The Alfasud - Italy's "Car of the decade" that ruined Alfa Romeo
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- Опубликовано: 20 май 2021
- The Alfasud was a revelation when it stunned crowds at the 1971 Turin Motor Show, upstaging the Lamborghini Countach. The low bonnet line, new shape, and when reviews got their hands on it, the excellent handling and lively yet economical engine seemed like the perfect package. Alfa Romeo was set for success in the 1970s. So why did the Alfasud help drive Alfa Romeo to bankruptcy in 1986, and why, despite selling getting on a million cars, are they so rare to see on the road today?
Music: Psychedelicacy by Doug Maxwell from the RUclips music library.
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Sources:
it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stabili...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfa_Romeo
it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svilupp...
alfasudsprint.com/
it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfa_Ro...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfa_Ro...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfa_Ro...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfa_Ro...
www.aronline.co.uk/cars/alfa-...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfa_Ro...
italia-corse.com/2021/04/03/a...
www.sprint6c.com/about
www.aronline.co.uk/around-the...
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I cried when rust finally killed my Alfasud 1.5ti after 5 years of ownership. I still have the Alfasud badge it wore. In 1992 I drove 16 miles across London at 4 am in the morning in 31 minutes, impossible to do today with all the road humps and speed cameras around now. I will never forget that drive with that exhaust sound bouncing off all the London buildings. It felt like a rally stage. I'm going to cry again.:(
So I’ve got to tell you a story that obviously never happened. I pulled up at the lights with my green Alfasud ti. An identical red one pulled up beside me. We looked at each other. The lights changed. There followed a lovely 20 mile jaunt across London with the sights passing by in a blur. We arrived at the final traffic lights at the exact same moment then with a pip of the horn we went our separate ways. He must have tuned his twin carbs just like me.
😂 I am with you. I was very sad when I had to part with my 1978 base model Alfasud. It was so fun to drive and willing to go round corners. I only had it from 1984 to 1985 and bought it cheap - it was all I could afford at the time. a combination of a bad oil leak, rust and the need for more reliable transport made me sell it. But I am so glad I got to experience the Alfasud!
@@richardj9016 And everyone clapped.
I own a 1983 Alfa Romeo “Alfasud” Sprint. It’s a gorgeous car, I get questions about it everywhere I go. As for the rust issue: I live in Arizona, bought the car 12 years ago, and it had spent all of its time from new in Arizona. The man who owned it before me was an Alfa mechanic, he even refused to drive it on the rare rainy days we have in Arizona. It only has 67,000 miles and still drives like a new car. The performance isn’t shattering, but it is a very quick car that lives to be revved. The handling is incredible.
Yea Mike, I'm jealous!
my father had one it was the first car i drove ,it would always has a special place in my heart .He sold it cause of the rust , outside was perfect but inside under the carpets was a mess . After he bought an alfa 33 1,5 also a fantastic car .
Man you can easily fit a 137 hp 16 V engine....
Nice story Mike. Would be interested to hear how it came to Arizona as it was a model never officially exported and sold to the US. Hope Alfa is once again making a comeback over your side of the pond. Enjoy your boxer motoring, for me there's nothing quite like it!
You likely have one of the nicest examples left in the world!
My dad considered one but was put off by the rust issue and actually bought an allegro instead..... I cried
My dad considered one but had a marina.
But how did the Allegro handle the rust?
@@oneflewoverthecuckoosnest2823
Of course one thing Allegro did get right was rust proving, they were a vast improvement on the ADO16 (Austin 1100 / 1300) in that respect.
Pressed Steel pointed out the rust traps in ADO16 to Sir Alec Issigonis but he said to build it anyway without a redesign.
So evidently he wasn't perfect.
My dad had one in my childhood in the 80's. It was a 1200 5 speed model from around 1977. I dont remember it as rusty, but the paint color was "rust" so maybe not so noticable. However the guy who bought it from us told us that it could have snapped over a speedbump. It was about 10 years and did about 100k kilometers when he got rid of it. It needed a new exhauster every year (yes really, twin pipes and only available as original part afaik) - they put a lot of salt in the winter in my area. Sometimes the door locks froze in the winter, so you had to leave them unlocked in the night (and remember your audio tapes because the car was left in a public parking lot). I remember some electrical gremlins too, resulting in the car refusing to start randomly. In the end it got too expensive to keep running, and they had to get rid of it. I only have fond memories of the car, and was very sorry to see it go, also because I knew they werent getting another car :)
My parents had one in the mid 70s. At less than 2 years old it had severe rot and would refuse to start in anything like damp weather. Once, my mum put the shopping in the boot only to see it go straight through the floor to the ground. They were that desperate to sell it, Dad would leave the keys in the ignition and tehe door open outside the house. No-one took it, eventually the local Renault dealer took pity on him and flogged him a final shape 16TS. He refused to even entertain another Italian car and thought I was insane for getting a 159.
I had a Black Sprint Green Cloverleaf as pictured with the gorgeous alloys; there was always a buzz of excitement every time you turned the key to find out how many cylinders were on duty that day... but I loved every corroding inch of it.
Apparently the whole Soviet steel thing was a myth. If I recall correctly some deals had been done but Alfa never used the Soviet steel. Can’t remember the details but there’s quite a bit on YT and internet on this. Either way - great video! Proud owner of 4 Alfas :)
I had a 1983 1.5L Superhatch as my first car in South Africa in 1996, I got her with a busted Cam Belt and bent valves...took her to a specialist Alfa mechanic in Johannesburg and he transplanted an engine he had from an Alfa 1.5L Group B Touring Car that had been rear ended, that little thing could kill most cars with bigger engines, my best mate had a 1.8 Golf 1 CTi and he couldn`t keep up on the highway...LOVED that little car!
Listening to this has made me realize that mine was probably one of the last ones made, great episode! Brought back some great memories of my hour long drive to college every morning with 2 great friends.
You were brave to fit a racing engine into a road car. Usually racing engines are made to do a race as fast as possible and die.
@@SparrowNoblePoland can only wonder how you sorted the ins on that as a first car.
@@davidmg1925 a mechanic did all the work, I paid for it all with my own money though as before college I spent 3 years working and saving...
@@ca9968 No one's suggesting you didnt. It must have cost you the gross domestic product of a small country. ⚖
@@davidmg1925 it wasn`t cheap by any stretch of the imagination but the race car it came from was a total write off, the rear end was all but unrecognizable and the guy that had it was an independent Alfa specialist that ran a little shop out the back of a BP Garage, he worked on a few of the touring cars back in the day and had it lying around in his yard to use for spares, we did a deal and he did the work..it cost roughly 3 months salary to get the engine put in and tuned, a new spray job and a few touch ups to the interior...she was very temperamental but in general ran well...
Long duration of outside storage was not only influenced by strikes, but often by the fact that the workers - many being farmers sons- did not show up at work during harvest times in various seasons as they were expected by family tradition to helpout on the farm and though stayed away for several days and even weeks without notice.
Those were the days of " la bella vita italiana" of the seventies.
So what does that thing mean? In translator it says it means "the good italian life" but could you transalate that into what it meant in practise?
ahahahahh so much crap harvest times?
@@icoborg dont they also get several harvest a year that south?
@@k3kboi665 I think it refers to a way of life that in general is carefree, more about looking good and enjoying life than occupying yourself with lowly chores and obligations. See also the concept of “una bella figura”.
@@anderspedersen7488 You got it !
Man I love this channel. All the stories behind these cars are just interesting to real car people.
All fascinating stuff
Couldn't agree more!
I agree
Yup and narrated very well.
Yep, keep going!
My first car was a 1985 Alfa Romeo sprint green clover leaf and I still miss it now over 30 years later
The Sprint is a beautiful car till this day - the late models the most.
I used to own a Monte Carlo, repainted in Martini colours.
Looked like mini Ferrari 😍
These statements are all so correct....
I remember looking at one of these in the 90s with a mate who knew cars. I loved it and was really keen to buy. My mate crawled under the car for a look, and emerged and said - nah, this is not the car for you. I asked in a winey voice- c'mon man, why not?
He said, hold out your hand, I did and he sprinkled some red powder into it and said...
That's the floor.
I can almost smell the Lancia Beta story after watching this......i'm sure it's coming!
It beta had.......😎
If it's a story about rust, the Beta is one of the main characters.
@@paulmcadam6825 Groan, lol
I've got one on my channel where I drive a Lancia Beta Spyder Zagato with nice engine and exhaust sounds🎷, an California import so completely rust free amazingly. A spontaneous drive so the phone I filmed it with fell a few times so apologies for that in advance
Well Ford has been done to death roll on Beta Delta Gamma
I love the dead pan delivery.
Keep up the good work.
I've never delivered pans in my life, alive or otherwise. 😉
what do you expect dancing girls?
How a panhead harley that's not running could deliver anything i'll never understand.
@@davidmg1925 considering mainstream telly, probably 😂
13:00 The sprint is just pure beauty.
More 40 years ago I bought this car of 1977 (second hand). I bought of color grey as 10:49 but I colored red myself (as the color of this video as 13:00, I bought a very cheap tin can of color). Very nice as design and very nice to drive (very stable for low center of gravity). No problem for the rust. (tin can of color is cheap). The bis issue was the fuel comsuption and the low load capacity so I sell this auto for about equivalent of 300€ (I think in the year '90) and I bought a second hand Fiat Uno 10 years younger, for a cost, I think ten times more, but less cost of maintenance, repair part, insurance, fuel, tax, and more load capacity.
The guy in the factory brushing the cars with a sweeping brush kinda sums it up. Lol
I thought he was painting it? 😉
@@mauritsvw I thought he was sanding imperfections..
@@KJohansson That too!
Exactly! Such laziness on display.. Lol...
Idk what he was doing. All I know is he looked like he hated being there lmao
I can't wait to see a video of the Alfa Romeo 33 story. It was my dad's last Alfa that he owned and I loved it. I was very sad when he sold it and bought an SUV
Agreed, I would like to see that as well - cracking little car.
Ah, the Alfa 33, from a time when Alfa Romeo made Nissans!
@@Slumberesque .and rover were making hondas.?
I'd love to hear his story about the 33. I have a last series 33 and love it
@@stiggear4828 My dad owned a last series 33 as well. He was the original owner and sold it in 2009 with 10k km
Last century a friend asked me to drive his Alfasud home from the farm so he could see how fast it could go. Fourteen and a half minutes of pure joy!
Fantastic video, thank you very much for this work! More Alfa Romeo videos are welcome:-)
Yet another car i've actually owned and you've given me so much more backstory and info i've never known!
I got a Datsun Cherry Europe in 1984. It was an attempt by Datsun (Nissan) to get round European import restrictions. Basically it was a Datsun Cherry body married up with Alfasud interior, boxer engine and running gear and was assembled in Italy. In some ways it was the best of both worlds. The Datsun bodywork was rust free and Japanese involvement ensured better build quality and it was still fun to drive like an Alfasud.
They didn't sell many but I had mine 3 years with no problems and no rust.
Thank you for a great video! I really enjoyed watching it as I have previously owned 3 Alfasud's, and currently have a 1989 Sprint Veloce Cloverleaf 1.7 sat in my garage.
I owned a 1982 Alfasud Sprint Veloce in the mid 1980s. It had the flat four 1.5 litre engine with two twin downdraught Weber carbs, one on each side of the engine. It came in Alfa red with a tan fabric interior and it was a lovely car to drive. Sadly, the body rusted badly and it ended up looking a bit tatty. I eventually wrote it off in a spectacular crash in southern Spain (from which I emerged totally unscathed) and it ended up in a scrap yard in Jaén. However, I became a huge fan of the marque and later bought a brand new 156 which I also loved to bits.
Your timing is impeccable! I was just looking at Alfasuds on eBay
Fabulous detailed presentation as always - keep up the great work - cheers from Brisbane
Love your videos. Keep up the good work!
Under the cover is an 80s Alfa Romeo Spider. I know that silhouette well, I lusted after one of those in high school.
The moment a saw the rear spoiler i thought the same, an Alfa Spider.
For the US that’s an Alfa spider graduate.
@@jonsvenson7056 The Graduate was the base model. Then came the Veloce which had power windows, alloy wheels, and leather interior. The Quadrifoglio was the top of the line, had different front air dam, side skirts, and other trim pieces that made look more "sportier", there were other minor cosmetic differences, both interior and exterior. It was too much added for my taste, the Veloce is the one I wanted. I had a brochure for 1987 that featured the Spider and the Milano that I used as bookmark for years.
@@VinDieselS70 Yup, the spoiler was the givaway that it was a mid 80's Spider.
Erratum: Alfa apparently did an independent examination of the rust issue, and ruled out impurities in the steel as a cause. It was more due to the other issues outlined in this video.
theitalianjob.gr/alfasud-willing-spirit-in-rusty-body/?fbclid=IwAR1WShhe0j8p9zghtaFQEs-BPZFU5CIKNhjjHjhgV5d7KJ4brIxJvKoeGg8
Excellent video explaining it here: ruclips.net/video/-pEyxiOUpZI/видео.html
Added to the problem was swedish importr experimented to fill a b and c pillars and other folded beams with foam to rustprof n made shit wose wih captured moisture
Alfasud were also manufactured in South Africa from ISCOR-supplied South African steel and were infamous for rusting badly, even in that country's dry climate. Alfa Romeo's manufacturing methods did not provide for adequate rust protection, and Alfas were notorious for their thin paint finish which fared badly the sunny climate.
South African timeline:
late 1974: launched - manufactured at Alfa's new factory in Brits, about 40 kms from Pretoria. Previously, Alfas were assembled by Nissan under contract, and before that, by a local assembler, CDA in East London, that assembled Renault, Jaguar, and Mercedes-Benz (and today makes RHD Mercedes C class cars for sale in Asia-Pacific markets).
1975: the TI was added, but was a four-door model, as it was the only body style manufactured locally
1976: the basic 5-speed model was added late in the year
1977: the range was expanded with the option of the 1300 engine in three versions: basic, Special, and Special GL, the latter with Alfetta seats and luxury trim. There was a locally-developed model, the "Alfasud Rally" with then-fashionable matte-black bonnet and trim and an uprated 64 kW (87 bhp) engine.
1978: The Sprint 1300 was added.
1979: pared down to two 1.5 models, Ti and Ti GL and the Sprint was upgraded with the 1500 engine.
late 1980: facelift and name changed to "Alfa Export" and the Sprint dropped the Alfasud prefix. Available in 1300, 1500, 1500 GL and 1500 Veloce versions, the latter with 70 kW (95 bhp) engine. The Sprint also added a Veloce variant, which had different bumpers and wheels from the basic Sprint.
1982: Sprint Veloce Plus added with added luxury features
1983: The five-door "Alfa Super Hatch" replaced the Veloce and the basic models continued with the four-door body. The body pressings for the old Giardinetta were shipped to South Africa to create two wagon models: the "Alfa Speedwagon" and the cheaper "Panel Van", which wasn't a panel van but a regular wagon with the back seat removed and the lower-powered 1500 engine with four-speed gearbox, aimed at the "surfer" market. They were a miserable failure and withdrawn after only a year on the market.
1984: The range continued after the launch of the 33. The Sprint was down to a single model with 77 kW (105 bhp) engine. Late in the year, the Export range was pared down to a basic 1.3 model and the GTA with the 77 kW engine.
1985: Despite being Alfa's largest market outside Italy, with an impressive 7% market share, the South African operation fell victim to the parent company's financial woes and the entire operation was shut down in late 1985.
Note: in late 1980, Fiat shut down its South African operations and Alfa Romeo acquired the Fiat license and began manufacturing and selling the popular Fiat 128 Pickup, which was cleverly marketed by Alfa in various versions aimed at specific customers: "Surfer", with a roof rack for your boards, "Farmer" with side stakes, "Camper" with a custom-made tent and "MX" aimed at the Motocross crowd.
Note 2: Alfa Romeo South Africa also manufactured and marketed the Daihatsu Charade from 1983 and was a huge success.
The rust problem was caused by the handling of the bare metal panels by the unskilled factoryworkers who didn't wear gloves. The acid in the skin is harmfull for metal. That and the poor rustprotection and very thin layer of paint made the car rust (allready in the brochure)
In Australia they were left on the Port in Newcastle for two years ..
Thanks to Government red tape ..
After all it was competing with four wheel drum brake Holden's.. with three speed column shift .. :-(
Can say story of Toyota Innova
I just love your welltelled storys about almost all known, loved and hated cars we know of. Keep up the good work mate.
I always look forward to your uploads, with so much research and hard work put into each video.
You're always welcome Anton!
Thanks for the video. As an American I never got to see these (at least until I visited Italy), but from coverage in the magazines it seemed like a fascinating car. It's amusing to see styling comparisons with other cars of the period. The Giugiaro "look" certainly held sway.
BTW. I owned a '79 X1/9. Lovely car, but it rusted if you sneezed in its vicinity.
Alfas are great. Even their worst models from 90s and early 2000s, that were basically rebadged Fiats, everybody claim there was something special about the way they handled. You probably know what they say in Europe, that you're not a car guy, unless you've had Alfa Romeo.
American 1970s/80s cars were soooo much better when it came to rust… no, wait - they were worse! Trump propaganda crushed yet again!
@@SparrowNoblePoland So true
@@tomsommer8372 I've seen IVth generation Pontiac Firebird and Camaro from underneath, they didn't even have that polymer anti-rock seal on the bottom even the worst European cars have as standard.
@@tomsommer8372 growing up my parents had sled dogs. They bought a chevy truck a "custom deluxe 10" in 1976. A year later it was a rust bucket and traded in on stationwagon/estate in 1979. It simply got too unsafe to drive.
I have had several italian cars over the years, most Fiats and a lone Lancia. I still have a 1974 124 Spider and a new 500 Abarth. There is nothing like an Italian car!
My first car was a 1.5Ti Gold Cloverleaf, followed by a 33 1.5Ti. I can still hear them singing in my sleep 30 odd years later....
Before I even watch the video
I look forward to your videos every single time, they are well researched and a pleasure to view
Just sending a bit of community support
I just wanted to say how much love the channel so great to see the cars iv grownup with brings back great memories my daddy had a Triumph1500. And I’m looking to get a classic car in a few years. Many thanks for all your hard and great work all ways look forward to the new vids 👍👍
Glad you're enjoying them!
Fantastic video as always. I love how you talk about normal, everyday cars with which we are so familiar. You almost always mention the fuel crisis, would it be too much to ask for a video on that some day?
I think I mention it too often! But it was so much of an influence on 70s cars.
@@BigCar2 thanks for replying. I don’t think you do, but I like the way you explain things and you’d make a somewhat dour subject more interesting. If you can make a video about the Toyota Prius worth watching, the oil crisis will be a breeze 😀
@@BigCar2 The other influence (or consequence) was the US fuel efficiency standards that changed the face of US motoring (from full-size to smaller cars, along with a move to exempt trucks) and had impacts around the world. I find it interesting that Australia, who continued to evolve what started as the US 'compact' car kept that larger size as the US itself moved to Camrys and Accords under CAFE-like schemes.
The Alfa Romeo 1.7 sprint were fantastic cars with high revving engines.
Great stuff as usual. Thank you.
Always remember the sound from the engine, always sounded so exciting compared to the drivel from BL or Fords
And I thought my 1974 Citroen GS was the first biodegradable car :-))
Nice video, thank you. I have 4 Alfas and 3 of them are Alfasuds. They are technically interesting and full of character. For me they have not been difficult to maintain. The later series had much better rust protection so for these Suds, rust was not such a big issue. I wish I had a rare Giardinetta!
Rust was a VERY big issue in France because the winter climate and the salty roads or oceanic boarding cities: the joke about alfasud in France was "this car are rusted in the catalog"...a friend buy one new in 1981, 1 year later was the first rust points visible and the font light optics was rusted...
My dad had the Sud 1.5 T.i in 1983. We had It for 4 years , no rust and bucket loads of performance and style. Perhaps we were lucky!
Wonderful video as usual , thanks👍
Great video on a little known car! Thank you
My Aunty had a lilac Alfa Sud in the 1970's. I loved it.
Another fantastic video
Very informative!
Love alfa romeo's and Lancia, just a shame here in UK, hard to find any that are not literally a pile of rust in a bucket!!
Never knew they had an estate version!!
Such a great channel.
All these videos about popular, and even [ or especially] the not-so-popular cars. There’s so much interesting history behind the cars - one doesn’t normally think about.
📻😁
You're my biggest fan Jeff!
Yet more Big Car brilliance. Thank you for another excellent video. :=)
Glad you enjoyed it Wilf
@@BigCar2 ALL your videos are excellent. :-) Keep 'em coming.
Amazing how similar it looks to the aggro now you’ve pointed it out (specifically closer it looked to Harris Mann’s original design intent for the allegro and how much better received at home and abroad would the allegro have been if it had stayed truer to that?) and with similar quality issues however the Alfa badge can get you past a lot more deficiencies than the BL plug hole.
The Alfasud at least had amazing roadholding, so much that its mentioned in a contemporary Haynes BMW manual as "optimized for roadholding".
Friends dad had one of those in rosso red in late 70s. Coolest car ever to go to school in.
Loved this episode, like all of them. Great job for the reasearch, and maybe room for a special about special Alfa Romeo's like the Disco Volante (Fying Saucer) and the iconic B.A.T. cars
In 1978 a friend of mine had a 1975 Alfasud. First the undeniable pluses: the engine was good, sporty, fast. The gearbox was great, the handling perfect. Now the cons: Rust, rust and rust again everywhere. When the car was 2 years old, the former owner could not get it through German TÜV due to rust problems. An engineer of Alfa Romeo Germany (a German) told he never ever saw a car only 2 years old that rusty. Alfa Romeo Germany replaced all four fenders, hood and trunk lid. They welded new side members and repainted the whole car. In 1978 when I met him, his car had rust all around, on top, all doors, fenders and lid. He could not put anything into the trunk, as there was a hole in the floor above the exhaust, size of a spare wheel. The car was junk after not even four years! Don‘t get me wrong, engine, gear box and mechanically it was a great car, but everything made of sheet metal was simply nothing but - rust. The above mentioned engineer stated that the workers must have used completely rusted material when producing the car., no way a square tube could have rusted away after just 2 years, leaving nothing but the upper quarter of it. A great car destroyed by shoddy workmanship and by using unfit material. They should have shot the responsible people in the first place. BTW my mother needed a new car in 1972 to replace her Fiat 850 Sport Coupe. First she wanted to get an Alfasud (she was quite impressed by the performance and looks alike). My father however opted for the new Audi 80 L. Due to several reasons she bought the Audi 80 instead of the Alfasud. Best decision she could have made. The Audi survived all Alfasuds of that time (sold after 12 years).
Another really interesting video, thank you! Always loved the little Alfasud, flawed but full of character and charm.
Glad you enjoyed it Simon!
I’m glad you used that car insurance advert, when I was a kid when this came out I had nightmares for weeks! 🤣
I really remember that ad as well!
@@BigCar2 I was born in 75, so I can’t remember when it came out?, but It was because the man went back to the car and then the car went off the cliff I was like 😱
Like the new feature, boom full points for me. Great work as always 👍👍
Very interesting video, Thank You! Owned an Alfasud and later an Alfasud Sprint i the late seventies/early eighties, wonderful cars.
IMO the Alfasud Sprint is one of the prettiest cars ever made. Always wanted one. Still do.
One of my first cars was a diarrhoea brown Alfasud 1.5Ti, and I loved it - the flat 4 boxer engine made a fantastic rasp, and the cornering was amazing... A very easy car to maintain too.
Quality control wasn't so great though - when you went round corners, the heater (which was on a steering wheel stalk) came on, and the alternator wasn't powerful enough to run the lights, heater and windscreen wipers at the same time, so you had to make some difficult choices on cold, dark winter days...
Worst experience though was driving to university round the M25 in the pouring rain, when one of my wipers stopped working. Climbing out of the car to investigate, I found that the metal round the base of the wiper arm had corroded so badly, that the whole wiper mechanism had flown off into the night, never to be seen again.
Despite all that, I loved the car to death, and kept it for years.
Thank you so much for this!
Great vlog as always!
Thank you Torgeir!
I bought one of these wonderful machines in the 1970s when I live by the sea in Lowestoft. Yes, all that lovely salt air doing battle with Italian paint and cheap Soviet steel but the Alfa actually won out on the day and a product called Waxoyl no doubt helped. The Alfa survives to this day still in pristine condition, starts first time on at least two of its four cylinders with the other pots joining in when they feel ready. I have stuck with the brand through the years and can say that not once has any of my Alfa's failed to get me to my destination.
Nice story but............there was no Soviet steel used in the Alfasud, the steel was supplied by the Italsider steel mills in Taranto, same as that for the Milan factory. The rust problems were due to bad working practices, untrained staff, lazy short cuts in production. but strikes and absenteeism certainly did not help. The whole truth is revealed in my book; 'Alfasud - The Complete Story', published in August 2021 by Crowood Press.
Beautiful car.
A classic Italian beauty.
Love the styling.
Disc brakes all round, terrific.
The car was before it's time.
Wonderful handling.
A real shame about the build quality.
To be honest, I still want one!
I recall that the disks were inboard and difficult to work on.
Thank you !!! Perfect video ! And always nice to speak about Alfa Romeo !
"The Mercedes-Benz W140 story" that will be a happy day for sure. great vid as usual!
I would love to see a Lancia Gamma video. :) And of course the Delta. And the Fiat Ritmo. And Tipo. :D
great video, thanks. I owned a Veloce Sprint in 1984, it was garaged most of the time while I worked overseas. I loved driving it, especially the perfect torque steer that allowed me to go around motorway junction roundabout (before traffic lights were added!) without moving the steering wheel - just the accelerator.
Sadly, it dissolved in water, my Alfa Selzer.
Just wanted to say thank you for the 3 points: very good of you 👍
You’re welcome!
Great video, sir! Sometimes there's the odd Alfa Romeo Sprint sighting (black, or silver) here and there, but no Alfasud. I can't remember seeing one since the 80's. I imediately recognized a" rubber tail" under the cover. New gear? Sound is different. More room. Great!!
One version you didn't mention was an Australian special based on the Sprint.
Around a dozen or so were sold in Australia.
They were fitted with a mid-mounted Holden 5 litre V8 and they were very fast.
They were called the Giocatello (or something like that).
They were the brainchild of the owner of The Toy Store in Sydney.
Thanks, well researched as always. They were great fun to drive, but boy could they rust, the term "rust bucket" is an insult to buckets which lasted far longer.
😂
Alfa Romeo improved the rust problems with the Alfa 6. With it's sloppily galvanized body, it rusted at an unprecedented rate. I vaguely remember the trunk lock not being held in place any more after maybe one year. The rust has already fully "eaten" the surrounding steel.
After that experience, the Alfasud's rust problems just appeared as a minor issue to me. Interesting how the Alfa 6 shifted my perception!
But, surprisingly, I've seen n Alfa 6 a few years ago in Germany, on the road. The last time I've seen an Alfasud was in the 1980s.
I learned to drive in my mum's Alfa Sud Sprint, l still remember the ghastly look on her face during my gear changes.
A great one again! Thanks!
I remember driving on the M6 up to Manchester when the windscreen washers fell into the engine compartment due to rust. I was running late so took to following trucks so I could use their spray to clean the screen. Still, the 1.5 Ti Sud was one of my favourite cars as it was so much fun to drive. The good looks added to its handling and the responsive boxer engine made it a superb driving car.
i am a big fan of the quad headlight front on them
Imagine cruising the mountain roads making deliveries in your Alfasud bread van listening to Italodisco on your radio in the late 70s...
86 vibe here
Thanks for another great episode :-) I guessed that it was the Spider as the shape is quite distinctive. I almost bought a Spider but instead went for the Fiat Barchetta... perhaps that could make a good episode one day.....
Awesome as always bro! Crazy how the Allegro almost mirrored the Alfasud.
"Under the Cover": The Alfa from the movie "The Graduate" im blanking for the name or number, never seen the movie actually but from the A pillar back its distinctive.
As always, very many thanks for your meticulous research.
Normally used to larger more powerful beasts; I bought UVK519T (1.3ti) as a stop gap for a few weeks between cars. I drove it for nearly a year before selling it.
Wide low profile tyres are now expected - but the Sud cornered as if on rails on it's tiny155/80 section 13s'. I've never known any car with better balanced handling.
It did not even have a basic radio - driving it was entertainment enough.
Even at just over a year old, the 'tinworm' was appearing everywhere. Reliability was very poor too; snapped front coil spring and brake pad friction surfaces detaching from the backing (front were inboard) is not much fun. Original Lodge multigap spark plugs were expensive. At the time I did all my own repairs.
With much improved build the Sud could have been a World beater, knocking Astras' and Escorts' into a cocked hat.
They said something similar about the Rover SD1 and I had 2 of those! Glutton for punishment perhaps - though to be fair the SD1s' weren't nearly as bad.
Alfasud, what the Austin Allegro could have been 😂
Rusty, badly made, unloved estate version and unreliable? It achieved that goal with ease! 😂
Yes, they were twins in most respects except the Alfa had a decent engine and later on, performance.
@@MrRea112 yep, that is true!
Not true. The original Allegro design was much nicer than the Alfasud but issues prevented the car from replicating the drawings which was a crying shame.
@@ericgeorge5483 The designer Harris Mann reckoned that his original design was tweaked by BL’s engineers because of two main factors; the use of the Maxi’s E-series engine for 1500 and 1750cc variants, which along with the in-sump gearbox, resulted in a tall power plant, and the late decision to use the same heater assembly as that developed for the Morris Marina. Both things meant the bonnet line was raised compared to the original design.
Mann’s design was also less “barrel sided” - the “spring” in curved panels when released from the body dies having not been fully accounted for. It left the side panels a couple of millimetres out from the centre of the car when assembled, compared to the clay styling models. A tiny change, but enough to just tip the car towards looking rounded as opposed to crisply styled like the Alfasud.
If the Allegro had just been left with A-series engines, or given E-series engines with end-on gearboxes (as happened with the related R and S series engines in its replacement, the Maestro), and a bespoke heater assembly, then the Allegro could have had a lower bonnet line and had a convincing claim to being the British Alfasud. There would still have been the issue of the quartic steering wheel (fixed for the series 2 models in any case), and lack of hatchback (as with the Alfasud for much of its life), but if the Allegro had just got off to a better start there might even have been more money in the coffers to develop it along the line.
The Allegro was even assembled in Italy - it was briefly available as the licence-built Innocenti Regent, before BL pulled out of such deals in the wake of mid-70s nationalisation.
Much of this information is from another Big Car video on the Allegro, and from the brilliant AROnline website.
Hands down the best car history info series out there
Very good your information channel, did not remember me of Alfa Sprint Sport, beautiful car, pure italian design, I love that beauty car. Keep going.!
Happy memories of thrashing around the Kent Countyside in my best mates Alfasud 1500 in the late 80’s 😎😎
I still thrash around the Kent countryside in my Alfa Romeo MiTo QV . I love living in Kent, and I love my Alfa's even more.
Alfasud beautiful car, unfortunately a much quoted saying of the time went "The only car that already started to rust in the sales brochure". Never owned an Alfa myself !
The steel used to manufacture the Alfasud, was not from Russia, but mostly from the big siderurgy plant, Italsider in Taranto. The problem with the rust were due, to other issues some mentioned in the video. Many journalists have said the same thing over and over, even about Lancia, which are totally unfounded. Great video though, the Alfasud was a cracking car, I love the sprint version.
Thanks for the info. Do you have a source you can point to for this?
@@BigCar2 There is a channel on RUclips called Roadster life. It is owned by an Italian man, who he is a designer who has worked on many fIat group projects in the last 15 years. In one of his video titled
" 5 Things You Didn't Know About The Alfasud"it is mentioned the issue with the rust, and what caused it. I am Italian and about 20 years ago I saw, a documentary (on Rai, our Italian broadcaster) about the Alfa Romeo factory in Pomigliano D'arco. During the documentary one of engineer(then already retired) who was employed at the time of the Alfasud construction, explained the issues with the poor quality controls inside the factory. He said that although quality controls where in place, the supervision of those controls where basically inexistent. It had nothing to do with Russian steel and so on. It was also said that majority of steel used in car manufacturing in Italy at the time, was made in Italy. The same thing was said about Lancia, who had big issues with rust especially in the UK, where Lancia was forced to take back, thousands of the Beta coupe model. Lancia was part of Fiat, and Fiat models did not experience the same problem as Lancia. Why would Fiat use RUssian steel on one model, but not on others? Lara did not rust so much in the URSS and were made with Russian steel, and many of those Lara lasted for 30 years+.
@@roby72s I'm sure this guy knows his stuff, but I'm looking for an accredited news source. This is why I've stated citing my sources in the description - because I could be talking rubbish as I'm just 'a guy on the Internet'.
Italian here. Thanks for trying to properly pronounce the italian names and doing a pretty good job at that. Keep up the good work!
Oh here we go again. No Italian cars were made from Russian steel!!!! This is myth that seemed to have done the rounds amongst British car reporters. The Russians paid with oil, not steel. Why would the Italians want steel from Russia anyway?! The Alfa plant was right next door to one of the main Italian steel works. Alfa and Fiat were all built from Italian steel so let's put this one to bed please. I love this channel but more research needed before conclusions of this nature.
A fantastic car to drive; no one like it in its category at that time
An Alfa video! On my birthday! Awesome. Been in love with their cars for a long time, especially my 164 that accompanied me for a very long time and never broke down no matter what people say about quality.
Happy birthday!
Many cars are maligned for poor quality, when in fact it is just poor maintenance by the owner.
@@BigCar2 Thanks :)
@@mauritsvw Very true!
Literally saw one yesterday, was a decent example too in the UK! Thanks for the informative video 👍🏻
Apparently only 81 left on the road in the UK. You were lucky!
Classic and sportscar magazine done a very good article on the Alfa Sun as it’s 50 years old this year.
Excellent video, I remember as a young boy, being bought a model Alfasud in 1977 or 1978, by my parent's whilst in holiday in Wales. It was quite a large model and was yellow and I loved the styling, I don't know what happened to it, but I do know it won't have rusted, as the body was plastic!
Perhaps the under the cover thing might indeed be a fun recurring item, heck...I've got some very interesting cars under covers in my neighbourhood, which actually would also fit perfectly for future videos
If you can find what they are with the permission of the owner, I'd love to get some photos for future videos. Please e-mail them to bigcartv@hotmail.com
I remember during the 70s lower front suspension arm ends braking off. The arm looked OK on the outside but had rotted from the inside. I can't remember if they recalled them but Alfa did sell uprated arms.
I also remember the Magneti Marelli electrics being a pain. The copper terminals & fuse box internals just seemed to crumble. The same went for Lancia electrics in the same period.
Such a good looking car, specifically the sprint, wish they didn’t rust and were still around
Great video, many thanks, been so precise I missed a reference about the Alfa Romeo Arna (Who had the idea?? : )
Not relevant but in Spain since we were not yet in the EU the Alfasud was expensive doe the extra protection VAT charges; just as an example, the 1.5 4 doors with 84 hp had a starting sale price of 1.008.000 Pesetas, so 6.064 € in 1981.
While a Seat 131 Supermirafiori 2.0 CLX with 114 HP full equiped was 900.000 pesetas, 5415 €.
And a Seat Ritmo CLX with 82 Hp. 738.000 Pesetas or 4.436 €
Therefore there were very very few; in 1982 when I was attending Arts I used to have a classmate, I was just 14, she was in her mid 30s, and she switched a rare Innocenti De Tomaso for an Alfasud Sprint Veloce, which was very expensive in Spain.
Another great show enjoyed very much
Glad you enjoyed it Gregory
A great story. Growing up my Dad's neighbour drove a Sud. We loved it and thought it was the coolest car.
When the Sprint had its restyle in the 1980s, it initially kept the 'sud suspension and brakes. Took a few more year before they switched to the 33 brakes and suspension.
Great fun car.
Those headlights are almost too modern looking for the era, sort of remind me of the sort of facelifts given to boxy ‘80s cars in the likes of Russia or China where they’re given the rounded headlight and tail light treatment to help them linger on for another few years
Took a particular interest in this story as I owned two sud's back in the early eighties including a gold cloverleaf version. Loved them and would relish the opportunity to drive one again. Neither of mine had rust issues. Maybe I was lucky. Interesting story...keep up the good work.
By 1980 they’d largely got on top of the rust problems.
Amazing to see how many cars of this era were touched by Independent designers, with there similarities jumping from one brand to the other.
Helped give cars a sort of soul thats missing today!
The Alfasud should have been the car that took Alfa Romeo to another level but it appears that the company didn't fare much better than Leyland when it came to industrial problems and of course the nasty Russian Steel was the final nail in the coffin. That was a very interesting video, thanks for sharing.
It wasn't the steel. Unpainted and untreated Chassis piled up due to constant strikes.
I had an Alpha Sud Sports, the only car that rusted while it was moving
You should see the 'Simca 1307 or the "my fiberglass body panels hide my rotting body" Matra Bagheera.
Glad it wasn't an Alfa then !
@@mauricelevy9027 only the delux models had an h 🤣
I do remember in 1982 driving in Bath going around a right hand bend and the dash falling off. It came clean off and hung there with the passenger holding on to it for dear life.
I'm saying Alfa spider. May be wrong. I'll see!
Super video, I had a alfasud ti cloverleaf in black many years ago. Great car, sold it when someone offered me twice what I payed for it. Probably should have kept it.
At long last, Alfa Romeo makes an appearance on this channel
🎉
@@BigCar2 Yes! Please keep up covering Alfa Romeo. There is such a rich history... I drive a 2019 Giulietta Sport myself - it really is a shame that the image of this brand is still suffering immensely because of quality problems like the Alfasud disaster. Concerning sales, I really hope, that Stellantis can turn the tide for Alfa. Really love my Giulietta.
@@thewestphalianrailwayshed I'll probably give some other marques some love in the near future, but thanks for the suggestions!
@@BigCar2 Hey Big Car, I’m considering a Mito QV as my first car. I can get one fairly cheap on insurance. Is this a good idea? My dad is worried about the 170bhp and won’t let me have one. Should I get one? I’m 14 and already have a lot of experience with cars.
@@freddieparrydrums Freddie - you're mistaking me for someone who knows what I'm talking about! Sorry, I wouldn't know as I'm not aware of that car.