Alfa Romeo ALFASUD | The story of an Italian CHALLENGE with a BOXER heart

First of all, we want to thank the “Centro Documentazione Alfa Romeo - Arese” that provided us with extremely interesting period videos to include in the monograph of a car, the Alfasud, which undoubtedly deserves a prominent place in the national automotive history. Alfasud represented an enormous challenge, as it involved building from scratch not only a “medium” that would fit into the competitive panorama of the time, but an entire, enormous, factory in Pomigliano d’Arco, Naples, an area with no industrial tradition, except for a much smaller previous Alfa Romeo plant.
The IRI (Institute for Industrial Reconstruction), which then owned the Biscione and employed almost half a million Italians (also owned by Finsider, RAI, Alitalia, Finmeccanica, Fincantieri, Autostrade and many other companies), pursued a difficult path that mediated between the two great opposing systems of the time, capitalism and communism: that is, to create companies that were potentially profitable, but above all socially useful, in particular in industrialising a then very poor Mezzogiorno. Usually it did not succeed (often all its companies simultaneously closed in the red), unloading the costs of this, however, understandable strategic and political choice onto the taxpayer. In any case, credit must be given to this operation for having created an excellent car, because the Alfasud was undoubtedly technically valid, succeeding in the difficult task of transferring the Alfa Romeo character to a popular and relatively cheap vehicle compared to the "Alfa Nord".
Rudolf Hruska, the Austrian engineer who was entrusted with the project, proved inflexible in defending its main specifications: boxer engine, four disc brakes, excellent habitability, sporty character despite an engine capacity initially limited to less than 1200 cc. Giorgetto Giugiaro helped him by designing a low, sleek and pleasant body, aided in this by the limited height of the opposed-cylinder engine. Unfortunately, as is known, the Alfasud clashed with the poor initial preparation of the workforce and, in general, with the many problems that afflicted Pomigliano in the early 1970s, namely extreme conflict (with even acts of real sabotage) and high levels of absenteeism, resolved only when the reputation for poor construction quality had already stuck to the car.
The rust that afflicted the Alfasud was partly a consequence of this situation, partly of some incorrect construction choices, such as the use of resins in the sheet metal and low-quality steel. Corrosion problems were also overcome over the years, but they contributed to driving away potential customers. Fortunately, the excellent road qualities and the successful development of the range towards increasingly high-performance engines often overcame the qualitative hesitations, so much so that, also considering the Sprint version, the Alfasud is the best-selling Alfa Romeo in history. We must thank the Alfasud Club Italia, which made three cars available to us, including the replica of the Alfasud of Pasquale Amitrano, a character in “Bianco, rosso e verdone” and its President, a living encyclopedia of this car.
It is necessary to correct some errors that emerged in the recorded film: the water warning light did not have two colors to indicate temperatures that were too low or too high, but it just came on! The TI (by the way, it stands for Turismo Internazionale) with hatchback was presented in 1981, not
in 1971. Finally, we forgot to mention an important standard accessory, not often found in this category of cars, namely the adjustable steering wheel.
Claudio Pavanello
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