The Alfa Romeo Alfetta was the base for the Alfa Romeo GT and the Alfa Romeo GTV.
The four-door Alfetta was sold in the USA from 1975 through 1977 under
the name Alfetta Sedan. From 1978 to 1979 a mildly restyled version was sold under
the name Sport Sedan. The four-cylinder coupe was available from 1975 to 1977
under the moniker Alfetta
GT . Finally, the V-6 version was
marketed from 1981 to 1986 as the GTV-6. Back to the GTV, it was a fastback
coupé version of the Alfetta, introduced in 1974 as Alfetta
GT, initially available only with the 1.8 litre (1779 cc)
version of the Alfa
DOHC four. For 1976, with the
final phasing out of the earlier 105 Series 1.3 and 1.6 litre coupes
(GT 1300 Junior and GT 1600 Junior) and the 2.0 litre 105 series
2000 GTV, the Alfetta GT became a range, also available with the 1.6 litre (1570 cc)
and 2.0 litre
(1962 cc) versions of the same engine as the Alfetta GT 1.6, Alfetta
GT 1.8 and Alfetta GTV 2000. The GTV designation was initially
reserved for the 2.0 litre
top version. In 1979, some minor revisions, including a revised engine with new
camshaft profiles and a change to mechanical-and-vacuum ignition advance, saw
the 2.0 litre
redesignated the Alfetta GTV 2000L. Autodelta also produced a limited
edition turbocharged model, named Turbodelta
(SEE PHOTO!), for FIA Group 4 homologation. This version used a KKK
turbo which pushed power up to 175 PS (129 kW). The car also received
a modified suspension layout. This was first Italian production car with
turbocharger. The styling of the GTV, while distinctive, can be seen to share
many design features derived from the Montreal
supercar, as translated down to a simpler and thus more marketable vehicle.
Examples of this are the bonnet line, which while briefer, still has 'scallops'
for the headlights, and the tail light clusters which resemble those of the Montreal. The door shape
is similar, and in a sharing of parts, both vehicles employ the same door
handles. In 1981, the GTV received a restyling, with grey plastic bumpers and
all matt-black trim replacing bright stainless steel, the 1.6 litre and 1.8 litre versions were
discontinued and the Alfetta 2000 GTV became the base coupé model as the
Alfa GTV 2.0. The Alfetta name was dropped, but the two-litre coupé
retained its type designation of 11636 for left hand drive and 11637 for right
hand drive. 15 inch
alloy wheels were now standard, as opposed to the earlier cars' 14 inch pressed steel or
optional 14 inch
alloy.
Later in the same year, the GTV-6, a version of the GTV with
the SOHC V6 2.5 L engine from the Alfa 6 luxury sedan, was released. As a
result the hood received a bulge to clear the top of the intake and became its
most pronounced feature. With Bosch fuel injection
instead of the six downdraught Dell'Orto carburetors
in the early Alfa 6 installation, the V6 was much easier to start and retained
its state of tune much better. The V6 received rave reviews from the motoring
press, which had previously lambasted the same engine in the Alfa 6 because of
the carburetor problems. It found its true home in the GTV-6 where it could
stretch its legs better than in the less sporting Alfa 6 sedan, including
winning the European Touring Car Championship an unprecedented four years in
succession (1982-85), the British Touring Car Championship in 1983 at the hands
of Andy Rouse, as well as many other racing and
rallying competitions. The fuel injection installation eventually made it into
the second series of the Alfa 6 as well. The GTV went through a number of
revisions, including a new gear ratios and an updated interior in 1984. A grey GTV6 is
featured for a short period in the James Bond
movie Octopussy. Bond steals the
parked car while its owner uses a pay phone booth and makes haste towards
Octopussy's Circus. The GTV6 was driven to victory by Greg
Carr and Fred Gocentas
in the 1987 Australian Rally Championship. South African models were first
assembled at Automaker's Rosslyn plant, located outside Pretoria. These early, 1973 models, were
manufactured alongside Datsuns. From 1974 South African Alfetta's were
manufactured at Alfa Romeo's own Brits plant. South Africa was one of two markets
to have a turbocharged GTV6, with a Garrett
turbocharger and a NACA intake. An estimated 750 were assembled before all production
ceased in 1986. The South African market also introduced the 3.0 L GTV-6,
predating the international debut of the factory's 3.0 L engine in 1987.
Approximately 200 were built in South
Africa for racing homologation. To this day,
the GTV-6 remains the quintessential Alfa Romeo for South Africans. For the U.S.
market two limited production GTV-6 models stand out. The Balocco (named after
the famous Balocco race track in Italy) in 1982 with a production
run of only 350 cars. And the GTV-6 2.5 Maratona, of which only 150 were built.
The Maratona model included a more aggressive aerodynamic trim package,
lightweight Speedline wheels, clear engine view port, sunroof, wood steering
wheel, rear louvers and fog lamps. All 150 cars were painted only in Silver. Callaway
Cars, famous for their modified Camaro, Impala SS and Corvette offerings
modified about thirty GTV-6s between 1983 and 1986. In addition to
numerous small component upgrades, the Callaway GTVs included a much revised
suspension, larger brakes and a twin-turbocharger system, boosting performance
to near-exotic levels. A different twin turbo GTV was also built briefly for
the Australian market.
The racing
versions of the Alfetta
GT and GTV were built by Autodelta, initially with the
normally aspirated engine from the earlier GTAm racer based on the 105 series
coupe, for homologation under FIA Group 2. In this form they were rallied with moderate
success in 1975, winning the Elba and Costa Brava
rallies overall, as well as winning the Group 2 category in the World Rally
Championship's Corsican event. The next year Autodelta shifted its focus to
circuit racing the Alfettas, which won the under 2.5-liter Group 2 division of
the European Touring Car Championship, scoring a remarkable second place
overall at the 24 hour race at Spa-Francorchamps, as well as an overall win in
the ETC race at Vallelunga. Despite such results, Autodelta's efforts with the
Group 2 Alfetta were desultory, and ended prematurely. At a single rally at the
end of the 1975 season, Autodelta also rallied an Alfetta GTV with a 3.0 litre V8 engine, derived
from the 2.6 litre
V8 of the Alfa Romeo Montreal coupé and sharing the same mechanical fuel
injection by SPICA. It had been suggested to produce 400 roadgoing versions of
this model for homologation but this plan was abandoned as well. In 1980 the Alfetta GTV Turbodelta (SEE PHOTO!)
was already homologated in FIA Group 4, since the required number of production
cars had been built. A racing version was campaigned in rallies, but once more
the effort was abandoned after a single season, despite scoring a win at the
Danube Rally. In 1986 the Alfa Romeo GTV6 was one of the fastest Group A rally
cars. However FIA put it to Group B in the end of 1986, this made if from
winner car to a car which was drawn away from rallying. The GTV6 placed 3rd in
1986 Tour de Corse.
The Rally of
San Remo, or the Rallye
Sanremo is a rally competition
held in Sanremo, Italy. Except for the 1995 event,
the event was part of the FIA World Rally Championship schedule from the 1973
season to the 2003 season. Currently, it is a round of the Intercontinental
Rally Challenge and the Italian national rally championship. The first " Rallye Internazionale di Sanremo "
was held in 1928. The rally name's French word "rallye", as opposed
to Italian "rally", was inspired by Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo.
After another successful rally in 1929, the event was given to new organizers
who decided to set up a street race through the town of Sanremo instead. The first one, 1° Circuito
Automobilistico Sanremo, was held in 1937 and won by Achille Varzi.
Rallye Sanremo
was re-started in 1961 as Rallye
dei Fiori ("Rally of the
Flowers") and has been held every year since. From 1970 to 1972, Rallye Sanremo
was part of the International Championship for Manufacturers. From 1973 to
2003, the rally was on the World Rally Championship schedule, except for 1995
when the event was only part of the FIA 2-Litre World Championship for
Manufacturers. The rally became the centre of controversy in 1986 after the
stewards disqualified the factory Peugeot team at the end of the third day for
using illegal side skirts, handing the victory to Lancia. Peugeot had used the
same configuration in earlier rallies without any scrutineering problems and
had also passed pre-rally scrutineering. Peugeot appealed but the organizers
did not allow the team to continue the rally. FIA later confirmed that the
exclusion had been illegal as the Peugeot cars were legal, and decided to annul
the results of the whole event. Rallye
Sanremo was originally a mixed
surface event (tarmac and gravel) but from 1997 on it was organized as an
all-tarmac rally. After being dropped from the WRC schedule, Rallye Sanremo
has been part of the Italian Rally Championship. Since 2006, it has also been a
round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge.
The company that became Alfa Romeo was founded as Società
Anonima Italiana
Darracq (SAID) in 1906 by Cavaliere
Ugo Stella,
an aristocrat from Milan,
in partnership with the French automobile firm of Alexandre Darracq.
The firm initially produced Darracq cars in Naples,
but after the partnership collapsed Stella and the
other Italian co-investors moved production to an idle Darracq factory in the Milan suburb of Portello,
and the company was renamed A.L.F.A.
(Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica
Automobili). The first non-Darracq
car produced by company was the 1910 24 HP, designed by Giuseppe Merosi.
Merosi would go on to design a series of new ALFA cars with more powerful engines (40-60 HP). ALFA also
ventured into motor racing, drivers Franchini and Ronzoni competing in the 1911
Targa Florio with two 24 HP models. However, the
onset of World War I halted automobile production at ALFA for three years. 1916
saw the company come under the direction of Neapolitan entrepreneur Nicola Romeo,
who converted the factory to produce military hardware for the Italian and
Allied war efforts. Munitions, aircraft engines and other components,
compressors and generators based on the company's existing car engines, and
heavy locomotives were produced in the factory during the war. When the war was
over, Romeo took complete
control of ALFA and car production
resumed in 1919. In
1920, the name of the company was changed to Alfa Romeo with the Torpedo 20-30 HP becoming the first car
to be badged as such. Their first success came in 1920 when Giuseppe Campari won at
Mugello and continued with second place in the Targa Florio
driven by Enzo Ferrari. Giuseppe Merosi continued
as head designer, and the company continued to produce solid road cars as well
as successful race cars (including the 40-60 HP and the RL Targa Florio). In 1923 Vittorio Jano
was lured away from Fiat, partly thanks to the persuasion of a young Alfa
racing driver named Enzo Ferrari, to replace Merosi as chief designer at Alfa
Romeo. The first Alfa Romeo under Jano was the P2 Grand Prix car, which won
Alfa Romeo the inaugural world championship for Grand Prix cars in 1925. For
Alfa road cars Jano developed a series of small-to-medium-displacement 4, 6,
and 8 cylinder inline power plants based on the P2 unit that established the
classic architecture of Alfa engines, with light alloy construction,
hemispherical combustion chambers, centrally-located plugs, two rows of
overhead valves per cylinder bank and dual overhead cams. Jano's designs proved
to be both reliable and powerful. Enzo
Ferrari proved to be a better team manager than driver, and when the
factory team was privatised, it then became Scuderia Ferrari. When Ferrari left
Alfa Romeo, he went on to build his own cars. Tazio Nuvolari
often drove for Alfa, winning many races prior to WWII. In 1928 Nicola Romeo
left, with Alfa going broke after defense contracts ended, and in the end of
1932 Alfa Romeo was rescued by the government, which then had effective
control. Alfa became an instrument of Mussolini's Italy, a national
emblem. During this period Alfa Romeo built bespoke vehicles for the wealthy,
with the bodies normally built by Touring of Milan or Pininfarina. This was the
era that peaked with the legendary Alfa Romeo 2900B Type 35 racers. The Alfa
factory (converted during wartime to the production of Macchi C.202 Folgore
engines) was bombed during World War II, and struggled to return to
profitability after the war. The luxury vehicles were out. Smaller
mass-produced vehicles began to be produced in Alfa's factories beginning with
the 1954 model year, with the introduction of the Giulietta series of berline
(saloons/sedans), coupes and open two-seaters. All three varieties shared what
would become the classic Alfa Romeo Twin Cam engine, initially in 1300cc form.
This engine would eventually be enlarged to just under 2 liters (1962cc) and
would remain in production through 1995.
This is a very nice and very rare photo that reflects a wonderful era of
Alfa Romeo ‘s and San Remo Rally ’s automotive history in a wonderful way. This is your rare chance to own this
photo, therefore it is printed in a nice large format of ca. 5.5" x 12"
(ca. 14 x 30 cm). It makes it perfectly suitable for framing.
Shipping costs will only be $ 7.00 regardless of how many photos you
buy. For 5 or more photos, shipping is free!
All our photos are modern photos that are traditionally made from what we believe are the original negatives and are copyright protected.
(Note: A. Herl, Inc. does not appear on photo, for ebay purposes only)
No copyright expressed or implied. Sold as collectable item only. We are clearing out our archives that we have gathered from various sources.
All items always sent well protected in PVC clear files and board backed envelopes.
They make the perfect gift and are perfectly suited for framing. They will look gorgeous unframed and will be a true asset nicely framed with a border. They are a gorgeous and great asset in every home, workshop, workplace, restaurant, bar or club!
First come - first served. And you can always contact us for your requests. Please ask any questions before the auction ends.