In 1984, Alfa supplanted the Alfetta and, effectively though officially it remained in production, the Alfa 6 with the Alfa Romeo 90. This was a combination of the Alfetta’s floorpan, inner body structure, suspension and rear mounted gearbox and either the four cylinder engine in 1.8 or 2.0 litre form or the Busso V6. The 2.5 litre V6 was the only choice for several markets, with the 2.0 litre V6 being an Italian tax special and the four cylinder cars being limited to certain markets. There was 2.4 litre VM diesel again, too. The 90 was aiming at a spot above the Alfetta, whilst the Giulietta covered the up to 2.0 litre position.
The styling was a rather awkward combination of Alfetta hardpoints and flat roof with more contemporary Bertone shaped front and rear ends, albeit in a very blocky (dare I say Volvo 760 alike?) way. It was four inches longer than the older car, mostly at the front with another longer nose. The interior was quite something too.
The instruments were electronic, with the speed and engine revs being shown progressively by green LEDs marching up inclined scales and the minor gauges as bars. There was also a digital speedometer, which Motor noted didn’t always match the LEDs. You can’t argue with that steering wheel though.
Quite a contrast to the GTV interior, especially when you add in the luxury emphasising trim and the removable and fully usable briefcase embedded where you might have expected a glovebox.
The car had the novelty of an automatically adjusting chin spoiler, which retracted as speed reduced; inside there was a full length roof console housing electric window switches and luxury style rather than sports trim and upholstery.
To drive, this car was like a softer Alfetta, rather than the tighter, taut Giulietta. It was clearly aiming at the Peugeot 604 and Lancia Thema, not the BMW 525. You could think of it as being like the Rover 800 after the SD1 if you wish.
Motor was not fully convinced though. An appealing car, with that engine and good driving characteristics albeit with ever-present understeer, let down by awkward ergonomics, a relatively cramped interior, a poor heater and love it or hate it styling. After 12 years, arguably the age of the Alfetta origins was beginning to show.
The 90 lasted just three years; it was replaced by the most successful big Alfa ever, the front wheel drive 164, which also proved to be a natural home to the Busso V6, and was the first Alfa produced in partnership with Fiat.
Just over 55,000 Alfas 90s were built; there are fewer than 10 still registered in the UK (all are actually off the road), with an unknown but smaller number of briefcases surviving.
But, it was a part of two pronged plan to update the Alfa saloon range.
The Giulietta was also replaced in 1985, by the Alfa Romeo 75, named for the 75th anniversary of the company. You sense that this was a car Alfa really wanted to make – it seemed a lot more authentically Alfa than the luxury emphasis on the 90, even if it was essentially a reskinned Giulietta. It doesn’t take long to spot the doors, windscreen or roof line; the defiantly kicked up tail and the profile emphasised by that unusual black plastic strips and complex and odd melange of creases in the front wings, rear wings and bumpers. Visually, even Alfa fans will acknowledge it as an acquired taste, and arguably the few estates built by outside coachbuilders were better looking. But it had a presence.
The interior was also somewhat blocky, to say the least. It eschewed the novelty instruments of the 90 for a more conventional set up, in a dash that the uncharitable might describe as blocky interpretation of the exterior. Strange ergonomics persisted – the driving position took some getting used to, the window switches were on the ceiling again (and aligned across the car!) whilst the mirror controller was on the console behind the unusually shaped handbrake, and a cassette tape could not be removed from the player with the car in top gear, assuming you wanted to reach that far down anyway.
At launch, the car came with 1.6, 1.8 or 2.0 litre versions of the twin cam four cylinder, as well an option of a 2.0 litre VW turbo-diesel. But the glamour car was the 2.5 litre V6, with the Busso V6 now featuring fuel injection.
The performance of the cars ranged, as you’d expect from that range of engines. The 1.6 litre 110bhp cars were no ball of fire, but the 2.5 litre V6 with 156bhp were a lot quicker, at least in a straight line. In terms of handling, the lighter nose and better balance of the four cylinder cars gave a sharper turn in whilst still gripping very well, and the 2.0 litre is often considered a sweet spot in the range. Unless you live near some long tunnels and consequently place a greater importance on engine noise than everyone else.
In 1988, the four cylinder engines were uprated, with fuel injection and the 2 litre had Alfa’s unique twin spark cylinder head. This was exactly what it said – two spark plugs in each cylinder, aiming to achieve similar benefits to the use of four valve per cylinder heads – more complete combustion leading to more power and economy, especially at low speeds and low loads. The second plug was to one side of the combustion chamber, between an inlet and an exhaust valve, and fired at the same time as the other plug. This was not a new idea for Alfa – it had been first used in 1914, and on the twin cam engine in the 1960s for some motorsport applications.
Perhaps more surprising still was that in 1988 the four cylinder 75 was fitted with variable valve timing as well. An engine over thirty years old, with two key changes, one from 1914 and one innovative in that part of the market. Alfa, again.
There were also turbo charged versions of the 1.8 litre, essentially a tax efficient option for certain markets, as power was little changed from the 2 litre twin spark and less than the 2.5 litre V6.
For motorsport, Alfa devised the 75 Turbo Evoluzione, with a 1762cc version of the four cylinder engine, which competed from 1987 to the early 1990s, but with limited outright success. Like the Twin Spark and the V6, the Turbo Evoluzione had a limited slip differential; otherwise, the cars needed a sharp witted driver to avoid a spin on occasions.
In 1987, we got what many consider to be the peak Alfa Romeo 75, and by inference, the peak Tipo 116 Alfa. The 75 3.0 V6 got an evolution of the Busso V6 to a full three litres, close to 200bhp and a sound to match Pavarotti.
Even in the early 1990s, in the European market for a premium or even semi premium, the 75 was arguably more sophisticated than many of its competitors. The BMW 3 series (E30, 1982 to 1990) was still using the unpredictable semi-trailing arm rear suspension and was a compact fit in the back. Nicely engineered, but the E36 was a much needed step forward. Motor put the 75 up against the BMW 318i, and the result could be called a score draw. The BMW was efficient, easier to own and live with, but lacking the character of the Alfa, which was roomier and better value.
The Audi 80 and 90 looked stunning but drove like a nose heavy wooden bench, perhaps the opposite to the Alfa in those respects. The Mercedes-Benz 190 had great engineering and quality, but the image of an older person’s car with no blatant claim on handling or driver enjoyment. Cars like the Rover 800, Lancia Thema, Volvo 850 and Saab 9-3 and 9-5 were not there either.
For North America, initially, Alfa bored out the V6 to a full 3 litres and 189bhp, to create the Alfa Romeo Milano 3.0, supplanting the earlier 2.5 litre version. The big bumpers of the American version graced the European 3 litre to, as seen on the feature car.
I saw the feature 75 3.0 V6 a few years ago, in a workplace car park. Somehow, it had that something, still, after close to thirty years. It’s still on the road too, now with some 200,000 miles under its belt.
If you liked the style, there was much to like about the 75, and the de Dion transaxle, torsion bar suspension, inboard rear brakes, variable valve timing, twin spark and twin cam engines were all features a driver would enjoy and which were not typically available elsewhere or available together, even if the basic car was close to twenty years old. It has to be said the quality and interior finish were not always that great, though.
The 75 was retired in 1992, replaced by the Fiat based 155, initially fitted with the same Alfa four cylinder and V6 engines. The evocative Alfa twin cam was replaced in 1994 by a new engine based on the Fiat Pratola Serra engine family, albeit with Alfa specific twin spark cylinder heads and cam covers. 1992 therefore saw the end of what many would call the proper or classic Alfa – rear wheel drive, Busso engines, and engineering not budget led technical configurations.
When introduction ended, the 75 had been on the market for seven years; it was closely based on the Giulietta from another eight years earlier and that was closely based on the Alfetta from another five years before that. The four cylinder engine could be easily traced back to 1954. It’s not often a 20 year old design with a 40 year old engine is mourned in the way the 75 was, but the end of the Tipo 116 series, by which time Fiat owned Alfa, and clearly had empowered accountants on the staff, was truly an end of an era. It wasn’t just the car, the last rear drive Alfa until the 2016 Giulia, but also the engine, that had had a production life to match just about any other post war European engine, had been technically advanced when new and, with the turbocharging, twin spark and variable valve timing, remained so.
The Busso V6 was also used in the later Alfa Romeo 147, 156 and 166, as well the GTV, Spider and the glorious GT coupe, eventually reaching 3.2 litres, four valve per cylinder and 220 bhp, and an engine note to rival a Rolls-Royce Merlin. Production of the Busso engine ceased at the end of December 2005. Three days later, Giuseppe Busso died, at the age of 92. On such coincidences is the mystique of Alfa built.
I am not trying to say that these cars, or their antecedents, were all great cars, or in some cases, even good cars. But I would suggest they all, in various ways and to varying extents, have the Alfa Romeo spirit. That spirit shows as encouraging a driver to enjoy the car, to be entertained by it as well as transported by it, whilst being more practical and usable on a daily basis than some would have you believe. All in, across the Tipo 116 series and twenty years, Alfa Romeo produced over 1.4 million cars; larger numbers than you might have expected and considerably more than Rover and Triumph did with saloon cars, for example,
You gain access to, or ownership of, a tremendous history, a history that just does not include dull cars but does include some of the greatest and most challenging cars ever built, for a wide range of markets. From the 1.2 litre Alfasud to the 2.5 litre V8 Montreal, from the Alfetta GTV to the Tipo 105 Spider (Graduate), from the Busso V6 engined saloons to the boxer engine 33, there has been variety and achievement, never a dull moment but often a beautiful moment too. The motorsport heritage, from the early twentieth century through to the 1970s is arguably unmatched for an affordable brand, too. Alfas are the car the others describe in their slogans about “if you like driving”, “the driver’s choice” and the like. Back in 1980, Motor said there was a special and indefinable mystique to an Alfa Romeo, and that remains even now. It’s there in the Alfetta – both the 1972 car and pre-war Grand Prix Alfetta had transaxles gearboxes and a wheelbase of around 98 inches…..
As you’ll have seen through this tale, Alfa did not take the common or easy path. Their solutions to the requirements were not just a competent execution of a normal, in the way a Peugeot 504 or Rover 3500 (or even the European Ford Granada mk2) may have been, but were more like the attitudes of Citroen or Lancia. The choices made, such as de Dion rear suspension, the transaxle, inboard brakes, twin cam engines and five speed gearboxes, were redolent of engineers making the choices, and this showed in the abilities of the cars, especially in the earlier incarnations. And when these engineers are also enthusiasts, and clearly fully conscious of and empathetic with Alfa’s history and place in the ecosystem of the Italian car industry, the results are almost certain to be “all time greats” or not fully understood, depending on your preferences. I know where mine lie.
But don’t take just my word – these guys will vouch for them, too. But I’d suggest Rosso Alfa as a colour – they’re the fastest after all.
Cohort photos – Evert, Harry_nl, Albert Brandhorst, Alessio, Leo_L, Cascius2000, Charles Dawson, Filippo, EmmeBi Photos, LorenzoSSC, Demolition Man, Marvin 345, Janko Trajanov, Marco, Chris Dalton, Wouter Bregman, Yohai Rodin
The 75 over here was the Milano, and the 3.0 was the Verde (due to the green cloverleaf badge on the back) which was the cream of the crop and becoming a modern classic. As you rightly observe, it was an impressive machine with one of the all-time great engines. The lesser Milanos all still had the 2.5 V6 and were available in Silver, Gold, and Platinum named trims if memory serves. No four cylinders for us, gas was too cheap.
I looked at Milanos several times in my car-buying “career” and still regret not pulling the trigger at least once. I found the styling to be interesting and appealing, the different-ness inside and out itself being much of the appeal but also of course the low nose, high tail wedge stance.
Roger, this was a fantastic journey through this part of the Alfa range, and I’ve learned much I didn’t know about many of the cars that were never available here. The 90 looks a LOT like the E28 BMW from the low curbside angle shot of the brown car but much less so from a higher perspective. Some of the wacky interiors are absolutely charming and interesting and amazing that they made it to production in an ever increasingly homogenized world. While Alfas to this day remain exquisitely sporting machinery, but also as always are available in more pedestrian formats elsewhere, they definitely still retain character, sometimes frustrating, sometimes wild, but always marching to the beat of their own drum.
Thankfully it’s a holiday weekend here, and I plan to use part of it to re-read and enjoy many of the magazine reviews you included here.
Wow.The British “BMW” .the Truimph was dearer than the real one!. Audi was crazy ,crazy money.
We complain about new car prices today but just 3 years before this road test £5000 would have brought you the top of the range English Ford , the Granada 3.0 Ghia Auto not a mid range Cortina . The 1977 Cortina was just £2100!.
Quite the epic Alfa saga! Like Jim, there were details that had become lost in my memory banks, or were new to me.
I have decidedly mixed feelings about this generation of Alfa sedans. The original Alfetta is very appealing, but seeing those same out of date doors and certain other aspects of that rather crude boxy greenhouse all the way well into the 90s was disappointing. The Tipo 6 goes well beyond that word. Embarrassing.
But there’s a lot to like too, and a 75 with the 3.0 V6 undoubtedly would be a blast.
Thank you, Roger, for a brilliant read on an enchanting range of cars. The Alfetta range is indeed fascinating – fascinating and frustrating at the same time. They are Alfas through and through.
There are so many facets of these cars that leave me bewildered. They are brimming with unconventional solutions, that in most other companies, would never see the light of day.
Take for instance, the DeDion & rear transaxle setup. While undoubtedly brilliant in terms of weight distribution and minimizing the effects of unsprung mass, why this was deemed a prudent solution in a mass market sedan where space is at a premium, defies explanation. Perhaps standards were different once, but these cars were not exactly roomy for their size. Other saloons that employed a DeDion rear – most notably the Rover P6, suffered from similar packaging deficiencies. It’s hard not to question the functional benefits here, especially when considering that the live axles cars that the Alfetta effectively replaced were not lacking in handling prowess.
Another missed opportunity appears to be lack of a hatchback in the Giuletta variant. Though the styling motifs help to distinguish between the Alfetta and Giuletta, Alfa failed to fully exploit the abridged Kammback tail of the latter, which is perfectly shaped to accommodate a fifth door. Having a hatchback in the range would have gone quite aways in justifying two distinct variants of essentially the same car. It appears Alfa recognized as such, and fixed this with the 75 & 90.
One last thought. Whenever the Alfetta is brought up, I can’t help but think of the one used as a prop in Ferris Beuller’s Day Off. For those who have forgotten, the Alfetta makes a brief cameo appearance as Cameron’s ride, his character brilliantly played by Alan Ruck. The movie never mentions the Alfa by name – the only reference made is when Ferris brands it ‘a shitbox’. But as a prop, it’s inclusion is nothing short of brilliant. It’s the exact type of car a wealthy, car-crazed father would buy for a neglected teenage son.
Completely agree with your comments, Eric. I think the Giulietta with a fifth door would have previewed the early Saab 9000. Their dimensions and styling were quite similar.
Any mention of the Alfetta also brings me back to that early scene in Ferris Beueler’s Day Off with Cameron sitting in his example urging himself to leave the house. I’d be stoked if my daughter’s first car would be an Alfa but that’s unlikely in this day and age.
IIRC, it’s actually Cameron that refers to his recalcitrant-to-start Alfetta as a “piece of shit”, to which Ferris replies, “I don’t even have a piece of shit; I have to envy yours”, perhaps slyly alluding that he actually appreciates the car’s special attributes more than Cameron does.
thank you
Thanks so much, Roger, for the extensive survey of Alfa Romeo saloon cars during the 1970s and 1980s! It was murky to me why would Alfa Romeo have three or four different models based on same chassis and how different they were from each other. This article really clears up a lot for me.
I was very familiar with Alfa Romeo due to my family owning the 1971 1750A Berlina for a number of years. My parents almost considered replacing our 1750A Berlina with either Alfetta or VW Jetta in the late 1970s. They decided against it due to my brother needing a car for driving to the high school and after school job. When it was my turn at 16, my parents gave me the 1750A with a stipulation that I was to maintain the car at my own expense.
Road & Track did a road test of Alfetta with automatic gearbox in the 1979 or 1980. The magazine complained about Alfetta’s baulky automatic gearbox. My experience with 1750A was that adding one more gear would be a strong improvement.
What an enjoyable read. Great post Roger, thanks!
What a great piece. I wrote up a CC on it some years ago but it was nowhere near as thorough as this one. The 75 is one of my favorite cars. I had a 2.0 TS and it was utterly glorious, but…
My conclusion was then as now that they should just not be your primary car. Mine was and it was frustrating.
I dream daily of a 75 3.0 as a second car.
The car out in the garage is my fifth Alfa and second Milano. I’ve seldom had any complaints about the ergonomics, finding the car easy to drive for hours at a time, in common with most of my Alfas. At the moment it’s on a long sabbatical because it needs a whole lot of refurbishing, and it’s been on a non-op status for almost a year now. Great timing, since my favorite shop is under new ownership and – surprise! – doubled hourly rates, but it’s also a much cleaner and better organized one. The former shop boss is however the current one, and he’s the guy who knows how to get better emissions numbers out of that V6 than the best I’ve gotten for my 18-year younger Subaru Forester!
I see other cars I’d love to have on this and other car-centric news and auction sites, and if I found a good older Alfa sedan I could afford I might go for it. As for the current ones, my wife has a ’17 Giulia she loves, and when we get back into long trips I’ll be driving it and enjoying the experience … except in urban traffic. That’s the car with ergonomic problems, starting with not being able to see the car’s boundaries.
It was back in 1986. My car then (Renault 18i) was getting long in the tooth. The wife had gone to bed and I was reading a news magazine. I turned the page and there it was, a two page spread advertising the new ALFA Milano sedan. Once I saw the price (reasonable) I took the ad, and presented it to the wife saying here’s my next car. She liked it too. After a bit of a wait we were driving the first one delivered in PDX. Of course it was red.
Polarizing looks? Sure, but I loved it. Ergonomics? The window switches on the ceiling reminded me of an old Avanti. And just to prove she was an ALFA the oil pressure sender was defective, showing 0 psi.
The perennial question from others was Who makes that? Just part of the fun. The handling was best described in two words “Yes Boss”. The engine was a work of art. Never mind the leaky cam belt tensioner, water pump, and short lived belt. I was driving an ALFA, my dream car, and all was good.
Until one day I was out on a country road when around the corner came some kid in a Datsun. He fishtailed out one way, corrected, then fishtailed the other way, caught some air (so I’m told) and hit me in an offset front end collision.
You know, time really does seem to slow down. The car was a mess, the front collapsed and the cabin had good for the time integrity. I ended up loosing my spleen, breaking five ribs (probably from being restrained by the seat belt – still better than going through the windshield). Ten days in the hospital, but I had a full recovery.
My lawyer had gone to school with the local ALFA dealer, and I had a good relationship with the shop, so they just took another one and parked it aside for when I was ready. I think it was the salesman easiest sale ever. He took us out to lunch!
That began my relationship with ALFAs. I totaled another when I T-boned a stop sign runner. Got rear ended twice sitting stopped at red lights. Picked up a lightly used 164, and drove ’em until they had left the US market and parts became a problem.
The wife and I now drive electric, but will always smile and remember when we were driving real sports sedans.
Alfas…. I’be owned five myself, although all Spiders. My current is a lovely 1971 Spider.
This is just something hard to explain about why they’re such a pleasure. Certainly they are not perfect, but perhaps that’s part of the allure…. They’re just so damn nice, except for… (X)
And so you get sucked in Always Looking For Another
You know the next one will be perfect; you get it and it almost is, expect for (X) but you love it anyhow….
There´s so much to say about these cars. What isn´t often mentioned is the incredible seating. I´ve sat in the Alfa 75, the Alfetta and also the Giulia and Giulietta. Another time I got to try a 2000 Berline. All of them have the most cossetting and supportive seats which make the most of the small size of the cars. No, they aren´t roomy but you feel so comfortable and well-positioned in these cars. They really knew what the were doing with the upholstery, the geometry and the foam fillers. Plus the seats looked great. The meaning of this that you feel well-situated in relation to the car which feels like an extension of you rather than a shell and perch inside it. It´s quite a remarkable achievement.
The balanced weight distribution of having a front engine and rear transaxle places the car’s center of gravity very near the driver’s seat, imparting that feeling of the car being “an extension of you” as its every movement is aligned along and around axes centered upon yourself.
Mid-engined cars have a similar feeling for similar reasons of balanced weight distribution, but having that mass centralized rather than distributed to each end gives a livelier feeling, less stable and more responsive to rotational inputs and forces.
To demonstrate the difference, take a carton of eggs and leave 4 eggs in it, 2 at each far end. That’s the front-engine/rear-transaxle distribution; notice how it feels as you rotate the carton end-to-end. Then move all 4 eggs together to the most central spots. That’s the mid-engine distribution; notice how it’s much easier to rotate and also to stop that rotation.
Small note: An Alfa 6 did make it passed the docks. I saw one near an Alfa dealer in 87 or 88 just south of Phil’s. Airport.
Typical excellence, Mr Carr, both in relaying not just the wherefore but also the why.
Do you notice that every single road test of this chassis from ’72 to the last 3 litre 75 says the same things? The gearchange is less than ideal: the steering seems a bit slow: it understeers a bit much: the driving position is a bit off: it’s not too roomy. I do like the collective interestingness of all these cars, but I’ll be cold – the faults should really not have been these from the beginning if the engineering was said to be so good, and without question, all should have been fixed as time went on. In this country, these were always expensive cars, and again, I’ll be mean: the visual (and plastic-related) build quality of the ’80’s and ’90’s Alfetta versions could not be taken seriously. Anecdotally, the actual build quality (short-life timing belts, leaks, electrical fritzes, etc) was not about to worry Stuttgart either.
That V6, though! It meets every single over-cooked claim of the most rabid Alfisiti. It’s quite possible one could endure the rest of Alfetta-dom just to use it in a RWD chassis, so good does it sound. And it has a delicious name for being one of those engines where you can loaf using 2,000rpm, speed using 4,000 and get arrested at 6,000, your choice, all of them good. Even today, an engine that’s a delight to use at any speed is rare, and I can’t think of one that sounds as good. Pavorotti? The Six Tenors, more like.
One last comment about the possibilities of the Alfetta set-up. In Oz, at Mt Panorama, Bathurst, the World F1 Champion Alan jones raced 2.5 V6 GTV’s against the local 5 and 5.8 litre cars, and highly-turboed Nissans. Incredibly, the little car was frequently close not to class victories but to outright wins. Sure, a great driver,but despite the roadtester’s lamentations, there’s no doubt that that basic chassis could be set up to do very good things.
Anyway, the sound, as it did so, ah, that was from the gods.
The Alfa also won the BTCC in the hands of the legendary Andy Rouse. But only after Rover were kicked out.
On BL could win a title, only to have it fall off.
Interesting to contrast that with Gavin Green´s breathless praise of the 75 in Car Magazine in 1986. On the plus side, it´s a finely written article with geat photography. On the downside, the report is a stack of misrepresentations if the car was merely a sloppy gearchange, slow steering, understeer and iffy build.
I could never get past the odd upward kink at the tail. I wish that I had, in my youth, a less practical approach to new cars, at least in my single years. But that German vibe appealed to me because I was going to keep my first car forever. Alas, that lasted about 2 years. The 85 GTI was fun, but there was some really sensuous stuff out at the time that I passed over.
A wonderful romp through Alfaland, sir.
Thank you, Roger! In 1986 I decided it was time for my first new car, after a used Fiat 124 sedan, and an 1975 Opel Sportwagon. The Milano had just arrived in California, so I took one for a test drive. Remember being surprised that the salesman did not come along, one reason it was a memorable drive. I was very tempted, but noted the small trunk and lack of folding rear seats, plus concerns about reliability, parts/service. Those practical considerations led me to a VW GTI. But just 3 years later I did acquire a 1979 Alfa Spider for a fun car, which I enjoyed for about 5 years, until moving to Canada curtailed its useful driving season.
When the Milano came out, it looked to me like an alternate-universe Mk2 Jetta.
Late to the comments here, Roger, but thanks for an incredibly deep dive into these cars. As the (brief) owner of a 1975 Alfetta Berlina, in a dark blue that I don’t think was commonly pictured, I’d say it was a flawed car with some very good points. On the other hand, despite obviously being a four door sedan, it was pretty much as sporting as my 1974 Spider, and far more practical. As one who came of age in the 105/115 Guilia and GTV era, the increasing use of plastic trim and cladding in the later Alfa’s unfortunately turned me off the newer cars, and in hindsight they don’t look any better than Pontiac’s Aztek or Chevy’s Avalanche. Sad. I recently saw my first 4C Spider and it was quite nice.
I had a chance to sit in an Alfetta Berlina. AR really had a hard time getting injection moulding to work for them. The dashboard is not remotely as well done as something from … well, most other manufacturers Opel and Ford were able to do it, it wasn´t just a special thing at Mercedes. That said, I didn´t mind the Alfetta´s rather Soviet IP. Sitting inside it felt like being in a really neatly sized car. It was like having a well-cut suit on, or my favourite sports jacket which is (by chance) so well suited to my size that I don´t feel like I even have a jacket on. It moves with me and I expect the Alfetta is a really agile, light-feeling car.
Beautiful cars when new. Fast and luxurious, really something special.
Unfortunately, they didn’t last much longer than about 5 years in our climate.
The parents of a friend of mine owned a scrapyard and in the early-mid 80’s you would generally find a row of completely rusted out 3-6 year old Alfas there (the Alfasud was the most notorious ruster). Those cars usually had large rust holes everywhere, even in the strangest places (middle of roofs, hoods and doors). Very bad quality steel and virtually no rust proofing. If you see an original unrestored Alfa from this era today, 90% chance it’s a French or Italian import.
As the comments attest, Alfas get inti you. I hope that came through in the post.
Thanks for all the feedback and memories.
Late to this party, but I do have to thank you for this superb post, Roger.
The early cars (Alfettas) looked gorgeous, but didn’t age too well… And I’m not sure why they nearly always looked as if they were sitting too high on their tyres, especially on the back end, kind of like a Citroen 2CV. The design adds to the overall impression.
But those interior shots, oh my! Even the Giulietta has me all flustered.