The Alfa Thread

[francogt1]

Bought me self a 67 Giulia Sprint GT ( stepped nose ) i will restore in the future when my E30 M3 is complete

[BlackbirdM3]

you, sir, are a heretic! :P

I really dislike the color red. Its fine as an accent color, but the whole car red is too much. Heck, my Sprint is red, until it gets a paint job, not sure what color it will go.

Will

[LateFan]

Black is such a good color on these...

[LateFan]

..heck, my sprint is red, until it gets a paint job, not sure what color it will go.

Will

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I think they look good in white too. Classic.
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[BlackbirdM3]

Black is such a good color on these...

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Speaking of '69 1750 GTVs in black, yeah this was exactly the car I was thinking of. Oh yeah, the dark blue Sprint and the white spider are both local Bay Area cars. I've seen them a few times. If I remember correctly, the sprint has a 1750 in it.

In my case, since the interior paint is darn near perfect on the dash and other places, I think I want to do a red and black interior on the car simply so I can retain the original paint inside. That decision is a long way off since I need to get the bodywork done first before I even think about interior.

Will

[LateFan]

105 / 115 Spiders

I hope I'm not boring people with this stuff...

The 105 series 66 / 67 Duetto was a very simple, light, nimble sports car with an alum twin cam 1600 that spun to 7000 rpm, twin side draft Weber carburetors, a slick 5 speed alum transmission, and a well-located solid rear axle. The name "Duetto" was chosen in a contest - the car was never officially called that, it was a 1600 Spider. Apparently in Europe, they call any spider of any year a Duetto. One clue to a real Duetto is the teardrop side repeater light behind the front wheel. The euro cars had the yellow turn signal lenses and covered headlights.



They decided to skip the US market in '68 with the new emission rules. By '69, they had redesigned the induction with the ingenious SPICA mechanical fuel injection system. It had a 3 dimensional cam inside to set mixture for rpm, load, altitude, etc etc. People think it's finicky, and it costs a lot to rebuild (Wes Ingram is the man), but once it's set up right, it's a great system. People race them with upgraded pumps.

So, the '69 came with a larger 1750 engine with the SPICA system, which ran cleaner than carbs. It had smaller 14" wheels, more side marker lights, and slightly different trim. Hard to tell them apart from a distance.



Around 6000 of this body shell were made - a few 1600s, a few 1750s, and a few "juniors" with the 1300 (for tax reasons).

.

[LateFan]

Speaking of '69 1750 GTVs in black, yeah this was exactly the car I was thinking of.

Ain't that sweet? GTA wheels.

[LateFan]

The Duetto or boat-tail or round tail or cuttlefish bone body was replaced with the new kamm-tail design in 1971. Again, Alfa skipped the 1970 model year.

It was either thought to be more modern looking, or more aerodynamic (it was) with less lift on the rear. The body shell is nearly identical to the back of the doors, then the back end and the windshield are different. Also a more modern interior with a sloped center console.

The '71 1750 is the cleanest, most pure shape of all the kamm-tails - my favorite.





I think in 72 it got a bigger 2-liter, which had more torque but wasn't the high r3vving engine the 1600 and 1300 were.

Most people say the 73-74 is the fastest stock spider, before emissions systems throttled it. They still had the factory 4-2-1 cast iron headers. By 74, the chrome bumpers got pushed out a bit and got rubber outrigger dots to limp thru new regulations.





In the late 60s / early 70s (someone else will know this) Alfa fell under the control of the Italian government. With labor strife and money tight, there was little development of newer engines or an updated spider. They should have quit making this car in 1974, but instead it limped along, getting heavier and slower. The most spiders sold I think was in 1978, which is sadly one of the slowest and heaviest of them.

[LateFan]

1975 to 1982 or so were the sad years in my opinion. Some people love them, update the injection, lose the US springs, retrofit early chrome bumpers (like E30s!). But they are full of air injection pumps and over-lean mixtures and bad exhaust, and got heavier and slower.

They got scabbed-on heavy steel bumpers with rubber shells front and back.

I have friends with these - they're still nice cars, and look like 71s with the bumpers changed. In Europe, they kept the small bumpers and covered lights. Somewhere in the early 80s, they got a newer injection system.

[LateFan]

1983-ish, a revised body came out (Series 3), with a rubber duck tail spoiler, a front skirt / spoiler, new bumpers, a fake Alfa grill, and different trims. By now I think they had Bosch injection on the two-liter.

[LateFan]

There was a special trim version of this car, called the Quadrifoglio (4 leaf clover), which harkens back to the early racing days where a lucky 4 leaf clover shield appeared on the flanks of the race cars. Mechanically the same, but with special trim and skirts, interior, 15" phone dial wheels, and a rare hardtop.





In 1991 (I think), the final version came out, significantly revised to try and save it. New, cleaner front and rear ends with a rounded tail and nicer lights. I believe this car is Motronic, with 10.0 to 1 pistons - pretty peppy and more efficient.

[LateFan]

The newer ones can be good looking and fast, depending on tweaks and suspension.



Another:

http://www.alfabb.com/bb/forums/spider-1966-up/29640-msierts-black-spider-project.html

This guy, in Toronto, built a totally custom series 4 into a street monster, with heavily modified suspension, body, and a 3.7 liter South African hot rod Busso V6.

[ajhostetter]

I had an '86 Spyder. That car was so much fun, and reliable with the Bosch FI. They switched from Spica to Bosch in '82. Still the only car I've ever driven where you could feel individual wheels starting to lock through the chassis when threshold braking. What a machine

[LateFan]

Alfetta and beyond! -

The Alfetta showed up as the 105 GTV coupe was getting old. Mid-70s I think. (Alfetta name came from the great F1 cars of the 50s) Lasted until the mid-90s.

Modern 2+2 shape by Giugiaro, same front 2 liter but with an aluminum 5 speed transaxle in the back, inboard brakes, and a fantastic DeDion rear suspension. Independent with half shafts but the hubs are fixed by a rigid frame so that the tires are always perpendicular to the pavement with minimal weight. A roomy, comfortable sedan was produced as well. Great handling, shitty Russian steel (it is rumored) - they all rusted.





In the later 80s, this car was tweaked by installing the famous Busso-designed aluminum V6, 2.5 liters. This engine makes a wonderful howling noise at WOT, shrieks at high revs. It was now called the GTV6. They were raced and rallied, and a V8 version was custom built. Got a hump in the hood to cover the intake box, and lots of plastic trim.



The Alfetta sedan chassis was redesigned and re-cloaked in the Milano / 75 body, with the V6. Recaro seats, 50-50 weight dist. Later versions got a twin cam 3.0 V6, and many GTV6s have been retrofitted with this engine. People were bent by the slight kink behind the rear doors, and they didn't sell as well as expected. A blast to drive, though, and very popular at LeMons races now.





The Busso V6 was the last in-house Alfa Romeo designed engine I believe. Later, as Fiat took control of Alfa, Ferrari, Lancia, and Maserati, the Alfa engineering dept was shut down for corporate efficiency, and something important died.

The recent european-only cars I don't know much about. Some are FWD, some are Fiat-based.

Later efforts to revive the brand have resulted in cars like the Alfa / Maserati / Ferrari 8C, a spectacular car but a group effort. This new 4C shows some real promise as a lightweight sports car, even resurrecting the famous 1750 designation from the old grand prix cars. The headlights are funky (cost-savings? Cutting edge design??), and it uses some parts bin bits, but per the video posted above, it might be great. It will be $60k to 70k in the US however. (Alfas were always expensive - people forget that now as they rot away).

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[JRKOUPE]

1.5 liters, 425 HP, 1.5 mpg, 1951

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Fangio, 1951
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that 31 car is Peter Giddings...he is at many of the races in the USA...Ive seen him hustling that car arond lime Rock..very impressive.

the black street monster spider is crazy...it looks very cool....$$$$$