ALFA ROMEO ALFETTA

TIME TRAVEL

Words Remigio Camilla / Photos Alessandro Marrone

To find out what moves the interest of a vintage car enthusiast favoring a particular brand and model has always aroused my curiosity and interest, because behind each person who chooses, behind every car chosen, there is always an engaging story.

Marco had already introduced some of his cars on these pages, including the Giulietta Spider with a pleasant story of memories and feelings that was the protagonist of the article released in September/October 2021 and entitled “Family Treasure”. In this issue he presents the Alfetta which has been the subject of a long, difficult and complex search that lasted about 30 years, in which Marco never gave up and when he almost lost hope the car found him. It was indispensable for a dip into his past as a child. It is he himself who confides to me that at his age one also begins to live of small memories, such as not being able to forget his first encounter with this car.

 

 

 

We are in 1972, his father loves the Alfa Romeo brand had already owned a Giulia Super 1600 and a 1750 sedan, but when the Alfetta is officially presented in May, the temptation is too strong and he decides to order it immediately, without however saying anything to Marco and his brothers. This was probably one of the first to be delivered in Genoa. One day, coming back home, the father tells the children to look out on the balcony, below there’s the Alfetta in all of its splendor, ready to be admired and caressed. You could smell the perfume emanated by the paint and the materials of the interior, that’s how the children of that time liked to do in order to get to know it in every detail. They are immediately attracted by the line, the aggressive nose sloping forward, high tail and the very particular color – Pine Green – not the usual gray or blue. Immediately on board, their father took them for a ride talking about the transaxle system, the bridge De Dion, concepts still too difficult and elusive for them, but they understood very well that the car had extraordinary cornering skills.

 

 

 

Already in that year the Alfetta was used for a long journey to Tunisia, with passages on the edge of the desert, fords and so much heat for five people on board and without air conditioning, but there were deflectors very useful for ventilation and traveling with the windows closed. The father was enthusiastic about the technical innovations brought by this car, for its precision in cornering he said it was like being on rail tracks and the children watched him drive with great satisfaction, sitting on the back seat on long journeys around Europe, without ever meeting a rival. Marco even remembers when for the first time the Alfetta was driven by his mother who, with great ease, had gone from second to third skidding. Meanwhile, the years on board the Alfetta passed and Marco, getting a driving license, was still able to drive it for a couple of years, arousing the good-natured envy of his friends, because the Alfetta was able to perfectly combine sportiness, practicality and comfort. In fact, they had gone to Pisa for the military visit in five people having a lot of fun and blasting the motorway from La Spezia to Pisa.

 

 

 

Here are the reasons why Marco has been patiently looking for an Alfetta Verde Pino for 30 years. It was the search for a car, but at the same time for the emotions, sensations, noises, scents that the would allow him to make his time travel 50 years back and finally be able to relive the indelible memories that he had kept within himself for so many years. Marco’s is a proper history, an adventure, but also an act of love towards this car and above all towards his father who has been able to pass on the passion for Alfa Romeos along the family tree. This Alfetta is in all respects the same, found in Bergamo, a 1974 first series with narrow shield, 1,800 cc and with about 80,000 km.

 

 

 

When Marco withdrew it, it was natural to take it home on the normal road and not on the motorway, so as to being able to enjoy it to the fullest driving on b roads and once arrived he do not want to go down again. The instinct was to close the eyes and go back being a child on the back seat watching his dad driving and then, suddenly see himself as an adult for the first time at the wheel of the Alfetta. The driving impressions are still of a sports car, with a powerful and responsive engine, with the typical Alfa roar, that of the big cat that only Alfisti can understand, brakes always on point and that unmistakable behavior when cornering, which, as his father used to say: “it’s like being on rail tracks”. Once through a bend, it follows the line and reacts with counter-steering if the opening of the two double barrel carburetors happens earlier than usual. The gearbox was criticized for the second gear that scratches and with the tendency to do it especially when cold. You have to get used to that, but then again if it does not scratch in second what kind of Alfetta is that?! We even forget that we don’t have electric windows, or air conditioning, in the meantime there are the legendary rear glass deflectors. The soundproofing for those times was very good, indeed it was one of the many flagships of the Alfetta, today it is not even comparable to modern cars.

 

 

 

In order to bring it back as it should have been, some small works were carried out, such as assembling the iron rims on 165 Pirelli Cinturato tires and a decent exterior mirror, which on the first series did not exist. A few small cosmetic adjustments to the bodywork and a car radio of the time. Now the Alfetta is really ready and the dream has come true. At the beginning of the 1970s, Alfa Romeo was engaged in two important projects. The first was the creation of a front-wheel drive car, certainly in contrast with the Alfa philosophy hitherto pursued and certainly not loved by purists. The market demand at that moment, however, was that and it seemed necessary to have at least one model with these technical solutions in the price list in order to compete with the opponents. The other important project was to replace that masterpiece of undisputed success that until then had been the Giulia, the sporty sedan suitable for families still able to win races, a model much loved by Alfisti and desired by many motorists. The Alfetta was ready in 1971, but the Alfa Romeo management had decided to give priority and a lot of prominence to the Alfasud, especially for the technical innovations it contained like boxer engine, front wheel drive, two-volume bodywork.

 

 

 

The choice of the name Alfetta is historically linked to two famous racing cars, with which Alfa Romeo had distinguished itself with numerous victories in Grand Prix, between the end of the 30’s up to early 50s of the last century. This nickname was affectionately given to the model 158 and the 159 model by Alfa fans, for the compactness, slenderness, agility and power that the two cars possessed, qualities that had made them famous and unbeatable in the 1,500 cc class. The last victory took place in 1951 in the World Championship with drivers Nino Farina and Jean Manuel Fangio, after which Alfa Romeo decided to abandon the world of F1, to dedicate their energies and economic resources in the design and construction of the Giulietta, the model which will take the brand from a semi-industrial to an industrial image.

 

 

 

The new Alfetta model was presented in May 1972 and this year turns 50. At the time it was technologically very advanced, with solutions never adopted before from Alfa on its production cars. Precisely these technical skills had convinced the board to reuse the glorious nickname Alfetta as the official name for the new model. Surely the lovers would have liked it very much. The big news that the Alfetta introduced in the world of Alfa Romeo was the transaxle scheme, with the 5-speed gearbox in single block with an hydraulically operated differential and clutch, brake discs positioned inboard directly upon exiting the differential of the drive shafts and the adoption of the bridge De Dion, all positioned at the back. This technical choice guaranteed the Alfetta two great advantages: a better weight distribution for a impeccable grip and a reduction of the front dimensions of the internal tunnel which offered more legroom for the driver and passenger. However, there was no lack of criticism to this choice by many Alfisti who complained of a lower precision due to the complexity of the levers that had to reach the gearbox at the rear. Despite this small flaw, the Alfetta was truly innovative compared to all previous models produced so far.

 

 

 

The only car superior to this was the big sister, the Alfa 2000, with a higher top speed of about 7 kph and an acceleration from standstill 1 second quicker. It could not be otherwise, the new Alfetta had inherited the twin-shaft engine of the 1750 that it replaced together with the Giulia, but modified in the shape of the manifolds and in the oil pan which now allowed a power of 122 horsepower, improving overall power and elasticity. The cooling circuit was sealed and the radiator was for the first time on an Alfa Romeo equipped with an electric fan controlled by a thermostatic switch. Silence had also been improved compared to previous models through better soundproofing of the body. Alfa Romeo had declared a CX of 0.42, a good value that allowed it a speed of 184 kph in fifth gear, a speed that none of its rivals at the time had managed to achieve. Another thing introduced on this model is the abandonment of the roller screw steering in favor of a rack and pinion steering, ready and direct, to which initially it was necessary to pay attention in fast corners, because if you pushed too much the Alfetta tended to bring out the tail, but this feature appealed above all to lovers of sporty driving.

 

 

 

The Alfetta line created by the Alfa Romeo Centro Stile led by Giuseppe Scarnati is characterized by smooth, taut and angular surfaces, certainly the studies carried out towards the end of the 60s of the last century for the 1750 bodywork had influenced Scarnati for the realization of the Alfetta, especially in the front where the bonnet is flat and connected without unevenness to the fenders. The grille is divided into two specular parts by the shield which is positioned in relief on a flush sheet metal support in the same color as the bodywork. The 4 headlights of equal diameter gave it a decidedly aggressive and elegant look. Very particular and characterizing is the high trend of the tail at the point of connection with the rear pillar, and then sliding downwards, in order not to weigh down the line and facilitate rear visibility. The solution of the high tail, even if initially criticized, had the double advantage of improving aerodynamics and increasing load capacity, remarkable when compared with saloons of the era of the same and even higher category. The fuel tank and spare wheel were located under the trunk floor. The sides did not have grooves or moldings, only a simple fold of sheet metal to stiffen them to mark the belt line.

 

 

 

The interior habitability and ride comfort were very good thanks to the larger dimensions of the passenger compartment, in line with the philosophy of the brand, a combination of comfort and sportiness that had always characterized Alfa sedans. The driver’s seat had good ergonomics, the seat and steering wheel adjustments in height made possible to always find a good position. The elegant, well-designed dashboard with horizontal development retraced the patterns already adopted on previous models with wood finishes, the inscription Alfetta in polished steel on the right above the glovebox, the instrumentation was inserted in a special rectangular compartment raised above the rest of the dashboard and it contained the circular instrumentation, with a larger diameter for the odometer and tachometer and a smaller diameter for the three instruments related to the fuel gauge, water temperature and clock. In addition, a rich series of warning lights and buttons completed the entire panel, the sporty-tone steering wheel with wooden crown had the shape of a chalice with three spokes on which a button for the horn was positioned. On the tunnel under the dashboard, in a very convenient position, there was a playful radio cabinet. At the time, Alfa included the Autovox Azzurra series. Overall, the judgment on the Alfetta at the time was of a car with remarkable performance, with excellent cornering skills and braking, while the criticisms were aimed above all at the improved finishes, the slight noisiness of the transmission in neutral gear and the maneuverability of the gearbox (mainly in second gear) … but if it doesn’t scratch in second, what kind of Alfetta is this?!