My father owned 4 or 5 of these back in the 70s and 80s, and a GTV. He still regards them as just about the best handling car he owned and as a kid, the noise was fantastic. But the rust was a killer, which is possibly one of the reasons we switched to Volvo / Saab. We never owned another Alfa when they went front-drive / turned into Fiats.
I had an Alfetta GT 2.0, it rusted away but was a great handling car. It was followed by a Milano 2.5, which also rusted away. That car was the last of many Alfas I owned starting in 1967 with a 1963 101 series Sprint Normale. A BMW 535i and several Audis followed, then a 2016 Mazda MX-5, and now a 2016 Jaguar F-Type 3.0 S coupe, manual transmission. I think I'm done for a while.
The Busso designed Alfa twin cam engine first appeared in 1954 in the Giulietta 750 series. It was subject to a modest revision in circa 1958 when the 101 series Giulietta was introduced - which is the engine that the 105 series Alfas and 116 Alfetta twin cam engines are based on. With regards to the in-board rear brakes, they remained in that location for the entire duration of the 'Alfetta platform' that included the (modern) Giulietta, Alfa GTV, Alfa GTV6, Alfa 75, Alfa 90 and ES 30 - so at no time were the rear brakes relocated to the perimeter of the rear axle. On the subject of rust, thankfully they didn't deteriorate like the Alfa Sud because they were not manufactured at the strike ridden, under manned and 'work ethics' compromised Pomigliano d'Arco plant. However they did have a propensity to rust but were no worse than most cars of the era and probably better that the horrendously rust prone Mark 3 Cortina - which a have a liking for - especially the 2-door version of the Ford.
These cars can be a bit tricky for the inexperienced driver on a slippery road, the gearbox too is really not an easy one. The engine was great. There were so many in Italy at the time and almost none left today. Thanks Jack for your reviews I always enjoy. Ciao.
yes - while it delievered 50/50 weight distribution, it was no mid-engine. lotsa polar motion of inertia that one did not want to allow to take over the steering.
I can't agree. They are very sensitive to mismatched tires, but with good tires they are very communicative, predictable and responsive on any surface.
@@johngeren1053 in the 1980’s I worked on a breakdown truck towing away cars after road accidents occurred. When there was rain, there were many accidents and guess which cars were often involved ? The Alfas rear drive models. The BMW’s of the time too but significantly a bit less even though perhaps it was just that there were simply a bit less around, It is interesting. Would it be fair to say that front drive cars are a bit more predictable and safer for the average driver compared to rear drive cars? I think it is possible.
@@cristianocastagno9680 My personal experience includes putting hundreds of thousands of miles on 116 Alfas, often as fast as I could get away with. In all that I experienced two "fishtailing" situations. Each time I had poor tires. The first incident was totally my fault, becoming distracted on a normal highway commute and driving off the road. We came back on the road completely sideways, into the median, back on the asphalt less sideways and then one small tail wag. There was no traffic on my side of the highway. I did not think any car would have recovered from going 90 degrees at that speed. The second incident was in a GTV6 with undersize, mismatched tires and driving too fast on a rural road. We hit a patch of gravel that had been put down to melt snow days before. The car fishtailed several times and ended up undamaged in a field. The Watt linkage will cause a very small degree of roll steer that gives an oversteering effect, which is not necessarily bad in an understeering car. That effect can be eliminated if you lower the rear to where the Watt links are parallel. On my '79 sedan I had a competent welder add extensions to the outer link brackets to make them parallel at the stock ride height. When I lowered the car the links were unparallel the other way that theoretically made it have a bit of roll understeer. In my experience, if tires are good and evenly inflated 116s are the safest handling, most controllable cars around. Other drivers' results may vary. I was probably a very skillful, but extremely irresponsible motorist when young. Front wheel drive cars are safer if you push them to the limit, but the limit is lower, and it is no fun except in very small, light fwd cars I understeered off a narrow extremely curvy road in the rain one time. That was in the 79 sedan before I dealt with the incredibly heavy 5mph bumper issue. I also went off the side of a mountain on a gravel road, but I was just going too fast in a decreasing radius curve. The car's handling was totally neutral in that instance😁PS: Alfas had wheels and tires that should have been a.bit wider. Some 116s had wheels as small as 5 1/2 by 13. My Alfetta initially had 14 by 5 1/2 but I found some 6 by 14 factory option mags. All our V6s had 15by 6 Campagnolos, except for that one time when the GTV6 was temporarily on Milano steels. My dream 116 would be an Aletta GT with 7by 14 Cromodora Daytonas like Shankle used to sell.
I bought a brand new Alfetta 1.8 sedan in 1976 and loved it. Yeah, the gear change was awful, especially when cold and the gearbox never got really hot as it it never got heat from the engine. It sounded so sweet and rorty and I loved the induction noise from the Dellorto carbs. Mine rusted badly around the windscreen and back window and the general fit and finish left a lot to be desired. It was a reliable and economical car too. I sold it after 4 years and later got a late 81 GTV 2.0 and thoroughly enjoyed it too. Greetings from Adelaide, South Australia.
Yes, Alfa! My first car was an Alfasud and I loved it for all of its short life. And the Alfetta? Always in my dream list! Thanks for bringing back the memories
My first Alfa was a secondhand Berlina bought in 1975 lovely but the dreaded rust forced me to trade up to a red Alfetta identical to this one. It was such a joy to drive with its equal weight distribution etc. I always said it was so communicative that it was like an extension of your fingers and toes. One difference I noticed in the steering from the Berlina was on initial turn in there was like initial understeer whilst the front suspension settled then it gripped and was wonderfully communicative thereafter. After more than 6 years of really trouble free ownership my wife was pregnant and the hot Sydney Summer was taking its toll without air conditioning and rust was appearing. So I went searching for a replacement but in 1985 there was only the Giulietta or Alfa 33 to choose from so my first new Alfa was a 2L Giulietta which had the same underpinnings and in which I collected our first daughter from the Hospital. Twenty four years of ownership with no body rust and few troubles thanks to a great mechanic. It had to be sold as I was the only family member left who could drive a manual and my health issues were intruding. Thank you Jack for bringing back such happy memories. You have done the marque proud.
I commented on the gearbox thing before when you drove the (80's, 116) Giulietta, models starting from the Alfa 75 featured a different gear linkage that gave it much more solid feel. For a right side driver this difference will be enormous as you will no longer need to bend your left knee to the right to reach fifth gear or reverse. Rear discs have always been on the inside, reducing unsprung weight, and it stayed that way when the platform was 'sold' to Maserati (a FIAT group internal write-off) and later 'borrowed' back for the Alfa 8C. Also getting a bit tired of the rust fable. Every car rusts and in particular the first cars that featured a load-bearing chassis turned out to be seriously susceptible to rust from the inside of hollow sections. Try find an 80's Ford Fiesta today, or an Audi 80 of the same age as this Alfetta, they're just as rare now even though they didn't make some of the mistakes that Alfa did - like foam filling gaps between overlapping panels with polyurethane.
Yes! Glad someone has said this.. has anyone owned a Mercedes sprinter? It would rival any Alfa or lancia I have ever owned in 30 years…including many alfasuds…!
Yes. All cars used to rust. Badly. In the USA we used to call Mustangs Rustangs. There was no real attention to building car bodies that resisted the tin worm until around the late 80s early 90s. That was the turning point after which rust prevention steadily improved.
@@trisrush9155 I still own a '77 Alfasud Cinque Marche (5M) and whenever I ask the kids what car we'll use for summer vacation the Alfasud always wins. Have had the car for 17 years now and not planning to let it go.
@@gordonbos5447 awesome! My favourite car of all time. Bought my first one when I was 16.. had a few more since, and very sad not to have one now! Fantastic you still have one to inspire the next generation! 👍👍
Mercedes have a recall for 8 models built between 2010 & 2022 with rear subframe rust issues……..strange how the Daily Mail isn’t doing a ‘Lancia’ on them for that!
My very first Alfa, bought new in September 1977, was an Alfetta Sport Sedan. I have been in love with the Alfa brand ever since. I drove my Alfetta seven days a week, I tracked it 6 or 7 weekends a year, I rallied it, entered it in club Concorsos...and I'd own it today but in 1985 it was destroyed while parked in front of my house. Jack, this video is the closest to my heart of all your videos. My Alfetta was named Marcello (after another Italian legend). The only car that has won my heart as completely, is also an Alfa...a 2023 Giulia. Also named Marcello. Thank you for this great video.
Thanks for posting. I too owned one of these, a 1978 2.0 with sqare headlamps, not as nice as this older version. It was only 10 years old at the time and had never seen service. Loved it but it was a short affair. Now I drive an mx5 that I bought new in 2016. A keeper. 140tkm on the clock already and only needed new brakes and tires. There's the reliability I'd wish from an Alfa Romeo😂
It’s such a tragedy about the rust, because otherwise these were incredible cars. My uncle who lives in southern Germany has owned numerous Alfa’s since the 70’s, and I drove the various Alfetta’s he had numerous times and they were all so entertaining and addictive that you couldn’t believe it was a 4 door family sedan. The sound was spectacular, and you could drive them at high speeds on the autobahn on long trips and they were so comfortable. But where these cars really come alive is on winding mountain roads, taking one up into the Swiss Alps was heaven.
@@Mike-rk8pxthe way Jack describes the balky shifting, I’m thinking that would have spoiled the experience considerably. How did you feel about it up in the alps?
Jack, This is your best review so far. The smile on your face and your bursting enthusiasm shone all the way through. Keep doing what your doing and keep enjoying what your doing. It really does show.
In person at the Italian days I've attended, they look like lovely little cars. I'd love a drive in something Italian of this era. I've driven Allegros, Vivas, a Mk II escort and an original mini and, I think it was an 82' Cherry.
I tested one of these in 1974 and also the FIAT 125S. While the Fiat was down a little on power it was also cheaper and handled almost a well. But they are a prettier car than the 125S. Thanks for the memories.
This brings back teenage memories of Rome, 1979. The Carabinieri used to race around in these lovely cars as they responded to Red Brigades-related alarms. I was envious that they got to drive them… Alfas got under my skin since then. Later a friend of mine owned a Bertone-designed Berlina sedan with a 1750 cc twin cam engine with dual Webers. How I envied him.
My boss had one in the early 80's. It was 2 or 3 years old when I first went in it. He'd already had a lot of respray done as it was rusting. Inside it was hilarious: the door cards in the front were disintegrating, one of the horn buttons on the steering wheel was hanging out and, as I reached to adjust the air vent, my boss said "no!". Too late though and as I touched it it fell off! I drove it from London to the north west. The gear change was horrendous. Long throws, very sloppy and loose with only a very vague connection to the gears. Having worked with Italians I found them highly competent at design but poor at execution, with an attitude of 'if it doesn't work we' ll fix it'.
I remember these when they were used by Polizia and Carabinieri here in Italy. The 2 liter (sometimes also tuned up). You couldn't really escape from these, unless you had a Ferrari or something like that... (I'm no outloaw by the way... Just remember those times). They were SCARY :D About the rear brakes: they stayed inboard also in the Alfa 75. Later cars were Fiat (until the Giulia) so they don't have anything to do with Alfa, really.
me too. I still maintain my fathers Alfetta 1.8 saloon bought new sadly it was never developed and deserved the later twin spark engine from launch in 1972. The Fiat 131 was a car my uncle owned and impressed me also. Its rally version won the world rally championship for amnufacturers 1977, 1978, and 1980 and Rohrl won drivers championship also in 1980 with it. However Fiat invested heavily in the Rally car which had completely different suspension platform underneath with independent suspension all round amongst other differences. The Alfetta rally cars had the twinspark engine of the Giulia GTAM but were more similar to the road cars in other ways.
I own a 1,6 from ´81, never changed the adress, since 42 years in the family, 17 days ,from building it in Arese we screwed the plates on. I hope to make a home run to Arese next year.
Jack, something I would like to see on your channel, except the lovely british, italian and french cars you usually cover, is some 1970s/80s japanese cars. They had some very interesting models. The Mazda RX, the Z cars by nissan, Datsuns Sunny coupe, the Toyota Celica, among others.
My fathere owned one. Olive green ! That class...It was the only car he owned I was proud of. A jewell. Compact and still enough space. Quite vivid, for that era. Lovely handling. And the sublime "classic" design, no pimping... Just harmony on 4 wheels. Italian shoes ! But don't mention the rust. if only they were built like beamers..
Here in America Alfa has always (sadly) sufferred from halfhearted marketing and a crappy dealer network. Very much like Fiat. They were typically a big highway dealership that sold Chrysler/Dodge cars, a couple of other niche brands, and Alfas. Truly a shame.
I had a red one in 1979, so beautiful looking, but as many mentioned here, so rusty. But...... I still drive Alfa and the Alfa feeling is still there, which will disappear after electifying the car. 😢
Hi 👋 I like these Alfas. This particular model looks in good shape. Boy you were planting your foot on the accelerator. I live in New Zealand, and here we had them in in limited numbers. So there weren't alot on the roads here. I like the 1970s Alfetta GTV Coupe too. The BMWs of the time which you showed images of were nice too.
The predecessors of the E12, the New Class models 1800, 2000, 2000Tilux and 2000 TII were also great cars to drive. I've owned a 2000 and it was a great car to drive. At the moment I'm driving my 11th BMW since 1974.
Lovely colour on that car and great review :) My sister's boyfriend had a somewhat tatty second hand orange one (which my sister ended up paying for...) in the early 80s, also an 1800 I think. I remember it being rather troublesome but very charismatic and rather quick.
Nice colour! I’d start a petition for getting interesting colours on newly bought cars, if I knew how. Only this afternoon I looked out of the office window and remarked how traffic looked like a funeral procession. C’mon lads. Nobody likes grey metallic (it’s not silver!), black or white as their only options. Live a little and screw the depreciation. A car depreciates like crazy anyway, so what the hell
I owned both the Alfetta and the BMW e12, the ride handling of the e12 was really good, but not as fun as the Alfetta. And I definitely feel the quality difference. Btw. They never change the rear brakes outboard for this platform.
I drove one for 18 years. Bought a 79 in 1980, but in its North America (Vancouver) they were heavy. So, I turbo-charged it and installed Euro bumpers. Slightly firmer suspension front and back that with 200hp and 200 torque it was a fast car in the day. With remarkable handling. When parked it was hit by a big truck.A write-off. Sigh.
God I just love these cars...in the 70s the RMP...Royal Malaysian Police used them as police cars...seeing one in your rearview mirrors sends shivers down the spine as not many cars here at that time could outrun them...😋
Mr Alex, you are the first English gentleman that pronounces the names of Italian cars in a perfect way. Unfortunately, thanks to all the Italians that would purchase foreign cars, Alfa romeo always had to reduce the quality standards and the service workshop did the rest.
What a great car! I love the color too. Such a shame that these were badly build and have become so rare. This could be a modern classic no, but prices will be very high, I fear.
Ok, Jack... I'd have to go with Jagaur inventing the class of "sports saloon", but I will argue that the Gulia Super was the first one to sell in larger numbers and for a price that made it more available (Ok, except in the UK...taxes and all that). The Alfetta was its legitimate heir. FYI - The name Alfetta dates from the pre-war "voiturette" class of racing cars that were built to a lower standard than proper Grand Prix cars (smaller engines, mostly). Post-war this became Grand Prix or Formula One, as it was accepted that there was not sufficient financing for "proper" Grand Prix cars to be built yet. Indeed, even campaigning these "voiturette" class cars proved too costly for Alfa Roneo. Also, the Alfa twin cam engine was designed by Giuseppe Busso and debuted in the 1954 Guiletta, in 1290cc form. The engine evolved into 1600, 1750 and 2000 variants, with the 2000 versions generally being less-higjhly regarded than their predecessors. The Alfetta was indeed a wonderful concept, but the execution was heavily flawed, made worse by continual labor troubles that led to horrific quality problems. Interestingly, those QC problems ALL afflicted the bodywork and interior fitments; the drivetrain components were just fine (except for the vague shift ilinkage, which was lousy design, not QC, and could have been cured by proper heim jonts...which was just too expensive). The Alfetta's real BMW competitor was the E21 2002: fewer doors, fewer speeds (4 vs 5), less supple, but MUCH higher build quality. Not much difference in performance; the injected Tii versions of the BMW were faster, though. The dreaded rust goblins were not so fond of the Bimmers, at least for a few years. I managed an Alfa main dealer when these were current, and we sold bundles of them the first couple years...then the chickens came home to roost. No matter how good your workshop was (and ours was one of the best), the bodywork and interior fittings deteriorated MUCH faster and further than customers expected, even in pampered cars. Alfa always seemed to be its own worst enemy, and their initial sales and production projections for these cars were laughably inaccurate. The dealer network was always a weakness, and lying to those folks hardly enhanced Alfa's tenuous reputation. In the end, no car design is brilliant enough to overcome mediocre dealerships!
Very right regarding history of the Alfa romeo engine and the Alfetta name. However my father having acquired his Alfetta 1.8 four headlamp "scudo largo" car new from Alfa Romeo Edgware Road (still maintained by me today) I would take issue with some of your statements. My father tested the BMW 320i at the time in 1976 and although its build quality was better in terms of paint and interior, it was not significantly better at all (period road tests also of which I have most of them commented on the excellent fit and finish compared to competitors including Triumph Dolomite and BMW E21 318 and Audi 80 and Saab 99). Engineering wise BMW did not hold a candle to the Alfetta with iron block engine, 4 speed box, all the weight at the front, inferior traction with semi trailing arm rear, inferior unsprung mass front and rear, and significantly smaller rear seat space and trunk space. The interior of our car has "not" fallen apart either substantially (being used intensely in long tours in summer months here and abroad, four up and fully loaded, but never used in winter) and there is "zero" rust especially underneath though the car has been garaged from new and maintained properly with mostly original paint, in wet and humid England on a hill (where the car always resided) and our hill attracts more rain and dampness than most places but the car is nearly 50 years old! My German friend still owns his 2002 and we often compare. He told me growing up in Munich in the 1970s period the BMWs and Mercedes also rusted "just as well" as Alfas " if left outside" for periods of time so he did not understand why Alfa Romeo was given the bad press it had in England. Alfa Romeo Nord cars and most 70s cars in period had little winter protection apart from the Swedish cars. I also did a project at univeristy on Alfa sales during the 70s and 80s and the Alfetta especially in saloon form sold very modestly in the UK so is another reason so few exist, with the sud commanding 70+% of all Alfa sales in the 70s whose production quality had certain defficiencies that tarnished Alfa Nord cars also. Of course leaving an Alfa outside or during the winter and not maintaining the car properly spells trouble but that applied for mostly all cars of the time too. Dealer problems are also stated constantly as a cause for the demise of Alfa but the dealers of the time were very helpful to my father in customer service apart from his first service of the car just bought and when the mechanics ruined the tuning compared to how he picked the car up new, to which Alfa GB recommened a long standing Alfa dealer to set the car up from which time the car has always been reliable, mechanically and electrically. not many people know either that on many Alfas all the electrics are bosch, on our car Alternator, alternator regulator, distributor, coil all bosch and very reliable too.
You kept and obviously pampered your car for 50 years. Congratulations...but that's not normal. The dealership I managed was the third largest in the USA, and we sold 240-300 Alfas per year, so my comments are not exactly opinion. They were based upon extensive experience. Interestingly, the Alfettas got MUCH better in 1978 and 1979, with dramatically improved quality control and a welcome jump in power. The suspension was slightly upgraded and the interiors, especially in the Berlinas, were notably betterthan earlier cars. One of my comments was about Alfa lying to the dealers: in late 1974 Alfa took US dealers to Italy on the "Ciao Tour". We were given ViP treatment and toured the Arese plant and even taken to a performance of Don Giovani at fabled La Scala. It was impressive, to say the least, although they didn't want us anywhere near the Napoli plant where they made the dreaded Alfasud (which all of us REALLY wanted). The last day, we got the pep talk/sales pitch. Alfa was promising to boost USA sales to 40,000/year! Realize, 1974 had been Alfa's best USA sales year, at just under 6000 units. So we were to expect lots of new dealers, lots more advertising and many more trips to the bank. Bullshit! Alfa gave us an across-town competitor who knew little, didn't really care much and quickly lost all interest when the sales #s did not magically materialize. And we were not alone; they rewarded good, enthusiastic dealers with "competitors" who were neither of those things. The number of USA dealerships doubled, and most of those new stores had ONE Alfa mechanic at best (we had 6 full-time Alfa techs). Then came the 1976-7 strikes and the horrific QC problems. You could go to one of their port storage facilities and find cars that were showing rust-through around the rear screens, and they were new, UNSOLD cars! I personally saw one Berlina where the rear screen surround had rusted completely and the rear class had fallen into the rear seat. But I'm glad you got a good one...and, by the way, I still lhave the 1967 GTA that I bought new in May, 1967 when I was in the Air Force (Picked it up at the factory and got to meet Carlo Chiti), so I'm a hard-core Alfisti. But also a realist: I graduated (pun intended) to a Mercedes dealership position and never looked back.@@cbca6567
@@rustyturner431 OK thanks for the reply Rusty and the complements. I was also in the Royal Air Force at college, training to fly single prop planes mostly, though I did not pursue that direction after. Interesting comments and experience and I have the "ciao tour" in photos and review in an old road and track copy. However contrary to what you said many people have told me, and I concur having compared both types a lot in reality, that the interior plastic on the dashboard and the seat quality were better quality on the first series cars, before the fuel crisis, than on the second series square headlamp cars produced from 1977; the GT/GTV interiors did not change apart from the door interior linings/cards. Indeed in my opinion the build quality got worse through the years and the latest cars produced in 1984 were the worst in terms of interior build quality, because from my project and from speaking with ex Alfa engineers money from the governenment who owned Alfa Romeo then, was not forthcoming and most of the money in the 1970s was allocated to the Alfasud project, brilliantly engineered, but much worse build quality than the Alfa Nord produced cars and which severely tarnised Alfa's image in Europe. Also regarding suspension and driving, the first series Alfetta cars were projected to compete with prestige Berlina/sports cars from BMw and other makes; Porsche stated in the early 70s that its main rival was Alfa Romeo, presumably regarding the 924 and then 944/968. Unfortunately the US market got only the mechanical fuel injected car using a 2000cc engine for the first series cars, which was robbed of power and was more a lugger of an engine, also in carburettor form, with road and track getting a 0-60mph of 12 seconds for the US Alfetta GT in 1975, slow even for then. The European first series Berlina/Gt used the 1.8 engine, higher compression (9.5:1) and non emission cams (10548) which made the engine very free revving, and again in road and track when the journalist tested a Berlina in Milan April 1973 he said "...the capacity for revving is another reminder. The tach now enters the red at 5700rpm for some reason whereas it was 6000 in the old 1750...As to acceleration it covers a standing quarter in 17.2 secs and 0-100kph (62mph) in a smart 8.8 secs. You see the difference between the US and European version. I also drove the second series Berlina a lot in Italy and it was set up to be less a sports car and more a tourer, with longer overhangs front and rear also making it feel heavier less agile, and also projected in Europe to compete with mainstream Ford and GM/Opel products not the German sports cars. The early Alfetta cars were very different in character, at least the European versions, and I prefer the drive experience more than all the transaxle cars made including the 75/Milano. The early cars had increased body stiffness due to bonded windshield front and rear, which like you said could develop rust but only if left outside continually; garaged Alfettas from new will not rust above or below as mine is testament to! From 1978/79 the power improvements, at least in Europe were down solely to retrofitting the 2000 engine with the 10548 cam to bump power from a stated 122 to 130hp. Regarding dealership support and numbers I would have to agree with all your comments, mirrored in England and Europe. Alfa Romeo's sales projections were too optimistic and I believe the Alfa Romeo brand will always be a niche product in the Berlina/GT market. The Alfasud was the affordable Alfa Romeo but Alfa Romeo stopped, eroneously in my opinion to offer the boxer engine format in later iterations of the brand in the 1990s. However dealership support was hampered by non existent winter protection for cars (although like I wrote the Bmws rusted in Munich very well if left outside in the winter too), and lack of specialist mechanics to service and repair cars. Overall i maintain the interior and exterior quality was comparable but slightly lower in comparison to the Bmw 2002 and 320 series produced at the time; mechanically the Bmws were way behind. However the best built car ever made, head and shoulders above anything Bmw or Alfa Romeo made, was the Mercedes Benz W123 series (1975-1986). Mercedes Benz did not have a cost budget at the time and built the cars as good as was possible. My uncle owned one and although the mechanical engineering was far back from Alfa Romeo, the actual build quality of the exterior bodywork and the interior have yet to be bettered. They are still used as taxis in some African countries I believe. They do also rust like all 70s cars but the build quality sticks in my memory; much better than Mercedes products today. Lastly complements about your 1967 GTA which you have kept. Pity Alfa Romeo left it until the late 1980s to introduce a twinspark head, like the racing GTAMs.
yep a good visibility practical berlina or coupe with good luggage capacity and a race car platform and engineering. very unnappreciated car in the Uk at least and nobody hardly ever mentions it in the mainstream, compared to in other countries where it is rightly praised for its layout and driving characteristics when launched in 72 compared to period cars. It still drives very well today without antiquated feel at all.
An Alfetta l do like the idea and concept of a four door 4 door sedan which is a sports car and behaves like a sports car aldo been from Alpha Romeo a good looking car and the twin cam with the twin two barrel side draught carburetors the engine looks good although generally car engines don't have to look that good the engines in the four cinder and V6s look do good as though you are meant to open the bonnet at every possible moment
My dad owned one and what a driving revelation after all the mundane British stuff. If the bodywork had been better, what a car it could have been….never mind, Alfas are still glorious.
I really really enjoy your reviews.. I grew up with some of the cars you have reviewed.. funny enough, while my friends were into Japanese cars, my heart was with European cars.. In fact, I bought my own 82 Alfetta when I was 25… loved it, handled amazingly… my friends would call my car “grandpas car”… but didn’t care.. I knew that I have a true marvel of a car..except for changing the brakes, leaks and the typical 2nd gear synchro issues 😂
the Alfetta had a race car platform and its gearbox synchros were designed in such a way that you could not rush the shift. However with a new ratio set and different synchros it corrects the Alfettas main criticism. The Alfetta was verty reliable when maintained correctly as we have owned ours for nearly 50 years.
With a name like Smuckers, it's got to be good (yah know the jelly ?). With most of these Alfa stories, there is ALWAYS the Agent 86 (Don Adams of Get Smart) "Missed it by this much" (a smidge).
In the early 80's in South Africa Alfa was actually more reliable than BMW. In Johannesburg a gearbox shop did exchange 5 series gearboxes while you wait... But many BMW owners used to say - had no problem with the car, after numerous visits for repairs. Worked for a company that had stats of a number of cars (Mazda 323 rear wheel drive most reliable and cheapest to run). Issue on friends M535 took 6 months to repair - changing all brake mechanicals from the rear forward, before replacing the faulty computer. Another friend had 1 of these - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-wSbhir5qOrM.html nice car with variable valve timing.
Alfa Romeo lost to BMW for the last 40 years. However, with their current range and dynamics (all BMWs look same and too popular), the magic of owning a 'mini Ferrari', the next 40 years could be Alfa Romeo Era! Every car guy should get an Alfa Romeo now? Thanks for your videos on the magic of past Alfa Romeos.
Unfortunately many here were bought by people who really should have bought a corolla . Commuting without servicing or the pampering they deserved gave them a bad reputation. The "local" garage had no idea about de dion tubes and inboard brakes let alone many of the other fantastic features.
It should also be said that in the UK plastic would also rust. 😁 In those years only the Swedes and Germans used galvanized sheet metal while the others used normal sheet metal, then add that imported cars remained in the ports for months to pick up salt... and so it was born rustgate! Even here in Italy the Alfas rusted in the north while not in the south due to the dry climate, it was normal and appropriate (unfortunately) to the time period. The reputation of Italian cars (which in any case were cheaper than German/Swedish ones) including Lancia (above all) Fiat and Alfa Romeo in the UK was also greatly deflated by exploiting the press by competitors who feared the invasion of the market, negative added value was the stupid decision of the Lancia CEO to refund money and cars to customers as if it were an admission of guilt... but i wonder : who decided to keep cars stored awaiting delivery in ports sitting for months to get salt and damp with a minimum of common sense? Isn't that a good question? The Citroens and Renaults were rotting anyway but no one talked about it. Regardless, I really appreciate your review and will look into more.
Alfas of this period were wonderfully handling and generally well designed cars but they were poorly put together, the quality of some of the materials was shoddy (for instance door handles would break of) and the bodywork's rust issues were really terryfying. The wheel arches of my dad's Super 2000 started to rust after 2 years and the car had to be scrapped when only 6 years old. I spent virtually of my time on the bodywork (even the B-pillars had rusted through behind the chrome covers!) and the unreliable Marelli electrics when restoring my Bertone. In a sense Alfa never really recovered from the poor image it gained as a result.
Because Ford poured millions into supporting amateur and pro rallyists. At the top level they did not dominate and there is nothing inherently inferior about leaf springs. Also RS Escorts were very light and twisty - they need a roll cage to handle well and survive. Escorts could never have passed US crash tests, the Alfettas were specifically designed to do so.
On the road the stock road Ford escorts were inferior in every way to alfettas. In rallying/racing Ford as mentioned poured millions into it and the race escorts were different animals like the race/rally alfettas were. In terms of budget IRI, Alfa's state owned parent substantially reduced funding for rally/race Alfettas in the 1970s compared to the 60s when the Giulia won everything and to the lament of period Alfa drivers who still managed to compete very well in international rallying more than results suggest, and in circuit racing in which they hit well above their weight against much larger engines gr4 BMWS and Jaguars.
Alfa did invent the Sport Sedan, but not with the Alfetta. It was two generations earlier, with the Giulia Super. The Alfetta is a wonderful car, I've owned many, sadly they were prone to rust. When I lived in New England you didn't expect them to last very long, here in California they can outlive you. I'm helping a friend put a 3.0 Busso motor into one now.
It can be argued that the Fiat 1100TV was the first sports sedan. And it has an enviable competition history to back it up. Anyway the Giulietta TI predated the Giulia too.
@@stevenfernando1842Great simple elegant well done fast car by FIAT, anyway it came out later than the 1900. The fact is that road racing had such an impact in Italy (1000 Miglia, Targa Florio are just the most famous. Milan-Taranto for motorbikes!) that many Italians wanted sporty family cars. Starting with the Topolino transformations 😊
The alfetta was prettiest in its earliest forms as shown here, with the slim bumpers and the round headlights. Just a most lovely saloon. And not all that much went wrong with it, I'd say, when I read that some 450.000 examples were made between 1972 and 1984 - much more if you also count in the related Alfas giulietta, 75 and 90. The reason so few of them are left is just that owners didn't tend to care as much about them, I think, but with E12-BMWs that situation seems much the same: you also don't see many of those around anymore these days. I would have a hard time choosing between alfetta and E12 btw as I find both very appealing saloons.
Uh, they rusted out in California, just like the Nissan 240, 260 & 280 did. Not only was the metal poorly prepared for paint, but like the Z cars, there were places in the body that held water. Basically it was a nice car for a few years that rusted into a heap in five to six...
@@johang7498 Absolutely. No matter Mercedes Pagoda or R107, the aforementioned Bimmers or the crap GM sold under the Opel-brand or Ford's German rubbish or Audi's dumpster food .... they all rusted away like nothing, until VW started to really take steps against corrosion with their Golf II from 83 onwards and others had to follow.
Jack, what a pleasant surprise to see an identical replica of my 1975 Alfetta. From the moment you turned the ignition key I was thrown back to the love I had for that car! Your review couldn't have been more accurate - from the problems to the enjoyment! Thanks so much - If feel all young again:-)
In Italy in the 70s that was the favourite car of the bank robbers and it was also the Carabinieri's car. It was the car coveted by people achieving a good economic position. Its sound, its 4 roundlamp front, its design..all was doomed to belong to this special and iconic Italian car. And I still like it!
My father bought one as his second car when we arrived in the country back in the 70s. In those days, you had to retake the driving test if your licence was issued abroad. He failed it 3 times despite being an experienced driver. Eventually realized instructors didn't appreciate him turning up for the test in his first car - a Ferrari Daytona...
Triumph, Alfa, and BMW competed directly making some interesting if imperfect cars at a time when the whole industry was backsliding into the "malaise era." Imagine what could have been.
I had a 2 litre 1980 Alfetta. IN RED. It replaced my 1975 Peugeot 504. I bought it because it had air-conditioning. An absolutely fabulous car. The only thing I disliked was the spoon in a bowl of porridge gear shift feel. I upgraded it with alloy wheels and adjustable Koni shockers. Some idiot ran into the back of it and I added a small amount to the insurance pay out to have a local hot rod body shop completely repaint it. The paint work was absolutely stunning. Just like a show car. I was also lucky that there was an Alfa specialist just around the corner from where I worked. They kept it in tip top order with direct imported parts from Italy. Very reliable. Never let me down. It did give me a big fright once as I accelerated hard from the lights and it went bang and a big puff of smoke came out from under the bonnet. Turned out that an air-conditioner hose clamp had let go. Because it was in such good order and looked better than when it came out of the factory, I sold it after 5 years for what I paid for it. Cheapest car I have ever owned.
Thank you for driving my favorite cars, first the 116 Giulietta and now the Alfetta. Driving one of my 116 cars always brings a smile to my face, a happy day. Now please, ask Alex Jupe to arrange an Alfetta GTV6 3.0, the South African homologation special, I know there are quite a few in the UK.
Good idea! I have a mate who has a beautiful SA 3.0 and SA 3.7 built by Dawie. The 3.7 has a front mounted gearbox. Let me know if you need me to reach out to him.
I've had several interesting cars over the years from MGB's, lotus cortina, interceptor and most recently a corvette, but the car I look back on with most fondness was my Alfetta 2 litre. Wonderful handling, driven all over europe between UK, France. Spain, Italy, Switzerland Germany, mostly on business, about 20,000 miles in a year. Always a smile on the face and the best fun car I ever had. And keep up the great work!
As a child growing up in South Africa around this time I very much agree that these and the E12 were the sporting choice. Crucially in the early 80s the Toyota Cressida with RWD and immaculate quality came to dominate the local family car market. I confess that I loved the BMWs - they raced against GTVs and Cortina’s and put on a brilliant show!
they are all the same, alfa didnt have much money to do anything at this point. Great cars thought much much more character than whatever followed with Fiat.
Exactly. Transaxles up until the SZ had inboard brakes. Nothing wrong with them as far as I'm aware. My Alfa 90, which is the successor to the Alfetta, is basically the exact same car but in a new stylish Bertone shell. And way more luxurious, although both the Alfa 6 and Alfetta were pretty well equipped already.
@@alfanovanta , Alfa 6 being an odd one out with its non transaxle setup . At least made the Alfa 6 engine more in demand years ago for those putting a V6 into a 105 coupe! Does your 90 have the 2L V6 by any chance? Completely different fuel injection to the 2.5 and I would love to see more info on it.
Actually Jack, while I agree on paper the Alfetta has such sportscar characteristics (I owned back in the day a 1.8 Alfetta sedan and a Alfetta GT 1.8, the original sports saloon was in fact the Alfa Romeo Giulia sedan. You should know this as you have driven one on your channel previously. Afterall the 105 series Alfas be they the Giulia and or GT/GTV have same chassis. Actually no the twincam Alfa engine goes back to the 1950s with the development of the Giulietta, and an even earlier version as per in the 1900 series. I have to agree with you re the steering on the Alfettas being light and communicative. In respect of the natural competitors to the Alfetta, in my view it wouldn’t have been the BMW as shown but in fact rather the Fiat 131 and especially the Superbrava with the 2l Fiat twincam and the Lancia Beta sedan in both 1.8 and 2.0 twincam versions.
Well, I'd say the first one was the 1900 sedan. The motto was "the family car that wins races"! The Giulietta 750 was even more extreme than the Alfetta as a sports sedan. A 1300 that ran like a 2000 of the time (it went into production in 1955)
@@studiocalder818A fair call, my brother has a 1900 sedan amongst his vast collection of cars. Yet another project to be restored. Currently he is finishing off the complete restoration/build of a Giulia Super for road rallying/track days.
