically loving my car, I have always loved the freedom driving gives you since I learnt at 19 but I have never actually LOVED the car I drive. There is no denying the Giulietta Lusso is a top of the range beauty, anyone would fall for it but the competition has also made all of us really personalise our car with writing the blog so I’ve looked at the car is so much detail, it will definitely be a sad goodbye.

So all that remains to be said is good luck to all – there is no doubt that everyone has not only worked hard on the blog, tasks and ad but they all obviously love the car so there are worthy winners all round. Thanks for all in Alfa – Aoife, Adrian, Carl & Connor (for multiple iso fix fixing!) – for everything throughout the year and to Tractamotors for fixing up my second baby! And to my Giulietta Lusso the biggest thanks, it’s been emotional! And if I can’t have you, no one can……!

Please be advised that no Alfa Romeo Giuliettas were harmed in the making of this video, it is purely for comic value and in no way reflects my planned behaviour should I lose out, in fact I find it quite difficult to watch

Not so clever now…… At the eleventh hour, I have realised that perhaps I tried to do too much. Showing the many features of the Giulietta, getting in plenty of driving shots and ecorporating 3 movies all to be edited … Continue reading →

Finally got out to film the ad today! My camera man was my good friend Dave Davin, Raic Productions. He was one of the 5 people I suggested as a suitable target market for a Giulietta and at the time … Continue reading →

The final task in the race to drive away in the Giulietta for keeps is to film a 30″ TV ad showing off the car’s finery and the features which have added to our driving experience. I think the car … Continue reading →

Share on Facebook

The final stage of the Real People competition is coming to an end and each candidate must now put together a 30 second TV ad for the Giulietta. After being rained off twice (I’m just grateful we’re not experiencing last … Continue reading →

Once again, enjoyed a lovely long distance drive in the Giulietta today when work took me up North to film a piece for TV3′s Midweek on cross border shopping and whether or not it is worth the trip. While I … Continue reading →

I was driving my Giulietta from Dublin to Belfast where I had a meeting with Bord Failte about potentially taking part in Q&A sessions they plan to film and put on their website for tourists visiting Ireland. I set off … Continue reading →