Alfa Romeo at 110: its greatest cars

It has been said by some that every true petrolhead has either owned an Alfa Romeo or, at the very least, wanted to.

If this is true, 24 June 2020 is a very significant day for car enthusiasts, because it marks the 110th anniversary of of Alfa’s formation in Milan, less than a hundred miles from its current home in Turin.

Let’s tell the Alfa story by way of a look at its greatest cars:

The Darracq connection

The company we now know as Alfa Romeo arose from S.A.I.D., which was created in 1906 to build French Darracq cars for sale in Italy. By 1909, S.A.I.D. was in trouble, and its directors decided to try a new approach and build cars of their own.

The new organisation was given the descriptive name [Società] Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili, which approximately translates into English as Lombardy Automobile Factory Limited. For convenience, it was referred to by its initial letters, A.L.F.A.

The logo

The A.L.F.A. logo was designed by Romano Cattaneo. It has been redesigned several times over the years, but two elements have remained throughout: a red cross representing Milan and a grass snake taken from the coat of arms of the Visconti family, which ruled the city until 1447.

The 24 HP

A.L.F.A. hired ex-Fiat man Giuseppe Merosi (1872-1956) as its chief engineer, a post he held until 1923. He designed the company’s first car, a four-seater with a 4.1-litre engine known as the 24 HP (pictured). It was followed almost immediately by the smaller 12 HP. Production of the 24 HP continued until 1914.

Two 24 HPs were entered in the 1911 Targa Florio race, but both retired on the third and final lap of the 91-mile road course, one because of the accident which befell Nino Franchini and the other due to the exhaustion suffered by Ugo Ronzoni.

Nicola Romeo

In 1915, entrepreneur Nicola Romeo bought a controlling stake in A.L.F.A., which spent the remaining War years building military equipment. Romeo soon became the full owner of the firm, whose name was changed in his honour to the current Alfa Romeo in February 1918.

Romeo left in 1928 and died ten years later at the age of 62, but he is still commemorated in the name of the company and those of streets in several Italian cities, including Milan.

The 20-30 HP

The 20-30 HP, introduced in 1914, was a development of the original 24 HP. Production was interrupted by the First World War, so many cars started before hostilities began were completed only in 1920.

A sports version of the 20-30 HP was the first model ever to be badged as an Alfa Romeo.

The RL

The Alfa Romeo RL was in production for five years starting in 1922. There were four grades called Normale, Turismo, Sport and Super Sport (pictured).

In addition to those, Alfa built several lighter and more powerful race versions named after the Targa Florio road race. Drivers included Enzo Ferrari, who won a major event at Ravenna in June 1923.

The cloverleaf

Hoping that it would bring him luck in the 1923 Targa Florio, Alfa racing driver Ugo Sivocci painted a four-leaf clover on his RL. It seemed to be effective. Sivocci won the race, but later died at Monza while practising in another car which did not have the clover on it.

The clover, known as quadrifoglio, was added to Alfa Romeo race cars from then on in Sivocci’s honour. The logo and the name began to be used on high-performance production cars in the early 1960s.

The 6Cs

The RL was replaced in 1927 by the first of a series of sports models called 6C because they all had six-cylinder engines. Giuseppe Campari won the 1928 Mille Miglia race in a competition version, and road models appeared with several engine sizes and a great many body styles, mostly created by independent coachbuilders.

A new 6C went on sale in 1934, a year after Alfa Romeo, by now in serious financial trouble, came under the control of Italy’s Institute for Industrial Reconstruction. Its replacement was produced from 1938 to 1952.

The 8Cs

Similar to the 6C, the 8C, built throughout the 1930s, was available in many road-going and competition forms, all with variants of an eight-cylinder engine designed by Vittorio Jano.

A streamlined 8C coupe (pictured) led the 1938 Le Mans 24 Hour race by the almost unbelievable margin of 14 laps before retiring with engine failure two hours before the finish.

A famous victory

Alfa Romeo’s new Grand Prix car for 1932 was known variously as the Tipo B or P3. It was very successful to begin with, until the technically brilliant Mercedes and Auto Union machines collectively known as the Silver Arrows arrived in 1934.

Despite this, Tazio Nuvolari achieved possibly the greatest result of his career in the 1935 German Grand Prix, driving a P3 in terrible weather at the Nürburgring. Recovering from a bad start and a disastrous fuel stop, Nuvolari took the chequered flag first ahead of eight Silver Arrows, to the disgust of the high-ranking Nazi officials present.

The last 6C

The final 6C model, whose 2.5-litre engine was the largest in the series, was introduced in 1938. The chassis was offered in three sizes, the longest being used for the 2500 Super Sport (pictured).

The 6C was both the last pre-War and the first post-War production Alfa Romeo, remaining on sale until 1952.

The 1900

Alfa’s first post-War design was the 1900, which differed from previous models in that it was built on a production line and had a structural body rather than a separate body and chassis.

Aimed at a larger market than previous Alfa Romeos, it was quite successful. Over 20,000 were built between 1950 and 1959.

World champions

The F1 World Championship was created in 1950. Alfa Romeo immediately dominated it, winning six of the seven rounds (the exception being the Indianapolis 500, which no European team entered). Giuseppe Farina won the title that year and was succeeded by Juan-Manuel Fangio in another Alfa.

Fangio’s car was a 159 Alfetta, a derivative of Farina’s 158 which had itself been designed back in 1937. Alfa Romeo temporarily retired from F1 at the end of the 1951 season. None of its returns led to the success it had enjoyed in the early 50s.

Disco Volante

Officially called the 1900 C52, the Disco Volante (‘Flying Saucer’) was an experimental sports racing car of which just five were built in 1952 and 1953. Some of the mechanical components came from the 1900, but the spaceframe chassis and the astonishingly aerodynamic body, developed in partnership with Milan-based Carozzeria Touring, were new.

Alfa Romeo and Touring collaborated again on a new Disco Volante, based on the 8C Competizione, which was revealed in 2013. A convertible version appeared three years later.

Giulietta

Alfa Romeo has used the Giulietta name three times. The first model, manufactured from 1954 to 1965, was available in saloon, coupe (pictured) and roadster forms, along with a very rare estate called the Promiscua.

Most of them had the same 1.3-litre twin-cam engine with power outputs of up to 99bhp for road use. Competition versions could reach 118bhp. Alfa celebrated the building of the 100,001st Giulietta in 1961, and total production is believed to have exceeded 170,000.

The French connection

Echoing its early relationship with Darracq, Alfa Romeo built the Renault Dauphine (pictured) under licence in Italy from 1959 and the Renault 4 from 1962. Production of both stopped in 1964.

The Dauphine’s successor was the Renault 8, which bore a close resemblance to an Alfa prototype called the Tipo 103. The two cars were, however, completely unrelated mechanically (not least in that their engines were at different ends), and the Alfa version was never put into production.

Giulia saloons

Known as the Type 105, the original Giulia saloon, built from 1962 to 1977, had a boxy body which was far more aerodynamic than it appeared.

Nearly all versions had 1.3- or 1.6-litre petrol engines, but a late model introduced in 1976 was Alfa Romeo’s first diesel-fuelled passenger car.

Giulia coupes

A series of coupes based on a shortened Giulia saloon platform was launched in 1963. Engine sizes ranged from 1.3 to 2.0 litres, and the cars had several names, most of which included the letters GT.

The GTAm (pictured), built by Alfa Romeo’s motorsport division Autodelta, was built specifically for racing. Dutch driver Toine Hezemans won the 1970 European Touring Car Championship in one.

2600

Produced from 1962 to 1968 and a development of the earlier 2000, the 2600 was the last of what would have been described at the time as the ‘classic’ Alfa Romeos, with a six-cylinder engine.

It was offered as a saloon with Alfa’s own body and as a Spider (pictured) and coupe with bodies by Touring and Bertone respectively. Overall, the 2600 was not a great success, and there was no direct replacement.

Spider

Of all the cars based on the 1962 Giulia, by far the longest-lived was the Spider. Styled by Pininfarina, it was launched in 1966 and featured in the following year’s movie The Graduate (dubbed with a completely inappropriate V8 engine noise) driven by Dustin Hoffman.

This sort of publicity in the first year of a model’s production is the sort of thing manufacturers can usually only dream of, but even Alfa Romeo can hardly have expected at the time that it would still be building essentially the same car (though with several updates) as late as 1993.

33 Stradale

This was the street-legal version of Alfa’s Tipo 33 sports racer, stradale being the Italian word for ‘road’. It had butterfly doors and a 2-litre V8 engine with a remarkably high output of 227bhp, only about 40bhp short of what it produced in the race car.

Only 18 were built from late 1967 to early 1969. Survivors are estimated to be worth over $10 million each.

Montreal

When Alfa displayed an un-named concept car at Expo 67, the public called it the Montreal after the host city. Alfa kept the name for the production model, which differed from the concept in many respects.

For example, the original 1.6-litre four-cylinder engine was abandoned in favour of a larger (2.6-litre) but detuned (197bhp) version of the V8 used in the 33 Stradale. The Montreal was produced from 1970 to 1977 but did not sell particularly well, partly because of its high price.

Alfasud

The Alfasud got its name from a government policy to increase manufacturing and employment in the poorer, southern part of Italy (sud being the Italian word for ‘south’). This radical small car, the first front-wheel drive Alfa Romeo, was built in a factory near Naples from 1972, and unfortunately developed an early reputation for rust.

More happily, it also became known for its excellent handling, helped by the fact that the boxer engine layout gave the whole car a helpfully low centre of gravity.

Alfetta, GTV and Giulietta

Launched in the same year as the Alfasud, the Alfetta was named after the 159 Alfetta Grand Prix car of the early 1950s. Unusually, the production car had its engine mounted up front and its gearbox at the rear in an attempt to make the weight distribution as even as possible.

The Alfetta saloon was the basis of the GT and GTV (pictured) coupes. More powerful examples had V6 engines, rather than the more common four-cylinder ones, in sizes of up to 3.0 litres. Yet another derivative was the second-generation Giulietta, built from 1977 to 1965.

33

The Alfasud’s replacement was the 33, which like its predecessor had a choice of four-cylinder boxer engines, in this case from 1.2 to 1.7 litres, plus a 1.3-litre three-cylinder diesel supplied by VM Motori.

Though less fondly remembered than the Sud, the 33 remained in production for twelve years, from 1983 to 1995.

164

Development of the 164 began when Alfa Romeo was still owned by the Institute for Industrial Reconstruction but went on sale after the company had been bought by Fiat.

Notable for its wedge shaped, created by Pininfarina, the 164 was one of four cars based on the Type Four platform, the others being the Fiat Croma, the Lancia Thema and the Saab 9000. The Alfa was the last to reach the market, in 1988, and went out of production nine years later. US sales stopped in 1995. Alfa would not have a presence in the North American market for two decades after that.

SZ/RZ

The SZ coupe was closely related to the 75 (sold in the US as the Milano), and used the 3.0-litre V6 engine used in high-performance versions of that car. It was built from 1989 to 1991 and followed by the RZ convertible manufactured until 1994.

No other Alfa Romeo before or since has looked quite like these cars, which were nicknamed Il mostro (‘the monster’), but their six headlights arranged in two sets of three would make a comeback in the 21st century.

155

Given the new Fiat connection, it was reasonable enough that the front-wheel drive 155 compact executive should share a platform with the Fiat Tempra and Lancia Dedra. Production began in 1992 and ended six years later.

The car was very successful in motorsport. The 155 Silverstone, launched in 1994, was created specifically to give Alfa Romeo an advantage in that year’s British Touring Car Championship, which it dominated. Other 155s would win Touring Car titles in Germany, Italy and Spain.

145/146

Alfa’s small family hatchbacks of the mid to late 1990s was divided into two ranges with similar mechanicals but different characters. The 145 (pictured) was the more youth-oriented three-door, while the 146 had five doors and more conservative styling, and was aimed at people who might previously have bought a 33.

Like the 33 and the Alfasud, the 145/146 was available at first with boxer engines, though these were discontinued. In hot hatch form, both cars were offered with 2.0-litre TwinSpark engines producing around 150bhp, but only the 145 version had the Quadrifoglio/Cloverleaf badge.

GTV/Spider

Like the 145/146 whose platform they shared, the GTV and Spider (both using names from Alfa Romeo’s past) were broadly speaking the same car, respectively a two-seater sports coupe and its convertible equivalent which were built from 1993 to 2004.

Alfa offered several four-cylinder and V6 engines. The most unusual was a turbocharged 2.0-litre V6, which was approximately as powerful as the 3.0-litre version but put the car in a lower tax bracket for Italian customers.

156

The 155 was replaced by the 156, which was in production for ten years from 1997. It was offered in a great many forms. Engines ranged from a 1.6-litre Twin Spark through a common-rail turbo diesel to a 3.2-litre petrol V6, body styles included saloon, Sportwagon estate and Crosswagon semi-off-roader, and there was a choice of front- or four-wheel drive.

The 156 was very well received. In 1998 it became the first Alfa Romeo ever to win the European Car of the Year award, easily beating the new Volkswagen Golf and Audi A6.

166

While Alfa Romeo was doing well with its small and medium-sized cars in the late 1990s, it would be difficult to say the same of its largest model. The 166, which used the same platform as the Lancia Kappa, replaced the 164 in 1996 and staggered on until 2007 before being abandoned without a direct successor.

In August 2009, we reported that the 166 was the worst-depreciating car in the UK, worth just 14.4% of its sale price after three years.

147

Alfa Romeo rationalised its small hatchback range in 2000, replacing both the 145 and the 146 with the 147, which was available with three or five doors. In 2001 the 147 became the second and so far last Alfa to be named European Car of the Year, beating the Ford Mondeo by a single point.

For the hot hatch GTA version (pictured), Alfa fitted a big V6 under the bonnet, as Volkswagen later did with the Golf R32. The 3.2-litre engine produced 247bhp and gave the car a top speed of 153mph and a 0-62mph time of 6.3 seconds.

GT

Described by its maker as “a true Gran Turismo sports coupe in the classic Alfa Romeo tradition”, the GT was a sleeker version of the 156 introduced in 2003. 1.8-litre Twin Spark, 2.0-litre direct injection and 3.2-litre V6 petrol engines were on offer, along with a 1.9-litre turbo diesel.

“It’s a likeable car, the GT,” we reported, speaking of the 2.0, while also noting that “dynamically, it still falls some way short of a [BMW] 3-Series”.

159

The 159 replaced the 156 in 2004 and remained on the market for seven years. It was based on a platform co-developed by Fiat and General Motors, though only Alfa Romeo used it for cars that went into production.

The outstanding design feature of the 159 was its array of six front lights, three on each side of the car. This had last been seen on the SZ/RZ (though the lights were now circular rather than square) and would be used again in the near future.

Brera/Spider

The Brera coupe and Spider convertible were based on the 159 and were in production for five years from 2005. The Brera in particular looked very dramatic (the six-light arrangement definitely helped), but it was criticised for its dull handling, caused by considerable weight and underdamped front suspension.

Alfa Romeo commissioned UK company Prodrive to work on this, and the result was the lighter, lower and more stiffly sprung Brera S. “Really, this is Brera that Alfa should have built from day one,” we said. “Shame, then, that there’ll be only 500 expensive examples.”

MiTo

The MiTo’s name refers to the cities where it was designed (Milan) and built (Turin, or Torino in Italian). Launched in 2008, it was based on a General Motors/Fiat platform also used for the Fiat Grande Punto and the Vauxhall Corsa, among others.

The MiTo was one of the first cars to use the MultiAir intake system devised by Fiat Powertrain Technologies and licensed to German company Schaeffler. Under a different name, the same technology is used on Jaguar Land Rover’s Ingenium engines.

8C

The 8C Competizione and its convertible derivative, the 8C Spider, were produced from 2007 to 2010. Both had a carbonfibre body and used a 444bhp 4.7-litre version of the F136 V8 engine also found in several Ferraris and Maseratis.

Only 500 of each were built. Ninety 8C Competitiziones were earmarked for the US, making this the first Alfa Romeo sold in North America since the 164 was withdrawn from that market in 1995.

Giulietta

Alfa Romeo brought back the Giulietta name in 2010 for a new family car which replaced the 147. It was the first model based on the Fiat Compact platform also used by Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep, all of which are related to Alfa Romeo following the creation of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in 2014.

The Giulietta finished second in the 2011 European Car of the Year awards, Alfa’s best result since the 147 won ten years before and since equalled by the Giulietta in 2017.

4C

Alfa displayed the 4C as a concept at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show and then in production form at the same event two years later. Like the much more expensive and exclusive 8C, it has a carbonfibre body which helps keep the kerb weight down to almost exactly 1000kg.

The mid-mounted 237bhp turbo petrol engine is one of many Alfa Romeo units in history with a capacity of around 1750cc, the exact figure in this case being 1742cc. Available in coupe and Spider forms, the 4C was the first series production Alfa to go on sale in North America in the 21th century.

Giulia

In 2016, Alfa Romeo launched the Giulia, its first saloon since the 159 and first front-engined rear-wheel drive model in nearly a quarter of a century.

Mostly sold as an executive car, the Giulia is also available in high-performance Quadrifoglio form. This version’s turbocharged 2.9-litre V6 petrol engine produces a maximum output of 503bhp, making the Quadrifoglio nearly twice as powerful as any other model in the range.

Stelvio

By the mid 2010s it had become almost impossible for any car manufacturer not to have an SUV in its line-up. Alfa Romeo’s entry into the sector was the Stelvio, named after the famous Italian mountain pass and related to the Giulia, with a similar range of engines.

The Stelvio made its public debut at the 2016 Los Angeles Auto Show, and was launched on the US market, along with the Giulia, the following year. As a result, annual Alfa Romeo sales in the region reportedly shot up from a few hundred to over 12,000.