The Societa Anonima Italiana Darracq
The origins of Alfa Romeo can be traced
back to the Societa Anonima Italiana Darracq (SAID),
which was set up to import French Darracq cars into
Italy - specifically the Darracq 4-cylinder taxi-cabs.
Although this marque was very successful in France,
it quickly became evident that the Italian public did
not share the French's passion for the car.
SAID's Managing Director Ugo Stella was quickly forced
to change strategy, or allow the fledgling company to
come to an early demise. Fortunately for Stella he had
already employed Guiseppe Merosi, a self-taught engineer,
as head designer. With Stella's business acumen and
Merosi's design talents the idea of designing and manufacturing
a uniquely Italian automobile seemed entirely feasible.
The agreement with Darracq was soon cancelled, and the
company re-started in Milan as the Societa Anonima Lombarda
Fabbrica Automobile. It was not long before that cumbersome
title, logically enough, was shortened to ALFA. The
first production Alfa was designed by Merosi in 1910
and in all regards it was a large, conventional touring
car featuring a 24bhp engine.
Nicola Romeo Takes Control
Merosi's subsequent designs were solid and unadventurous,
but consistently achieved a high level of quality and
reliability. Alfa's sales grew, but the outbreak of
WWI put a stop to automobile production. In 1916 the
company came under the direction of the high-flying
Neopolitan industrialist Nicola Romeo. The earliest
sporting Alfa Romeo was the 22/90s, or RLSS models (the
'SS' standing for 'Super Sport').
Announced in 1925, the RLSS was very stylish and handsome,
featuring a pronounced V-radiator and available in three
different body styles, the most striking being the two-seater
with its long tapering tail - some 392 RLSS's would
be sold over the following two years.
The performance
of the RLSS was, however, far from spirited with the
3 litre 83bhp engine making the car good for a top speed
of around 80mph. And, when compared with the competition,
the car could be described as rather crude, particularly
mechanically where, for example, there was no pressure
oil feed to the engine valve gear, necessitating hand
lubrication every 1000 miles.
In 1927 the first of a new generation six-cylinder "Turismo"
models arrived, featuring a 1.5 litre SOHC engine. Playstation
fans will no doubt guess the next model name, the Gran
Turismo being even more sporting, and featuring an advanced
(for the time) twin overhead valve cylinder head; the
most sporting versions all were equipped with Roots-type
superchargers. But while there was no doubting the pedigree
of the new model Alfa's, the depression and subsequent
financial fallout were to hit the company hard.
The Legend Of The 1750
In 1928 Nicola Romeo was removed as Director and the
company passed into government receivership shortly
after the crash. Undaunted, the engineers continued
to work at improving their wonderful Gran Turismo models
and, in 1929, they enlarged the twin-cam's engine capacity
to 1752cc. Vittoria Jano then used the Gran Turismo's
basic chassis and running gear to create a new model
- one that would became somewhat of a legend, the famed
"1750".
Praised by those that were lucky enough to see
and drive it, the modern "masterpiece" was destined
to become an extremely competent competition vehicle.
The gear-change was extremely positive, the steering
precise, and the roadholding excellent. Of the various
types of 1750, the Gran Sport and the Super Sport were
the most exciting, and these were often provided with
elegant, attractive body styles by coachbuilders like
Zagato and Touring.
One measure of the 1750's capabilities was proved in
the 1000-mile Italian
Mille Miglia of 1930, where Tazio
Nuvolari's 'blown' 1750 would win the race outright,
beating such cars as the 7-1itre/225bhp supercharged
Mercedes-Benz SSK by more than one hour. Inevitably,
more power was needed for the next generation of cars,
so Jano was encouraged to produce a new engine, choosing
a mighty 2336cc straight eight-cylinder unit that coincidently
used the same bore and stroke dimensions as the 1752cc
six.
Like the six, the new eight had twin overhead camshafts,
but to overcome torsional vibration and strength problems
in using such a long engine, he arranged it effectively
as two four-cylinder engines back to back.
There were separate cylinder blocks on a common crankcase,
and the crank ran an astounding 10 main bearings to
keep it all as rigid as possible. As before, there was
a Roots-type supercharger, mechanically driven by gears
from the centre of the crankshaft, drawing the fuel/air
mixture through a Memini carburettor.
Success At The Mille Miglia, Targa Florio and Le Mans
The engine was
good for a whopping 138bhp at 5000rpm The chassis was
still flexible, but at least this was balanced by the
use of rock hard front and rear leaf springs. At the
front axle, there was extra location by radius arms,
and in true Alfa Romeo style the steering was light,
while handling was exciting but predictable. The new
car was dubbed the "8C 2300", and was offered either
as the Lungo, the LWB (long-wheelbase) 10ft 4in Le Mans,
or either of the 9ft Corto or
Mille Miglia.
The 8C 2300's braking was much improved over the 1750,
thanks largely to the fitment of very large finned alloy
brake drums. On the downside however the clutch operation
was very difficult and needed to be mastered by an expert.
Competition success was almost a surety, and after its
1931 launch it would notch up wins immediately at the
Targa Florio and
Le Mans 24 Hour race. Two famous evolutions
of the 8C 2300 were the 2556cc open-wheeler two seater
racing "Monza" model, and the Tipo B (or "P3") Grand
Prix car of 1932.
But while Alfa rose to dominance on the racetrack, so
to did the ruling fascist government. In 1934 Alfa would
be absorbed with other industrial companies by the Instituto
di Riconstruzzione Industriale (IRI) - an agency of
the fascist government. Despite the political upheaval
pervading the company, they were able to release the
8C 2900 model in 1936. Using a 2906cc engine that had
been developed from the extremely successful P3 single-seaters,
the car was produced in both racing and short wheelbase
touring forms.
The "Touring" model used a de-tuned 2.9 litre race engine
with twin superchargers and twin Weber carburettors,
producing an astonishing 180bhp at 5000rpm. Other modern
features included the use of hydraulic brakes, hydraulic
front dampers and independent coil spring front suspension.
Ultimately there would be two factors working against
the 8C 2900, the price and the war. After some 2 years
Alfa had only been able to sell 30 vehicles, although
under the IRI's control the manufacture of motor vehicles
was seen as far less important then the manufacture
of weapons.
The Ravages Of War
When war finally broke out on September 1st, 1939 partially-assembled
production vehicles were put in storage and a few racing
and experimental cars were hidden in caves north of
Milan. The war was a disaster for Italy and for Alfa.
Occupying German troops commandeered part of what remained
of the severely damaged factory, but its continued weapons
manufacture would make it a target for allied bombers.
By the end of the war the Milan factory was entirely
destroyed.
After the war, the design team worked through the destruction
to develop a different kind of Alfa Romeo for the changed
Europe that lay ahead. A completely new passenger car,
the Alfa Romeo 1900, was introduced in 1950 followed
by the Giulietta in 1954 - and it is these cars that
essentially mark the beginning of the modern era in
Alfa Romeo's history.
Although the 1900 sold well, particularly
by Alfa standards, the company new that to successfully
expand they would need to manufacture a small engined
car - cheap to manufacture, purchase and run - factors
very important in post war Europe.
Every car in the Giulietta family had the same type
1290cc twin-cam four-cylinder engine, of almost 'traditional'
Alfa Romeo layout. Bore and stroke dimensions were nearly
the same, breathing was efficient, and the engine revved
easily to 7000rpm. Instead of a separate chassis, the
Giuliettas were all based on a unit construction body/chassis
design.
There was coil spring and wishbone independent
front suspension with an anti-roll bar, while the rear
axle, though sprung on coils, had a complicated location
which included trailing arms and an A-bracket linking
the floor pan to the differential casing.
The Bread-And-Butter Sprint
The Sprint became the 'bread and butter' model in the
range, and featured a beautiful body styled by Bertone
and offered four seats under the coupe roof. The engine
produced a healthy 80bhp, and gave the Sprint a top
speed of almost 100mph.
A year later, the Sprint was
joined by the Pininfarina-styled open two-seater Spider,
and although its wheelbase was some 5 inches shorter
it shared the same running gear. A year later higher-performance
(90bhp) versions of these cars were announced, and given
the model names Sprint Veloce and Spider Veloce; both
were capable of 110mph.
The Influence Of Bertone
In the late 1950's the Sprint Speciale (styled by Bertone)
and Sprint Zagato were released. Both cars were fitted
with 100bhp engines and were mated to a five-speed transmission
making them capable of completing the 0-60mph dash in
less than ten seconds, while achieving a top speed of
around 120mph. In 1962, the Giulietta was progressively
succeeded by the Giulia range, which used much the same
running gear and suspension, but which had its engine
'stretched' to 1570cc.
The Giulia TI saloon had a boxy style, a single carburettor
version of the engine and was good for a top speed of
around 100mph. At first there were interim sporting
models - both the Giuliettas getting the larger engine
and becoming Giulia Sprint and Giulia Spider respectively.
The definitive sporting Giulias, however, were the Sprint
GT of 1963 (with 106hp, five-speed transmission and
gorgeous styling by Berlone), and the controversially
styled 1600 Duetto Spider (with used the same running
gear as the Sprint GT but had a Pininfarina styled body.
The ensuing years would see many derivatives of the
two styles being produced, not the least of which was
the lightweight Giulia GTA, the 115bhp 'homologation
special.' In 1970 the Duetto's styling would became
even more conventional with the tail being cut short,
the car now being known simply as 'Spider'. Over the
years engine sizes would vary/increase from 1290cc to
1962cc, but all were of the same twin-cam family, and
the Alfa model line-up being marketed in a bewildering
number of guises, the Spider still being sold in the
USA in the mid-1980s!
The most remarkable Giulia of all was the GTZ (Z = Zagato)
Tubulare, which had an entirely special multi-tube space
frame chassis, and light-alloy body style, but the familiar
engine. This was strictly a racing car, not intended
for normal road use, although some of them would naturally
find their way onto European roads.
The Beautiful Montreal
Indeed the interest in the vehicle was such that Alfa
decided to put the car on sale in 1970. Based on the
Giulia GT7s floorpan and suspensions, the Montreal was
powered by a de-rated, 200hp, version of the four-cam
V8 engine already used in the Type 33 racing sports-cars,
and in this form it had a 2593cc engine with fuel injection.
Built in limited numbers until 1977, it was available
with right-hand-drive from 1974. In standard form, the
Montreal had a top speed of 136mph.
In 1972 Alfa would attempt to become one of the worlds
largest automobile manufacturers, and the product that
would propel them toward these dizzy heights was the
new ‘affordable’
Alfasud. Manufactured in
Alfa’s new factory in South Italy, (hence the
name Alfasud - "Alfa South"), Alfa Romeo invested
in new technologies in an attempt to take the more mainstream
car manufacturers head on, utilising technologies such
as front-wheel-drive and MacPherson strut suspension.
But undoubtedly the highlight was the new boxer engine
(horizontally-opposed/flat engine). Although only a
single cam rather than the twin cam designs of other
Alfa's, it had superior smoothness and its responsiveness
earned it the reputation of being the sweetest engine
available in the class for more than a decade. But voracious
rust and build quality problems would quickly tarnish
the cars reputation, and many consider the little Alfasud
more a lemon than a leader.
By 1979 Alfa would return to manufacturing true sporting
masterpieces, such as the
GTV6. The engineering excellence
of this vehicle, particularly the silky-sweet V6 engine,
would help re-establish the reputation of this truely
great automobile manufacturer.
