As FCA begins the daunting task of re-inventing Alfa
Romeo as an equal competitor to Audi, BMW and
Mercedes-Benz in the Premium Sports Luxury sector, it's likely the 'Alfisti' will be left behind.
Alfa Romeo’s past models were never
considered, nor conceived, to compete with the mighty German marques. They were,
by and large, bargain-priced compared to expensive German models.
Affordable,
sporty performance was the traditional Alfa Romeo domain.
The other aspect of Alfa Romeo's storied history unlikely to play any part in
this reinvigoration of the brand will be motor sport.
A young, smiling Enzo Ferrari (extreme left), with Tazio Nuvolari (Photo: Alfa Romeo Automobilsmo Storico) |
Alfa Romeo began life as
a racing marque, and its racing successes informed both the culture of the
company, and its image.
People are surprised to learn that in the lead-up to
WW2, it was decided by Italy's Fascist government, that Alfa Romeo should
devote its facilities to the production of military machines. However, its
development of racing cars should continue – although the cars would be campaigned by a small, private team called Scuderia Ferrari.
However, in 1935 Alfa Romeo enjoyed a
banner year, with its incredibly successful 8C driven by Tazio Nuvolari winning
a cavalcade of events including many Grands Prix.
One of the important
technical aspects of the 8C was its, then, revolutionary rear end design
featuring all-independent suspension and the gearbox (transaxle) mounted at the
rear of the car.
According to
Nuvolari, “the car was trying to kill me”, and the rear swing-axle suspension design was considered dangerous,
even by the engineers who designed it.
Alfa Romeo took advice from a surprising
choice of consultants, Dr. Ferdinand Porsche, who was then the designer of the
highly successful Auto Union racing cars.
Porsche knew much more about sophisticated suspension design, including varying spring and damper settings; understanding the
impact of the car’s ‘roll centre’ and how that translated into handling.
Once
the engineers followed Porsche’s recommendations, Nuvolari agreed to continue
racing the 8C, now much improved – leading to his string of successes in 1935
and 1936.
In the early 50s Alfa Romeo returned to the
design elements of the 8C with the ‘Alfetta’ Tipo 159, again another successful
racing car, which featured a rear transaxle.
Then in the mid 1970s, Alfa Romeo brought
this feature to its production cars, with the introduction of the Alfetta sedan
and coupe - a pair of beautifully-balanced and exciting cars to
drive.
They were also two of Alfa Romeo’s most commercially-successful models.
According to Britain’s Autocar magazine,
another ‘Alfetta’ is being considered by the current management, however it is
acting in a risk-averse manner, by slotting this concept into the ‘maybe
in the future’ category.
(Alfetta concept - photo: AUTOCAR) |
With most European carmakers' sustainable profits coming from
SUVs these days, and large sedans drifting into relative oblivion, it seems the
mantle, and the model may be stillborn.
For the ‘Alfisti’ however, hope reigns
supreme.
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