Sud Super sorta sums it all up.

Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp

After the perceived glamour of Retromobile Paris, it was time for a trip up the M40 to the NEC in Birmingham for the ‘Practical Classics Magazine’s Classic Car and Restoration Show’, an event that is more boiler suits than Armani suits but just as enjoyable. Unlike other classic car shows such as Retro, at the Practical Classics show the attendees manning the club stands are welding spanners rather than just drinking tea and chatting, while in Paris they sip wine; it is all very hands on and grass roots.

By Pete Vack
Photos from Alfa Brochures

The Alfetta Sedan and GT

The Alfetta series—which are roughly defined herein as any of the front engined, de Dion transaxle cars made from 1973 to 1992, were created to replace the existing solid axle Alfas, and to significantly improve the highly praised handling characteristics of the Alfas produced up to that point.

The Alfetta took its name from the famous 158/159 Alfa Romeo Grand Prix cars, raced from 1939 to 1951. These unbeatable race cars featured a similar transaxle layout, and were called the small Alfa, or Alfetta, because of the 1500cc displacement. However, a major difference was that the Grand Prix car left the clutch at the engine end, a difference that as we shall see, meant a great deal. All in all, the Grand Prix car was one of the most successful and perfect front engined Grand Prix cars ever constructed; the Alfetta series was not, and the name as applied to the production car didn’t last long. which was probably a good thing.

A fantastic idea in concept, but keeping that long driveshaft vibration free as it turned at engine speed was difficult to achieve. However, the 50-50 weight distribution made the Alfettas and their successors a joy to drive.

Still, we had hope. The Alfetta was conceived under the technical direction of Rudolph Hruska, who had been recalled by Alfa to replace the great Dr. Orazio Satta Puliga. In every way, the conception, the idea, the dream of the new Alfetta was thoroughly commendable, and held great promise.

On paper, there was little to fault. Here was a car with the traditional 2 liter four, (2000 cc for the US market, and available in both 1.8 and 1.6 versions in Europe) now producing about 140 hp, with a completely new chassis with torsion bars instead of coils up front, a de Dion rear axle with a inboard disc brakes and the clutch integral with the transmission. The combination meant a 50-50 weight distribution, less unsprung weight, no axle tramp, and excellent handling characteristics for both road and track.

The Alfetta GT by Giugiaro was a worthy successor to the Bertone GTV and as fresh today as it was in 1974.

The in-house designed Alfetta 1.8 sedan, first seen in May of 1972, was a refreshing change from the previous and bulky 2000 Berlina, with modern instrumentation, plenty of greenhouse, and more interior room despite a shorter wheelbase. It was truly a sedan that could handle, and accommodate five people with both ease and comfort. Even with the 1800 cc version, performance was more than adequate, and at the time, one of the hottest sedans on the market.

But that was nothing compared to the Alfetta GT 1.8, which was designed by Giugiario and introduced to the press in June 1974. The design has held and today it is as attractive as it was in the early 1970s. Plus the Cd factor was an excellent 0.39. It was a successful attempt to replace the classic Bertone Sprint coupe, a very mean feat. The interior could be described as ultra modern, and Alfa placed the tachometer directly in front of the driver, with the speedometer in the center, a purposeful snub to the new US 55 mph speed limit. The Alfetta GT had charm, engineering, beauty and class.

Nevertheless, the attempt to maintain a reliable and vibration free drivetrain was valiant but to a large degree, in vain. In the mid 1960s, starting with the 275GTB, Ferrari also decided to place the clutch and transmission with the rear axle. Despite a lot of development time, superb quality and engineering, the problems associated with the driveshaft turning at engine speed were never fully resolved, despite the use of an enclosed torque tube and eventually, a full integrated solid drivetrain from stem to stern. Years later, however, Ferrari tried it again with the 456 GT, which also used a transaxle layout and enhanced for the 612 Scaglietti.

Early 1980s brochure shot of the Alfetta, now called the Sprint Veloce.

That Alfa would be able to solve the same problems on a mass production basis was unlikely. During the development stage, the prototypes had constant vibration maladies, in addition to headaches with the long distance gearchange, delaying the introduction of the Alfetta by almost a year. However, according to a reliable source at Alfa, “By design the shift throw was not to everyones’ liking and was never intended to be a rock-crusher Hurst-type box and linkage…but the design execution worked extremely smoothly in regular use by careful drivers. The shifting of the 1975 model was superb and only improved somewhat by the redesign of the center rubber u-joint in 1976 and ultimately with the 1985 isostatic shift mechanism installed in production on 1985-1986 GTV-6’s. With the new u-joint in production the complaints directed to Alfa Romeo Owner Relations essentially disappeared.” Even though most of the problems with the gearshift linkage were resolved, gone was the golden wand of the earlier five speed cars, which the gearlever directly attached to the transmission. This was much lamentable.

The first production Alfettas lacked the quality of previous Alfas. Seats became unstitched, fragile switches often broke, dash pods and glove boxes warped in the noonday sun. Where body rust had once been limited to wheelarches and rockers, after a few years it now appeared around the front and rear windows, the front shock mounts, the edge of the fenders, and other gruesome places one never bothered to look.

The Sport Sedan of the same vintage (exact year unknown). It would be the first Alfa with an automatic transmission.

Two other foibles affected Alfas of the period…a tendency for the oil passage crank plugs to fall out causing a reduction in oil pressure, and the discovery of the pop rivet. Said our reliable source, who had access to all the warranty claims, “Hundreds of pop-rivets were used in production of the Alfetta body…a foreshadowing of the heavy use and reliance on today’s high value Audi and Jaguar aluminum chassis structures for example…not to mention the hundreds of such rivets used on new 2015 model 150 Ford aluminum truck. Some people criticized the production technique at the time but the Alfetta unibody remained a tough, strong, rigid and rattle-free execution to this every day.”

With each model, the cars were improved in every respect. Commented our ex-Alfa employee, “Some of the improvements in the Alfetta series came through the use and installation of high grade German components from Bosch, for example, and in the case of the 1978 Sport Sedan a new and bulletproof ZF three speed transmission. Overall, the Alfetta 116 series suffered no higher a number of warrantable defects than its European contemporaries did.. each of those had their own unique set of defects and anomalies…some of a vastly more alarming character.”

Ironically, as the cars got better, the Alfetta name was dropped. Consumers in the US knew nothing of the Alfetta 158/159s, and in Europe, Alfetta meant ‘small’ Alfa, which was not a positive term. The world was changing, and in 1986, Alfa even offered (and pushed) the first automatic transmission in an Alfa Romeo, on the Sport Sedan, primarily because it made for a much smoother, long lasting drivetrain.

last of the line. In 1985 GTV6 was priced at $13495 and carried a 3 yr/36000 mile warranty. The Alfetta's drivetrain would get one more go in the Alfa Milano/75.

Alfa had another trick for the ailing Alfetta GT, and that was to install the new V-6. This made a totally different animal out of the Giugiaro coupe, and led to the Alfa 75, aka Milano in the U.S. By the time the Milano was introduced in late 1986, it was hard to tell that the car had a driveshaft turning at engine speed, and the quality was further improved. It seemed as though Alfa had finally gotten its act together. But the Milano and its smaller European counterpart the Giulietta, would truly be the last of the real Alfa Romeos; front wheel drive would now prevail at an Alfa Romeo now owned by Fiat.