Giuseppe who?
10/04/2025
Nissan VR38DETT, Ford Essex and of course the "Busso" from Alfa Romeo – the list of the most powerful-sounding angled six-cylinder engines is usually headed by the same few designs. One of them is usually not even mentioned as a distant memory: the "Ellesmere V6" – the cost-cutting measure named after its English production location, which was intended to replace the old CIH in-line six-cylinder engines at Opel in 1994 and which sacrificed smoothness for the possibility of transverse installation.
And indeed, the compact powerhouse with the unique 54-degree bank angle does not run as smoothly as an in-line engine. The proverbial reliability from Rüsselsheim was also suddenly a thing of the past. But in return, the Vectra, Omega and Calibra had the most Italian engine Opel had ever built. Whereby this refers less to the mileage between two workshop visits, but much more to the four overhead camshafts – and the acoustics!
Gagged by one intake and three exhaust silencers, it is difficult to imagine what the Anglo-Hessian is actually capable of if you let it breathe freely. At idle, the sound is only a little louder than usual, but at half throttle the soundscape increases to Arese-like conditions, escalating into a race car-like roar at full power, which is roughly halfway between the Ferrari 156 and BMW M4 GT3. The vocal pitch changes slightly each time the multi-ram intake manifold switches length.
Giuseppe Busso could not have managed this mixture of perfect euphony with simple fulfillment of the design specifications any better. So should the supply of Italian engines for Alfa Romeo implants ever run out – there would still be an adequate German substitute.
