More and more people are buying Alfa Romeos, but few of them are women. In fact, for every five females who opt for Italy's most romantic badge, there's a queue of 95 slavering blokes. Angie Voluti, the marque's voluble spokeswoman, has a controversial theory about her cars' entrenched male appeal: 'If you think about the 156, it's not hard to work out why men love it. When a man sees the front of this car coming towards him, it reminds him of a woman.'

This bodes well for the 166, Alfa's new flagship. Like the smaller 156, it too has a pubic triangle in the middle of the bonnet. Unlike the 156, which hid its rear door handles, there's little attempt to disguise the fact that this is a four-door machine. But for flowing lines, it's up there with the best sports cars. Alfa Romeo, it seems, cannot make an ugly car.

You might expect a new Alfa to be launched in the shadow of Vesuvius, or the Alps. Alfa Romeo UK will hear no such thing. Even in mid-January, it prefers to play host at the Ackergill Tower, a castle south of John o'Groat's which boasts the quietest road in the UK. A good place to assess the 166's finer qualities.

These are plentiful. For a start, though it's big, it's all crafted to shrink around the driver. The ride is silky though stiff enough to be sporty, the steering is finely balanced and the noise levels are very low. Switch up a gear, squeeze the throttle and listen... whether 2.0 litre, 2.5 or 3.0 V6, all options play Alfa's throaty signature tune.

It's just as well that they make sweet music, because the stereo system, along with the trip computer and climate control, interfaces with an LCD multi-control display in an in-car PC which is so unintuitive that it had me in a fit of Luddite rage within a few miles. Are humble knobs for heating and music really such an abhorrence? Extras include a bit of padding on the front doors for your elbows. And if you must have a laptop, there's a plug in the back. If you like to smoke, the car has three ashtrays.

Otherwise, you might like to leave the smouldering to the Alfa itself. In a world of soft options, this is a sharp-dressed car.

• Prices start at £23,371 for the 166 2.0 Twin Spark, extending to £30,470 for the semi-auto 3.0 V6 Sportronic. On sale now.