50 years of the Alfa Romeo Alfetta - Berlina with racing genes

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50 years of the Alfa Romeo Alfetta - Berlina with racing genes

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Created on May 20, 2022

Text:

Thomas Suter

Photos:

Thomas Suter

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Centro Storico Alfa Romeo

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Alfa Romeo Alfetta (1972) - Reunion in Grignano 50 years after the first presentation

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Alfa Romeo Alfetta (1972) - Reunion in Grignano 50 years after the first presentation

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The Alfetta was first shown to the press in front of this building in 1972

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The former conference hotel of the first presentation is now a guest house of a center for theoretical physics

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The Alfetta was presented here in 1972, today a public bus turns around at this location

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Where the Alfetta Berlina was once proudly presented, there are now litter garbage cans

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Alfa Romeo Alfetta (1972) - Presentation in Grignano

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Alfa Romeo Alfetta (1972) - Juan Manuel Fangio at the presentation in Grignano

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Alfa Romeo Alfetta (1972) - elegant sports sedan

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Alfa Romeo Alfetta (1973) - straightforward design, functional

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Alfa Romeo Alfetta (1972) - initially still equipped with chrome bumpers

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Alfa Romeo Alfetta (1972) - immediately recognizable as an Alfa

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Alfa Romeo Alfetta (1973) - who could resist here

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Alfa Romeo Alfetta (1972) - Interior with large round clocks and sports steering wheel

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Alfa Romeo Alfetta (1972) - good all-round visibility in the sports sedan

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Alfa Romeo Alfetta (1972) - good space in the sedan

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Alfa Romeo Alfetta (1972) - with plenty of space in the trunk

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Alfa Romeo Alfetta (1973) - instructive illustrative model shows the transaxle design of the car equipped with a De Dion axle - at the Geneva Motor Show in 1973

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Alfa Romeo Alfetta (1975) - built between 1975 and 1981 in three displacement variants

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Alfa Romeo Alfetta (1976) - was available with 1.6, 1.8 and 2.0 liter displacement

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Alfa Romeo Alfetta 1.8 (1976) - five-seater sedan

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Alfa Romeo Alfetta 1600 (1976) - simply designed basic model with 1.6 liter engine capacity - Geneva Motor Show 1976

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Alfa Romeo Alfetta 1.6 (1975) - cheaper version with single headlights and 106 instead of 121 hp - Geneva Motor Show 1975

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Alfa Romeo Alfetta 2.0 Turbodiesel (1979) - presented in October 1979

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Summary

It was on May 17, 1972, when Alfa Romeo presented a revolutionary sedan called the Alfetta in Grignano. The press received the car enthusiastically, but today hardly anyone remembers the presentation 50 years ago. Nevertheless, on May 17, 2022, a close-knit group of enthusiasts met again in Grignano with their Alfetta sedans. Some things were still the same, others were not. This report characterizes the innovative Alfetta Berlina, showing it in historical footage and photos from the small anniversary celebration on 17 May 2022.

This article contains the following chapters

From a position of strength
Information leak
Delays due to vibrations
Alfasud preferred
Unveiling on May 17, 1972
V8 envisaged
The 50th anniversary falls through
Brief characteristics of the Alfa Romeo Alfetta Berlina

Estimated reading time: 6min

Preview (beginning of the article)

Front engine, gearbox and differential on the rear axle, inboard disc brakes at the rear, plus a de Dion rear axle - all ingredients from motor racing. But it was precisely this principle that formed the skeleton of the Alfetta Berlina, which Alfa Romeo presented for the first time to an astonished audience in Grignano near Trieste on May 17, 1972. At the beginning of the 1970s, Alfa Romeo experienced a heyday. In contrast to today, it was possible to choose the right model from a complete model series with Giulia and its derivatives (Berlina, Coupé, Spider), the Berlina 1750 / 2000 as a model for the upper middle class, the Montreal with the V8 engine domesticated from racing and, for the first time, the front-wheel drive Alfasud. The production figures of over 200,000 (1973) were impressive (compared to today's modest figure of less than 50,000 cars).

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