50 Years of Alfa Romeo Alfasud Caimano

In November 1971, the Alfa Romeo Alfasud made its debut as a new compact model from Milan at the Turin Motor Show. There, the brand also showed a concept car at the same time. The Alfasud Caimano was intended to emphasize the sporty driving dynamics of the model series visually as well. To this end, Alfa Romeo worked closely with Italdesign headed by Giorgetto Giugiaro. This was where the body design for the series-production Alfasud had been created in the years before. Since the Caimano was never intended to go into production nor to get license plates, Giugiaro and his team were able to let off all the more steam and to feel completely free while styling this car. He even received permission to shorten the wheelbase of the Alfasud platform by 20 centimeters. Beneath the flat front with pop-up headlights was already a 1.3-liter four-cylinder boxer engine with 86 hp, which wasn’t available in the Alfasud until 1980.

Instead of a classic roof with A-, B- and C-pillars, the Caimano features a huge glazed dome. This swings upwards, including the two door trim panels. Flaps are integrated into these door-like areas on each side so that the entire dome doesn’t have to be opened at parking garage entrances or toll stations. Behind this sits a trapezoidal structure as the base for a rollbar and the rear window, which is also trapezoidal. Integrated into the rollbar is a spoiler that can be electrically adjusted to four diferent positions. Various displays are integrated into the cylindrical dashboard. These bear labeled glasses and indicators, while behind them the cylinders with the numbers rotate around a horizontal axis. After the Caimano had been on display at various car shows, it subsequently stood in the factory museum in Arese. For some time now, it has been display at Klassikstadt in Frankfurt.

Images: Alfa Romeo, FCA Heritage, Italdesign