The Alfasud Register

The Alfasud was produced by a design team gathered by Alfa Romeo under the Austrian engineer Rudolf Hruska.  The project was to design an entirely new small family car from scratch and to build it in a completely new factory, to be sited in the under-developed region close to Naples in the South of Italy.  Hence the name, Sud being the Italian for South.

Hruska started his career with Porsche and VW so it was unsurprising that he opted for a flat 4 engine.  But in this case it was mounted in the front and had a conventional water radiator rather than air cooling.  This engine layout allowed a low bonnet line for good visibility, a low centre of gravity and a compact, yet surprisingly spacious body. It was coupled to a longitudinally mounted in-line gearbox and differential driving the front wheels.

Although weight kept to a minimum, a bodyshell was produced with great inherent rigidity using deep box sections front and rear.  The suspension was conventional independent MacPherson struts at the front but clever, innovative beam axle with Watts linkage at the rear.  These features, together with in-board disc brakes at the front, combined to give handling abilities which far outclassed the competition of the period and proved capable of development far in excess of the original 'small family saloon' brief.

The first 'Sud had a 1186cc oversquare flat 4 cylinder, free revving engine producing 63bhp.  The 4 door body weight of only 830kg allowed a lively performance with a maximum speed exceeding 93mph.  It was introduced to the UK market in July 1973 .

A year later, a higher performance 'ti' (turismo internationale) version was launched with a lighter 2 door body, 5 speed box and power up to 68bhp by the introduction of a 2 choke sequential Weber carburettor. This gave a genuine 100mph top speed. Body changes included extra instrumentation, twin halogen headlamps, front under-bumper plastic splitter and narrow rear lip spoiler.  A year later the 4 door saloon also gained the 5 speed box (5M),  In April 1977 a 1286cc ti withwas introduced alongside giving 76bhp and this engine (with a single choke carb giving 68bhp) was later introduced to the 4 door version labelled 1300 Super.

1977 also saw the introduction of an exciting, lower, sleeker coupe version  by master designer Georgio Giugaro - the beautiful Sprint Coupe was born.  Initially the new Sprint shared the 1300 Ti unit giving a speed of 103mph.

In May 1978 the UK was introduced to the Series II, which had changed little ouwardly but the engine variations continued to proliferate with the 4 Door Super having the option of a 1490 motor (in addition to the 1286 ) giving 85bhp with a single twin choke Weber and this was also fitted to the Ti and the Sprint.  To confuse further a 1351cc, 79bhp unit was also available, this capacity being conveniently achieved using the 80mm bore of the 1186 /1286 and the 67.2mm stroke of the 1490!   Note that this was designated the 1.3 to differentiate from the 1300.

The ti gained a new plastic front splitter integral with wheel arch eyebrows together with a redesigned boot spoiler. 

The 1.5 Sprint Veloce represented a further gain in performance, the two twin-choke carbs giving 95bhp and the Ti also became available with this unit.

The final series was launched in January 1980.  Initially changes were cosmetic with the introduction of plastic bumpers and exterior trim but a year later a new bodyshell finally caught up with the competition - a three door hatch replacing the two door ti saloon.  The four door continued until June 1982 when this too was replaced by a hatchback version.  On the engine front, the Ti gained the 95bhp motor and subsequently the introduction of the Ti Green Cloverleaf and the Sprint Green Cloverleaf saw the 1.5 engine developed to 105bhp which gave an impressive  top speed of around 115mph.  The saloons saw several engine combinations including the basic SC versions (Single Carburettor) and even a twin carb version of the 1351.  Wth the advent of the Ti Green Cloverleaf, the top-of-the-range 4 door Cloverleaf was re-christened Gold Cloverleaf.

Production of the Alfasud saloons ceased in late 1983, to be replaced by the 33, which still retained boxer engines. Supplies in the UK dried up in about April 1984.   However the Sprint Coupe continued until 1989, albeit badged simply as the Alfa Romeo Sprint.  Inevitably a number of 33 changes were introduced.  The suspension softened and the inboard discs disappeared.  On the plus side, the boxer motor was enlarged to 1712cc giving 112bhp and a performance to match.  Unsurprisingly, this unit has found it's way into earlier Sud bodyshells too as a favourite method of increasing power for competition.