Alfa Romeo Alfetta 1972 - 1987 - Model history

Alfa Romeo Alfetta

Alfa Romeo Alfetta

The love for a particular car manufacturer is most commonly expressed from an early age.

Many of us had the opportunity to play with small cars as children, and many years later we switched toys for real cars. From a young age, we began to have sympathy for certain manufacturers, and to this day that love lasts unconditionally. In the case of the author of this text, it all started with the Polystyle model Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV Turbo, in a scale of 1:25. Years of dating a small car have influenced me to carefully watch every Alfa Romeo model that goes on sale throughout my life. The following will show the history of the car that it once did Alfa Romeo so familiar. Alfetta GTV was, and still is, one of the misunderstood and underrated Alfa Romeo models. Technically the most advanced product that came out of the factory, before being taken over by Fiat, at the same time stylistically perfect and tragically accompanied by numerous flaws, which will be shown below. GTV, together with the Model 75, is the last true representative of the Italian style of car creation, embodied in a purely sports edition, with traditional rear-wheel drive. Ideas for the coupe and sedan version of the Alfa Romeo Alfette came about at the same time. The Alfetta sedan, designed by Bertone, premiered in 1972.

Alfa Romeo Alfetta

Alfa Romeo Alfetta

More attractive than BMW-a 2000 i Audi 100, the Alfetta sedan was primarily aimed at family people. For more independent buyers, however, it was necessary to create a two-door version and a 2 + 2 seat configuration. The work on this task has been entrusted to Giorgett Giugiar, a young designer from the Bertone home. The demands placed on it included a stylishly-trimmed body, two normal and two smaller seats, a rear-wheel-drive engine, all with car weight restrictions. As early as 1969 (in parallel with the development of the sedan version), Giugiaro presented his three coupe visions to Alfa leaders. Fastback form is common to all three solutions, with some elements more or less relying on the famous Montreal. Alfa's parent design section, the Centro Stile, also came up with a proposal, visually similar to Fiat's Dino. A compromise was reached by reworking one of Giugar's proposals at Alfa Romeo's plants, but Giugaro rejected any modification of the original solution. In April 1969, the first prototype saw the light of day. The double round headlamps, the Alfin "triangle" on the radiator grille and the massive boot lid are the trademarks of this model to this day. In July 1971, much of the design was determined after extensive changes to the windshield area.

Alfa Romeo Alfetta

Alfa Romeo Alfetta

The original Giugiar solution required placing the wiper in the space between the windshield and the hood, which meant a slightly more expensive production. For Alfa Romeo leaders this was a too bold move and an unnecessary expense, although from a visual point of view this solution is still relevant today. Another major major problem was air resistance, that is, the entire line that extended from the top of the bonnet to the sloping windshield. Initial measurements showed that the coefficient of air resistance was as high as 0.40, a result expected for the model from the early 1970s. To improve aerodynamics, Alfa Romeo designers have resorted to a simple and ingenious solution. They extended the part above the radiator grille by a couple of inches to get an attractive and functional solution. The Alfetta GT was 4.19 meters long, 1.62 meters wide and 1.43 meters high with a total mass of a modest 1,060 kg. The new model came on the scene in 1974 as a replacement for the Giulia Sprint GTV, and is currently attracting huge attention from journalists and the public. Powered by a 1.8L petrol engine with 122 hp at 5.500 RPM, it was able to reach a top speed of 195 km / h. The Alfetta GT had a rather unusual instrument layout, as if it were a race car rather than a production car model. Only the meter was in front of the driver, while all other instruments were located on the center console.

Alfa Romeo Alfetta

The driver sat low, reclining in the comfortable seats, with a solid outline of the vehicle. Admittedly, go ahead. The sloping rear section (due in part to the 370-liter boot) required a bit of gymnastics when reversing. Two years later, the 1.8L engine was replaced by the more economical 1.6hp 109L engine, while the more powerful option was the 2.0L 122hp engine at 5.300 RPM, designed for the GTV (Veloce-fast) version. The two-liter version differed slightly from the two chrome trims on the radiator grille. In 1975, sales began in the North American market. The Alfetta GT (later Sprint Veloce) was offered to customers with a 2.0L engine and fuel injection to meet environmental requirements of the time. Sales of the right-hand-drive Alfette GT began a year later, much to the delight of customers in the UK and Australia, in the GTS 1.6L and GTV Strada 2.0L versions. At the request of German customers in 1977, Alfa Romeo produced only 20 copies of the GTV equipped with a 2.6L V8 engine, originally from Montreal. With 200 hp, this model was able to reach a top speed of 230 km / h, while accelerating to 100 km / h in 7.5 seconds. In 1978, the two-liter 122-hp engine was replaced by eight more powerful, L-version horses, and the following year a real specialty came on the market.

The turbodelta version, equipped with a two-liter engine and a KKK turbocharger, achieved 150 hp, and with minor modifications to the engine, that power could be increased to 175 hp. A total of 400 specimens were produced, in four months, to meet the type-approval requirements for a FIA Group 4 (Grand touring) rally. All Turbo models differed from the standard versions by the black bonnet. Interestingly, this is the first Italian production car to be fitted with a turbocharger. The fall of 1980 marks a new phase in the life of Alfette GTV. The thoroughly redesigned body now features a single-piece rear light group, plastic instead of metal bumpers and matte-black accessories, instead of old stainless steel ones. Instead of 14-inch wheels, standard equipment has become 15-inch magnesium wheels. The dashboard has become more classic and more suited to everyday driving, so that in one line (but in separate housings) they have a speedometer and a speedometer. The refreshed look of Alfette GTV brought with it some news regarding the drive. The standard two-liter engine was retained until production was completed, and the all-new 2.5L V6 debuted in the GTV6 model. From the 2.5L, 160 hp was pulled, still through a Dell Orto carburetor.

Although the V6 engine was more compact than the regular six-cylinder, some changes to the bodywork still had to be made. Here, the first on impact was the bonnet, which, according to the requirements, had to be raised in the central part. In 1981, a Gran Prix version appeared on the market in honor of Alfa's participation in the Formula One Championship. The special version is made in 1 copies, 650 of which are intended for the Italian market, 250 for the French market, and the rest is distributed throughout the European continent. In the coming period, Alfa Romeo releases a number of richly equipped limited edition series, in order to attract the attention of collectors and fans of Italian cars. Customers in France were offered Production (200 copies) and Monaco versions, while the new Gran Prix (300 copies) version was available with a 800L engine. The first special series for the North American market came out in 2.5 and was named Balocco, after Alfa's famous test track. There were 1982 copies available to buyers. The last in the series was the Marathon Series, visibly “embellished” with an aero kit. Some major changes to the engines include the introduction of the Bosch L-Jetronic fuel injection system for customers in the European market.

Alfa Romeo Alfetta

Alfa Romeo Alfetta

In 1983 there was another slight restyling. Alfa GTV got an electrically operated driver's mirror and a telescopic antenna, and the headlights were sprayed more pronounced on the front. Inside, the front seats are adjustable in height and a new, angular, headrest, with a novelty in the form of power windows. In the period from 1983 to 1986, GTV sales slowed slightly. Last year, only 207 models with a two-liter engine and 686 with a 2.5L were delivered to customers. Two events are very important for the history and story of Alfa GTV. The first refers to the American market and the Callaway Twinturbo version, which was characterized not only by cosmetic changes, but also by a thorough overhaul of the engine. The collaboration between Alfa Romeo and Reeves Callaway resulted in an Alfa V6 engine upgraded with two small IHI turbochargers and an intercooler. The increase in power compared to the standard version was within the expected range - 230 hp and acceleration to 100 km / h in six seconds, with a top speed of 220 km / h. A total of 35 copies were processed, only in red and black, with a treat in the form of BBS wheels and Goodyear Eagle VR 205/55 VR 16 tires. The second, perhaps even more important, event is related to the Republic of South Africa and the tourist car championship. From today's perspective, it may seem strange to younger generations, but during the 1980s, the Republic of South Africa was a very important market and a real battlefield on which almost all well-known car manufacturers competed.

In an effort to adequately confront BMW and its 3.5L racing machine, in the 535i, the heads of Alfa's South African department turned to the factory for help. Through a combination of fortunate circumstances, the factory has encountered an Autodeltin modified 3.0L engine. Initially, it was planned to introduce this engine into the GTV offer, but due to the high levies on that class of engine, the whole project was forgotten. At the same time, Alfa Romeo dominated the ETCC Championship, with a standard 2.5L engine, eliminating the need for major improvements. According to the requirements of the competition, at least 200 road specimens were required to be approved, of course within a reasonable time. Collaboration between Alfa Romeo South Africa (ARSA) and Autodelte entailed making parts according to well-defined specifications, which meant that one part of the engine would be made in Europe and the rest in South Africa. Dell Orto carburetors with the Alpha 6 were retained, while power from the initial 155 hp later increased to 171 hp, to 194 hp in later evolutions. Like the Callaway, the South African version differed from the standard in a different air intake and a larger protrusion on the bonnet. The racing debut on the Kyalami track was a success and ended with a win as well as the entire racing season.

Alfa Romeo Alfetta

Alfa Romeo Alfetta

In the period 1983-1985, according to unofficial data, 212 copies of the Alfa Romeo GTV6 3.0 were produced, of which very few remain in running order. One of the biggest technical pearls on GTV was the transaxle form rear wheel drive system. This solution, with the housing housing the clutch, gearbox and differential, is mounted on the DeDion shaft and the disc brakes are mounted directly on the axles instead of in the center of the wheels. The entire assembly functioned as a single axle suspension axle with independent suspension. The Transaxle, along with all the components, was not fixed to the chassis, which made the unshakable mass noticeably smaller. The use of this solution resulted in an ideal weight distribution between the axles as well as an extremely stable vehicle in all driving conditions. Since Alpha is at stake, the problems simply had to arise. Locating the clutch with two discs at the rear, instead of the engine, increased the mass of the transmission system between the two axles. An additional problem was the poor reliability of the coupled transmission, the pronounced synchronous wear and the deceleration of the speed when changing the gear ratio. The efforts of those responsible at Alfa Romeo to improve sales in the US market have resulted in the introduction of a somewhat more complicated automatic, Alfamatic, transmission. Destiny reintroduced its fingers, and customers welcomed one such Alfa, claiming that the sports model could only be driven in a manual transmission. A small number of richly equipped specimens, with the badge of America, were then returned to Italy, where they were quickly buried with great interest.

Alfa Romeo Alfetta

The car model from the beginning of the story ended his career in pretty bad shape and without a few parts. The same thing happened with most Alfi GTVs. Corrosion, as the biggest problem, has literally eaten away a good portion of the cars produced. Those who remained remained victims of unskilled masters. Advanced technical solutions for the period and poorly developed service network have significantly increased maintenance costs, causing even greater headaches for GTV owners. Probably the most significant media moment for this model was the appearance in the Octopussy movie, from the 007 secret agent series 1983. Data on the number of Alfetti GT / GTV / GTV6 sold are quite different, but it is commonly claimed that 137,543 copies were found on the way to customers. Today, according to unconfirmed data, fewer than 8,000 cars are in running order. It's a shame, especially if you know that this is practically the last Alfin coupe made in the traditional way.

Author: Hot Tires
Images: Alfa Romeo
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