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Alcohol, rolling papers, and Moulin Rouge: this is '80s vice gone racing
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Films:
1972 Alfa Romeo Alfetta: Verde Pino
B-E-A-U-Tiful…I have been thinking lately of tracking down an Alfetta. To some of the comments below:
I believe that the ‘berlina’ (Italian for sedan) referred to the original boxy sedan, the Giulia not the Alfetta
Verde Pin translates to Pine Green, not green pine
Giugiaro designed the GT Alfetta coupe..
Ciao.
One of the better videos I’ve seen recently, kudos!
I have a 116-chassis GTV 2.0, and just love it to death. Far more than I should. There is something so charming about all Alfetta models, and maybe it’s my age, or the fact that I’m an avowed Guigiaro fan, but the Alfetta coupes have always been the sexiest GTV’s to my eyes, and these sedans have a wonderful line to them also.
So cool that they are still among the most affordable classic Alfas anywhere.
Apparently the designer of this 1972 berlina was Giuseppe Scarniti. If Wikipedia is to be believed Guigiaro starts with these in 1974. I am a big fan of Giugiaro. Any thoughts from someone with deep year by year knowledge of the carrosserie of these cars? Either way, I this to be right around the apex of the Alfa sport sedans and coupes. This and the next half decade.
Apparently Scarnati was an internal designer at Alfa, and the designer of this specific 1972 berlina. Interestingly Scarnati does not have his own Wikipedia page. Here is another link: https://www.flickr.com/groups/giuseppe_scarnati/
“Giuseppe Scarnati was Head of Alfa Romeo Centro Stile (1957-1975) and designer of the Alfa Romeo Giulia (1961) and the Alfa Romeo Alfetta berlina (1972).”
Giugiaro is said to pick up just two years later, with the Alfetta GT.
To my eye both are iconic cars.
Nice! I love Alfetta. I got mine used in the 90s, and I had to always park it outside, and boy that thing rusted out really fast, even in southern California. A couple of years ago, I met a man near Boston, who is the original owner of Alfetta sedan that he daily drives, whose car was pristine in original paint and no rust! That made me just wonder how bad the quality control was at the time at Alfa Romeo factory. Anyway…just one little thing – maybe it’s the video, but the car doesn’t sound right, like it’s running super rich or the timing is really off.
Russian steel is often mentioned as the source of the corrosion problems with Alfas in the 60s & 70s. Whatever the source of the weakness, it seems to have been a pervasive problem. In Boston, with all the salt on the roads, I would be surprised if that Alfetta got driven through the winter. Even with heavy oil based undercoat applied all over the wheel housings and the underside of the floors the salt in Boston used to turn cars into lace in 5 to 10 years. I worked there as a mechanic as a kid, first in Brighton, then in Cambridgeport, and the number of seized fasteners you encountered in a work day was large. These days cars have extensive corrosion warranties. At the time, this was unknown.
Great film on the Alfa and its conservator. The other element in all of these great stories is the magnificent location they are produced in. A small mention of the time and places we are falling in love with when watching the story would be great. For most, it is just the car or bike we watch for. I dare say the thought that goes into the location is paramount to the sensation we get when we take in the event. Petrolicious take a moment and tell us about the place we are enjoying. Some of these locations look be bucket list worthy.
Tourism as well as GPS quadrant sharing has been the ruin of such delightful locations.. over and over . So Kelly, if I recognized your FB share of your favorite home town running trail,then posted it’s location, I’d suspect you might be pissed. I’m seeing post after post,with locals to that area giving exact route #’s for it’s location . Similarly climber’s don’t post their favorite wall,as well as surfer’s and spear-fisher-people keep their spots secret. Populations are rising and favorite routes are clogged with rubber necker’s . Once beloved harbors are cluttered with cruise ships,and dash board loaded with Hero cams . Lets wakeup!
By the way my my identity code below is VBgRd.. meaning: ‘very big road’ ~~There’s many out there to enjoy,but let honor those calling it home by not disregarding their privacy .
Thanks again, Petrolicious, for this intimate portrait of two collectors and their cars.
Each one of these videos encourages me to do some reading. While I have had friends with Alfa sedans and spiders, I have never had one apart. For instance I knew that the Alfetta had a few innovative elements. However I did not realize that these had torsion bar front suspension pressing directly on the lower control arms to cut the unsprung weight in front. And I did not remember, if I ever knew, that the transmission and clutch were rear mounted for better weight distribution, or that the rear brakes were inboard. These were all radical innovations.
Alfa’s designers were doing this kind of thing while other coveted cars of this time that were used for rallying, like the Ford Escort Mark I, had leaf springs and a live axle in back, along with a very conventional layout of other components. The monocoque body on the Escort seems to have been particularly light and rigid. Formula 1 chassis designer Gordon Murray is having a resto-modded Escort built for himself at the moment. So the Escort still has an elite following.
However when you compare an Escort to the measures that were taken to achieve better weight distribution in a Alfetta, well, there is no comparison. I am starting to have new appreciation for the following that the Alfetta’s have.
