50 Years of Alfa Romeo Alfasud
If anything about the Alfa Romeo Alfasud has lingered in the collective memory of Europeans, it is probably its poor resistance to corrosion. In German-speaking countries, the Italian compact car was said to be rusty right from the brochure. Allegedly, rust stains were even found on the vehicle registration document. But was the Alfasud really that bad or do these insinuations not do justice to the overall concept? Let’s form our own opinion. First fact: The Alfasud was Alfa Romeo’s first production car with front wheel drive. They had a small car prototype with this drive technology on its wheels in 1960 as the Tipo 103. However, it didn’t go into series production because the market at the time promised better sales results for mid-range models. Around ten years later, the company returned to this concept and developed a new compact car.
Drivetrain
Fact number two is that the Alfasud was a very advanced vehicle when it made its world debut at the 1971 Turin Motor Show. Under the body, designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro in his newly founded company Italdesign, wasn’t only the aforementioned front-wheel drive. Alfa Romeo also used newly developed four-cylinder boxer engines. The first of these was a 1.2-liter engine with 46 kW/63 hp. In the two-door ti introduced in 1973, output rose to 50 kW/68 hp. In 1976, the displacement increased by 0.1 liters. This was later followed by a version with 1.5 liters and, in the sporty Sprint, one with 1.7 liters and up to 87 kW/118 hp. The manual transmissions had four or five gears. To reduce the unsprung masses, the front disc brakes were moved far to the inside. The handbrake also acted on them. Drums operated at the rear.
Bodywork
In the first two years of production, the Alfasud was available exclusively with a four-door hatchback body. Interestingly, the early brochures already showed a two-door version, which never reached the dealers. It wasn’t until 1973 that the more powerful ti was available, which came exclusively with two doors. This was followed in February 1975 by a three-door station wagon called the Giardinetta, and in September 1976 by the fourth body variant, the coupé called Sprint. A facelift in spring 1980 gave the cars redesigned bumpers, headlights and radiator grilles. The taillights and dashboard also received modifications. Starting in December 1981, the ti finally had a large tailgate that included the rear window. For the sedan, this adaptation lasted until June 1982. At the same time, the Giardinetta was dropped after only 5,899 examples.
More than one million units
In 1982, the motorsport department Autodelta produced two special prototypes. Reliable data are only limited available, but presumably the Alfasud Sprint 6C should have been prepared for the new Group B of the World Rally Championship. For this purpose the engine mounting position was moved behind the two passengers. The 2.5-liter V6 was taken over from the GTV6. Both prototypes differed in various details, but had wide wheel arches, alloy wheels and other add-on parts in common. Alfa Romeo in total produced 906,824 units of the Alfasud sedan and ti until June 1983. The Sprint continued to run in the model program without the additional name Alfasud until 1989. 121,434 of these rolled off the production line. Two final facts remain: The model name Alfasud came about because Alfa Romeo had moved production of this model series to the modernized Pomigliano d’Arco plant in southern (sud) Italy. And it really did rust fast, which is why it is a rare car today.
Images: Alfa Romeo
