Corse Alfasud

When I started working at BMW Concessionaires GB Ltd in 1971, our cars were not ten-a-penny on London’s more affluent streets. The trendy thing to drive then was an Alfa Romeo. The 105 Series Giulia models offered a heady mix of great styling, courtesy of Bertone and Pininfarina, together with exhilarating performance reflecting the Marque’s racing successes, primarily with the brilliant GTA variant. On my first visit to Munich, I was told that with the impending Tii version of the 2002 and further development of the E9 coupe, it was hoped that Alfa would find itself with a worthy Bavarian competitor. By the time I moved to Alfa Romeo GB Ltd. (ARGB) at the end of the decade, places like Kensington and Hampstead were knee-deep in BMWs, whereas, though its UK registrations were peaking, Alfa Romeo’s reputation and market share was beginning its woeful decline. Both the sales volume zenith and the collapse of esteem for the Marque’s products were mainly attributable to the Alfasud. 

Whatever the big picture aspects of the Alfasud in terms of its commercial viability and effect on Alfa Romeo’s prestige, its specification made for the basis of an excellent small racing saloon, given its light weight, compact footprint, rev-happy flat four engine and inboard front brakes. In standard form the throttle response was very good and it was soon found that even with just the substitution of carburettor make/model – Weber or Dellorto – increased horsepower was relatively easy to achieve. With numbers of ‘Sud’s appearing on circuits in 1975 – notably in Austria - recognising the promotional potential, Alfa Romeo instituted the ‘Alfasud Trofeo’ race series in 1976. The version to be used was the 1.3 Ti which had supplemented the range in ’73, initially in 1200 cc form. The car could be modified by the use of an Autodelta-marketed kit of parts. In standard production specification the Ti’s engine produced 75 bhp, whereas a Trofeo version managed 115 bhp on the twin Webers included in the Autodelta kit. Given a minimum weight of 800 kgs, this made for a quick car, further enhanced by the other kit components which included competition exhaust, springs and dampers, wheel arch extensions and lightweight Campagnolo alloys. In Italy the series was comprised of 9 races, at Magione, Casale Monferrato, Imola, Misano, Mugello, Vallelunga, Varano, Monza and Pergusa.

The inaugural championship was won by a clear margin by Filippo Niccolini, from Claudio Pizzi.  Niccolini was the victor at five of the championship rounds.  His car was advertised for sale in 2016 by Weekend Heroes of Munich:

With increasing awareness across Europe, Trofeo series were also introduced in Austria, Germany and France.  Confirming the high level of interest from competitors, circuits and enthusiasts, 1977 also saw the establishment of a ‘Trofeo Europa Alfasud,’ bringing together the better drivers from the various national series.

The Europa series gained additional attention by the running of some rounds as support races to Formula One Grands Prix.  First champion was Italy’s Aldo Cerruti.  Notable among the Trofeo Europa competitors was Gerhard Berger, future F1 high-achiever with McLaren and Ferrari, who took seventh place in 1981.

Gerhard Berger and his Trofeo Alfasud

Alfasud Trofeo racing tended to be close and frantic, as can be seen in the photograph below:

In the UK, Alfasuds also appeared on-track in 1976, run by the Campari-sponsored Dealer Team.  Two cars were entered to the Tourist Trophy for Jon Dooley/Simon Kirby/Rex Greenslade.  Another ‘Sud was entered for this event by the stalwart Bolton dealership, Westune – drivers, Malcolm Wayne/John Myerscough. 

From 1977, examples of the Sprint variant began to compete.  In Division 1 (1300) of the European Touring Car Championship, Sprints of Team 43-70 were class winners in 9 of the 11 rounds and clear class champions.

Sprint of Marquez/Perrado (Team 43-70) at Brno, ETCC, 1977

1978 proved to be a much tougher year for the Sprints in the ETCC.  Of the twelve rounds, a Sprint was able to take the class victory at only two events – at the Nurburgring and Silverstone.  Early in the season, Fiat 128 Coupes and Alfa GT Juniors had better pace, and, later, the Skoda 130RS proved superior.  However, a Sprint was 1^st in class at 5 races, and consistent results from the Belgian pair, Richard Mattozza and Jacques Berger, were a major contribution towards Alfa Romeo securing the manufacturer’s Division 1 championship.  But by the end of the decade, the ‘Sud in both Berlina and Sprint form was not a significantly competitive race car, and results were mediocre at best. 

Development of the Alfasud during the late Seventies/early Eighties took production versions’ power output up to 105 bhp, with the 1.5 litre capacity engine.  The Sprint eventually gained a 1.7 variant, and this boasted 112 bhp.  Nevertheless, neither this car, nor the ‘Sud’s replacement, the 33, were found to be a good basis for a competitive racing car.  At ARGB we dabbled with a turbocharged version of the 33, (around 130 bhp), in conjunction with Terry Drury Racing, but this too proved to be an ineffective circuit racer.  So there was quite a hiatus in motorsport terms, before the advent of the 155, which would certainly turn out to be a formidable and successful touring car for the Marque.

Alfa Romeo TZ1

The Alfa Romeo Giulietta SZ and TZ models are well documented in Marcello Minerbi’s 1985 study, published by La Mille Miglia Editrice.  In the book’s foreword, Giuseppe Busso outlined the somewhat tortured gestation of the TZ, from initial concept in 1955, through the ‘exploratory,’ but flawed, Abarth collaboration known as the 750 Competizione/Sport, on to the 1961 spider prototype. 

Courtesy Alfa Romeo Automobilismo Storico

Despite the disappointment of the 750, Alfa Romeo design chief, Orazio Satta Puliga (Satta) and Busso determined that Alfa Romeo should create a lightweight, (tubular spaceframe chassis), sporting GT, with serious racing potential.  Power would come from the four cylinder engine that was such a distinctive feature of the Giulietta saloons and coupes with which Satta had achieved much commercial and reputational success for the Marque.  The model and its engine had enabled Alfa Romeo to gain a foothold in the mass market.  Necessary as this was, both Busso and Satta remained true to Alfa’s romantic sport/racing heritage, the latter saying:

Alfa Romeo is not merely a make of automobile, it is truly something more than a conventionally built car. There are many automotive makes, among which Alfa Romeo stands apart. It is a kind of affliction, an enthusiasm for a means of transport. What it resists is definition. Its’ elements are like those of the human spirit which cannot be explained in logical terms. They are sensations, passions, things that have much more to do with a man’s heart than with his brain.

So, in 1960, Busso’s team built a prototype chassis, which, on completion, was shipped to Zagato.  (Minerbi’s text is ambiguous, suggesting that there were two examples involved).  The body fabricated by the carrozziere was a spider with removable targa-type hardtop.  Progress was not especially rapid and it was not until the autumn that testing was begun.  On track, at Monza, the car’s aerodynamics were soon found to be flawed.  This consideration, coupled with handling issues – mainly related to the new (independent) rear suspension, saw the car turning disappointing lap times – unable to match those then being achieved by the established, but lower engine capacity (1300) Giulietta Sprint Zagato.  I took nearly twelve months for a full solution to be found in regard to the rear suspension, but the drag problem was sooner resolved by the adoption of a fully closed, streamlined roof – a TZ now looked like a TZ!  However, further experimentation with points of detail, such as the nose length/profile, delayed the emergence of the definitive TZ1 form until March 1963, after presentation at the Turin Motor Show in the previous October.  Designated as tipo 105.11, series production was organised on a dispersed basis: chassis by SAI Ambrosini, a now defunct aircraft constructor, then seeking to diversify; body by Zagato; engine upgrading and suspension build was entrusted to Auto Delta, the business set-up by Carlo Chiti and Lodovico Chizzola after their departure from Ferrari following the infamous Night of the Long Lives saga of October 1961.  Subsequently restyled as Autodelta SpA and integrated with Alfa Romeo SpA, Chiti’s enterprise also took responsibility for further development of the car together with its racing participation and evolution.  In this role, Autodelta can be seen as a precursor to operations such as Porsche’s Weissach facility and BMW’s M Division.  And an excellent team it was too, with many touring car (especially with the Giulia GTA/GTAm) and prototype sports car (Alfa 33) championship successes.

An account of the ‘birth’ and initial problems of the TZ1 appeared in the March 1992 issue of Autocapital magazine – it can be read here.

The number of TZ1s built from 1963-65 has been variously reported, with most estimates being close to the figure of 100, as was required for FIA homologation purposes.  Based on the register included in Minerbi’s book, and taking account of some additional insight by Luigi Fusi, (lifetime employee at Alfa Romeo and the company’s archive curator), the correct number is 109.  (The aspect which gives rise to most doubts is the period during which the TZ2 model emerged, with chassis numbers previously thought TZ1-related now attributed to TZ2s, and a few TZ1s physically converted to TZ2 specification.)

Copyright © - Collector Studio

There is particular uncertainty about the very first production chassis number, #750001 – although Minerbi records it as ‘Restored. Showroom car.  Present owner: M. Hayashi, Japan,’ it is elsewhere stated that it was destroyed during the production run, and, alternatively, assigned to a car not built until 1965.  However, it is not unexpected for there to be a measure of vagueness and conflicting reports about such specialised cars built now so long ago.  Mostly, the first dozen cars are described as race versions, initially owned/run by Alfa Romeo itself and/or factory-supported teams including Milan-based Scuderia St. Ambroeus.  Both #750003 and #750006 were prepared for and run in 1964 high profile events such as the Le Mans 24 Hours, the Targa Florio and the Nurburgring 1000 kms.  At Le Mans, several drivers were involved, including, Roberto Bussinello, Jean Rolland, Fernand Masoero, Giampiero Biscaldi, Giancarlo Sala and Bruno Bonini.  #006 finished in 15^th place.  Even better, #011 was 13^th and winner of the GT1.6 class, driven by Bussinello and Bruno Deserti.  At the Nurburgring, Scuderia St. Ambroeus again ran three TZ1s, and although one suffered engine failure, #028 was the GT1.6 class winner, finishing 13^th overall, with #011 next up in 14^th.  The team was also successful at the Targa Florio, #006 and #031 coming in 3^rd and 4^th, 1^st and 2^nd in class.  From this selection of results it will be seen that the TZ1 was immediately a highly competitive race car at major events.  Indeed, it had achieved its first class win – with Lorenzo Bandini at the wheel - before the close of 1963 at the (admittedly less prestigious) Coppa F I S A (Monza), with examples driven by, Bussinello, Giancarlo Baghetti and Consalvo Sanesi, finishing in overall 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th.

In 1965 the TZ2 entered competition and took the class honours in the Monza 1000 kms event.  However, TZ1s continued to achieve consistent success in the GT1.6 class at several significant meetings – at that Monza race, for example, taking 2^nd to 5^th places in class.  Lucien Bianchi and Jean Rolland drove a TZ1 to 7^th overall and 1^st in class at the Targa Florio, with 2^nd to 5^th places also claimed by the model.  In the Mugello round of the World Sportscar Championship, Carlo Zuccoli and Guido Rava took the GT1.6 class victory.  At Enna, Guido Rava won the GT1.6 class in the Coppa Citta.  There were Hillclimb class victories at Stallavena, Bologna Raticosa, Coppa della Sila, Bolzano-Mendola and Desana-Sestrieres.  Beyond Italy, the TZ1 was also racking up class victories in Germany – at the Avus DARM meeting, (Jochen Neerpasch), in England – at Donnington, (Boley Pittard), and was being campaigned in SCCA events in the U.S.

#108. Class winner, 1965 Targa Florio   ©MotorsportImages

The results of the following year’s Targa Florio were salutary – an Autodelta TZ2 managed 4^th overall and the class victory, (with team cars also 2^nd and 3^rd in class,) whilst TZ1s were no higher overall than 24^th and 4^th in class.  For the 1966 Le Mans 24 Hours, 2 cars were entered, but, as was the case with several TZ2s, they did not run.  Broadly, the season was a disappointing one for the TZ1 – it was not matching the pace of the TZ2 or its direct competitors such as the MGB and the Lotus Elan.  But as the TZ1’s achievements diminished, the TZ2 scored good results and, subsequently, the Giulia GTA became Autodelta’s winning machine through the latter half of the decade.

Minerbi’s register suggests that 9 cars were constructed as TZ2s, the final chassis number being #750117, built in 1967.  The model had been launched at the Geneva Show in March 1965.  Significant changes from the TZ1 and which were instrumental in how quickly and comprehensively the TZ2 displaced the superseded model’s race competitiveness, were the body’s fibreglass construction, general lowering of engine/suspension/body and adoption as standard of the Conrero-built 165 bhp twin spark, dry sump version of the 1.6, 4 cylinder engine.  The body materials revision had been presaged by the use of fibreglass in the manufacture of the final three TZ1s, (#107-8 and #110).  These bodies were made by Balzaretti Modigliani SpA.  The kerb weights were: 658 kgs, TZ1; 630 kgs TZ2.  Improved aerodynamics resulting from the lower body form were further enhanced by a switch from 15” to 13” (light alloy Campagnolo) wheels.

The significance of the TZ1 stands above and beyond its own performance and competition results.  At one level, it provided the substance for Autodelta’s consolidation/development and accumulation of experience in preparing cars for, and running them on, the track.  Perhaps even more importantly, it served as the basis for the development TZ2 model, which itself would inform the creation of both the legendary touring car successor, the Giulia GTA, and the sports prototype 33, which would, in 1975, enable Alfa Romeo to reclaim the accolade of ‘world champions’ for the first time since 1951.

An account of the 'birth' and initial problems of the TZ1 appeared in the March 1992 issue of Autocapital magazine - it can be read here.