Nicola Romeo
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Feature Article from Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car
July, 2011 - Jim Donnelly
People who love Italian automobiles can thank Nicola Romeo that one of their favorites exists in name as more than an acronym. They can also express gratitude for his entry into the management ranks just in time to impose the expertise that not only created Alfa Romeo as a make, but ensured its long-term star power as a big-scale car company.
It's also true that without Romeo's intervention as a businessman, some very creative people's efforts might have come to naught. Today's Alfa Romeo began in 1910 as Anonima Lombardo Fabbrica Automobili, representing a bid to create an all-Italian automobile in Lombardy, specifically Milan. Its first existence was in a local factory that had cobbled together the French-origin Darracq, under a licensing arrangement. As re-engineered into Italian purebreds under the engineering finesse of Giuseppe Merosi, the original A.L.F.A. cars of Milano were hand-built in scant numbers, compared with Fiat, which the company hoped to rival in output.
Still, the first A.L.F.A. factory in Portello managed to turn out 300 to 350 cars in each of the firm's first years. Meanwhile, elsewhere in Lombardy labored away Romeo, a true success story who had earned an engineering degree in Turin in 1900 before traveling abroad. When he returned to Italy in 1911, Romeo went into the production of heavy mining equipment and portable air compressors. The business boomed, and he was looking for room to expand. That, and not any particular affection for exclusive cars, likely led him to buy the Portello plant in 1915.
The United States had yet to join the fray, but Europe had already staggered into the Great War amid a frenzied arms race. In Italy, there existed a panicked need for trucks to haul war materiel. A.L.F.A.'s profitability building cars had been marginal at best, so Romeo put the Portello workforce into building military trucks. Just that quickly, A.L.F.A. started bringing in a lot of money. In 1918, following the Armistice, civilian auto production resumed under the name SA Italiana Ing. Nicola Romeo e Cia. The line of cars from Portello became the Alfa Romeo.
Romeo therefore deserves credit for a lot more than just making the nameplate longer. He gave free rein to more widely recognized individuals who were hugely important in Alfa Romeo's long-term credibility, beginning with Merosi. Romeo encouraged the youthful Enzo Ferrari to join the company, and shortly made him manager of Alfa's new works racing team. Its star drivers Antonio Ascari, Giuseppe Campari and Ugo Sivocci were collectively called the Three Musketeers. When Merosi departed to France and the Mathis works, Ferrari cajoled the engineer Vittorio Jano to jump from Fiat to Alfa Romeo. He immediately replaced Merosi's pushrod engine craft with OHC designs, upon which Romeo named him chief engineer.
The Jano-designed engines propelled Alfa Romeo to the pinnacle of success in world racing. Romeo was also with the company long enough to captain the introduction of Jano's first production car, the 6C 1500, in 1927. Romeo left, however, in 1928, when the firm tottered financially along with its biggest investor, a Milanese bank. The product at Alfa Romeo was never the problem. Romeo, who died in 1938, gave it the stability to achieve design greatness.
This article originally appeared in the July, 2011 issue of Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car.
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A look back at Alfa Romeo racing
By LEIGH DORRINGTON on 1/03/2011
Alfa Romeo
The 1932 Tipo B/P3 won its first race and totaled six victories that year. Vittorio Jano provided Alfa Romeo with engineering leadership that produced a series of all-conquering racing cars, beginning with the P2 Grand Prix car.
The 6C 1500 and 1750 won the Mille Miglia from 1928 to 1930, while the 8C 2300 won the 24 Hours of Le Mans four consecutive years, from 1931 to 1934. Alfa continued to dominate the Mille Miglia with uninterrupted victories from 1932 to 1938.
The Jano-designed Alfa Romeo Tipo B/P3 won its first race and totaled six victories in 1932, raced by Alfa Corse and driven by Tazio Nuvolari and Rudolf Caracciola.
Scuderia Ferrari, created by former Alfa driver Enzo Ferrari, raced Alfa Romeos with great success from 1933 to 1938.
Alfa Romeo also returned to Grand Prix racing with the Tipo 158/159 that carried Giuseppe Farina and Juan Manuel Fangio to the first two World Championships for Drivers in 1950 and 1951.
The Giulia TZ of the 1960s utilized a tubular frame clothed in lightweight Zagato bodywork. The TZ presented major competition to Porsche and other 2-liter cars with victories at Sebring, Monza, Targa Florio and the Nürburgring.
Alfa Romeo began competing once again for overall victories with the T33, a twin-turbo flat 12-cylinder that won World Sportscar championships in 1975 and 1977. Based on its success, Alfa Romeo returned to Formula One as a manufacturer from 1979 to 1985 and, briefly, to Indy-car competition before retiring from racing after 1991.
Read more: http://www.autoweek.com/article/20110103/CARNEWS/110109995#ixzz19zTtZmJK
Alfa Romeo, a look the company's 100 years
By LEIGH DORRINGTON on 12/21/2010
Alfa Romeo
The iconic Alfa 8C 2300 helped establish the brand's pedigree around the world. Alfa Romeo celebrated its centenary on June 24 as one of the most storied marques in automotive history, but its future remains uncertain.
A.L.F.A was founded in 1910 in Milan as Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica. A.L.F.A.'s first automobile was the 24 HP designed by Giuseppe Merosi. The HP included several advanced features such as a four-cylinder engine cast in a single block, an innovation that would remain a hallmark of the enterprise.
The 4.5-liter Merosi-designed Grand Prix car introduced in 1914 featured the first application of two spark plugs per cylinder.
Automobile production ended with the outbreak of World War I, and A.L.F.A. became part of the group of companies controlled by Nicola Romeo. Romeo later added his name, thus creating Alfa Romeo. The famous logo incorporates a red cross on a white background and a serpent, both symbolic of Milan's history.
The 1922 six-cylinder RL became the most powerful Alfa yet and is considered Merosi's masterpiece. RLs also won races, including the 1923 Targa Florio, where the winning car of Ugo Sivocci carried a green four-leaf clover on a white background--an emblem that would become the symbol of the Alfa Corse factory racing team.
Alfa Romeo pursued auto racing with vigor in the years following WWI, hiring engineer Vittorio Jano from Fiat in 1923. Jano set about creating an Alfa Romeo dynasty beginning with the P2 Grand Prix car that lasted until German teams steamrollered the competition in the mid- to late-1930s.
The Jano-designed six-cylinder 6C 1500 introduced in 1927 was a sales and sporting sensation. This car became the 6C 1750 with an enlarged engine in 1929, and it was also offered in Super Sport and Gran Sport versions with double overhead camshafts and supercharging. The 8C 2300 introduced in 1931 was designed around Jano's eight-cylinder engine that powered both Alfa Romeo racing and limited-production cars.
The 8C 2900 rolling chassis was sold to private owners in very limited numbers, custom-bodied by Italian carrozzeria including Zagato, Touring and Pininfarina. These cars have been called the first “supercars.” These hand-built automobiles were also the last of their kind, as Alfa Romeo was nationalized by the Italian government and the smaller 6C 2300/2500 was introduced in an effort to survive the unending Depression years.
World War II brought an end to production of both the Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 and the 6C 2500. The 6C 2500 re-entered production in 1946, but Alfa Romeo's first all-new postwar design was the 1900, introduced in 1950. The 1900 was built entirely on a production line, designed for a middle-class market and utilized unibody construction. In a nod to Alfa's coachbuilt past, the 1900 was also designed to enable the remaining Italian design houses to rebody the structure, which several did with pleasing results.
The Giulietta Sprint designed by Bertone and introduced in 1954 was the car that defined the postwar Alfa, however. The Giulietta was offered first as a stylish 1.3-liter coupe, followed by a Berlina and a Spider. The Giulia 1600 Sprint and Spider were introduced in 1962 with a 1.6-liter engine.
The Giulia Sprint GT introduced in 1963 was another landmark automobile for Alfa Romeo. The Sprint GT shared the 1.6-liter engine in a more modern Bertone-styled coupe, and the lightweight GTA version was enormously successful in racing in both Europe and the United States.
The Duetto Spider introduced in 1966 represented a highpoint for Alfa awareness in the States, being featured prominently with Dustin Hoffman in the movie The Graduate. New models introduced in the 1970s included the limited-production Montreal and the Alfetta GTV, while the Duetto carried on with a redesign as the Spider 2000.
Alfa Romeo became part of the Fiat-Lancia Group in 1986. The 164 Sport Sedan was offered in the United States to great anticipation, but support and service issues doomed the new model as well as Alfa's toehold on the U.S. market.
Alfa Romeos became increasingly limited in the States to vintage enthusiasts, while an exciting stream of new models could only be enjoyed in Europe.
The return of Alfa Romeo to the U.S. market has been promised many times, most recently as part of the working agreement between Chrysler and Fiat.
In the meantime, the Alfa Romeo brand struggles to maintain its identity in the most competitive automotive market in history. Fiat chief executive Sergio Marchionne said in January 2010, “We need to sell cars, not talk about history.”
Read more: http://www.autoweek.com/article/20101221/CARNEWS/101229978#ixzz18lblDEh1
Automobile Factory, Public Company). A.L.F.A. was bought by Neapolitan engineer and businessman Nicola Romeo in 1915, and the Alfa Romeo moniker was born.
The company truly found its legs in the 1920s and '30s, as the age of the automobile grew rapidly around the world. The 8C 2300 from the early '30s took the world by storm with its supercharged eight-cylinder inline engine, and 8Cs remain a favorite at summer concours.
An Alfa won Targa Florio in 1923, helping to launch the long racing lineage of Italian cars. The brand counts 10 victories at Targa--second only to Porsche--and Alfa won the Mille Miglia a record 11 times. Overshadowed by the unparalleled racing history of a company it helped begat--Ferrari--Alfa does, in fact, count two world championships in Grand Prix racing. Despite withdrawing from Formula One in the 1950s, its two titles equal Renault and Mercedes. Antonio Ascari, the father of Ferrari champion Alberto Ascari, and Enzo Ferrari drove for Alfa.
Twice the company mobilized to support Italian efforts in world wars and its factories were converted for wartime production. Alfa plants were bombed during World War II.
| The Alfa Romeo Spider appealed to open-air thrill-seekers. |
As Italy rebuilt, the company emerged for a golden age in the 1950s and '60s with the Guiletta and then the Giulia. The marque was cemented in pop culture when Dustin Hoffman famously drove a spider in the 1967 classic The Graduate. Over the years, Alfa also collaborated extensively with Milanese body maker Zagato and design house Pininfarina, themselves both icons of Italian carmaking.
Despite Hollywood magic, Alfa would ultimately struggle in the United States, and it withdrew in 1995 amid declining sales and reliability questions. The most memorable Alfas endure for their sexy sheetmetal and driving dynamics, though the company was never a threat to Detroit's Big Three.
Fiat bought Alfa in 1986. Its recent history has been decidedly less glamorous, but there have been highlights and signs of life. Car fans did get a (high-priced) taste of Alfa again, when the 8C Competizione made it to U.S. shores in coupe and spider forms. But it was extremely limited; just 50 coupes and 35 open-tops arrived. The MiTo was revealed in 2008, and just this winter, the new Giulietta broke cover at the Geneva motor show, offering fans the tantalizing potential for more.
With this as a foundation, Alfa followers are left to ponder what lies ahead.
| The modern Giulietta was revealed at the Geneva motor show. |
As the Fiat conglomerate now stewards Chrysler, Alfa is poised to return to U.S. shores in the next few years, using the parent company's resources as a touchstone. With its present more secure than ever, perhaps Alfisti can look to the future with a ray--illuminated in red--of hope.
For mo
Read more: http://www.autoweek.com/article/20100624/CARNEWS/100629967#ixzz0rn46hNtm
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Collectible Classic: 1983-1990 Alfa Romeo Spider
From the March, 2011 issue of Automobile Magazine
By Joe Lorio
Alfa Romeo's popular and accessible sports car, the Spider, was sold in the United States from 1966 until 1994, its long run divided into four series. The early cars, with their distinctive boattail styling, were immortalized as Dustin Hoffman's ride in The Graduate. Generally regarded as the most beautiful iteration of Pininfarina's design, these Spiders also are the most basic in spec, the rarest, and the most expensive. After skipping U.S. exports in 1970 (as it had in '68), Alfa brought back the Spider for 1971, beginning the second series, with a chopped tail and fussy Spica fuel injection for its enlarged 2.0-liter four-cylinder; heavy rubber bumpers arrived for 1975. The next iteration, the '83 to '90 Series 3 models, got a controversial black rubber ducktail rear spoiler, better-integrated bumpers, and (in '86) interior revisions. They enjoy more reliable Bosch fuel injection and available air-conditioning (both of which actually came on board in '82). For the final cars, the 1991-'94 models, the styling was smoothed out, power steering and a driver's air bag were added, and an automatic transmission (!) was optional; they're a bit more powerful but also slightly heavier.
Each era has its fans, but the Series 3 cars sit at a happy convergence of availability, affordability, and usability. Production peaked in 1986, and because Spiders were often used as fair-weather cars, there are plenty still around, even in the Snow Belt.
For most of the Series 3 years, Spiders were sold in three trim levels: the basic Graduate (steel wheels, vinyl seats, crank windows), the more deluxe Veloce (leather upholstery, power windows and mirrors, aluminum wheels, air-conditioning), and the flashy Quadrifoglio (two-tone interior with gray leather and red carpets, side skirts, removable hard top). Mechanically, the three versions are identical, with a 2.0-liter four-cylinder rated at 115 hp (120 hp in 1990), a five-speed manual transmission, and four disc brakes.
"This is my favorite Spider," says Enrique Zuniga, owner of the 1984 Spider Veloce you see in these pictures. "It has the right combination of classic cosmetics and modern mechanicals." Zuniga has a pretty sound basis of knowledge, being a director of the Alfa Romeo Owners Club (www.aroc-usa.org) and also having owned Spiders since 1975, when he bought his first one as a college student. Today, among the seven Alfas he owns are three Spiders.
Sliding behind the wheel, we find that the driving position has the pedals close and the steering wheel -- a beautiful wooden wheel in '83-'85 cars -- far away, but it is less extreme than expected. The other immediately apparent oddity is the location of the stick shift, which pokes out from the lower center dash, but it, too, is not really awkward to use, as it's within easy reach and possesses beautifully positive shift action. A charming aspect of the pre-'86 cars are the twin, deeply hooded speedometer and tachometer gauges. This '84 car has the more basic seats with leather upholstery; '86 and later versions got more contoured buckets. Leather was reserved for the Veloce and Quadrifoglio models; the Graduate got less fancy but more durable vinyl. At six feet, I had plenty of room, and there's a modest cargo shelf behind the reclining buckets.
The Spider's DOHC four-cylinder engine makes 115 hp in stock trim, and it's generally criticized for being slow off the line, but it wakes up once you get moving. The Alfa engine is happiest in the upper rev ranges, generally from 3000 rpm to the redline at 5800. Zuniga's car, however, has been updated with period Alfa performance parts, which give it a loping idle but really enhance takeoff. This Spider has no problem keeping up with the aggressive action on New Jersey freeways. You'll hear the engine working, though. As Zuniga puts it, "When I got my first Spider, my friends could hear me coming from down the block."
Hearing the engine sing is a part of the unfiltered experience of driving a Spider. So, too, is the unassisted steering, which provides great feel and reasonable efforts even at parking speeds. The disc brakes have plenty of bite, and the suspension is lively yet doesn't crash over bumps. This is one fun-to-drive roadster that doesn't feel out of its element in modern traffic.
Also contributing to the Spider's livability are its large trunk and a dead-easy convertible top that can be raised or lowered with one hand. Parts aren't hard to find, but it can help to have an Alfa specialist nearby -- someplace like Col-Gen Motors in Newark, New Jersey, where we collected Zuniga's Spider. Run by first-generation Italian Americans Mike and Tom deGennaro, the shop's Alfa roots go back to Tom and Mike's father, co-founder Angelo deGennaro, who worked with Alfa Romeo USA in New Jersey and before that with Alfa in Italy. It's the kind of place where you're offered an Italian pastry (from their sister's restaurant) while you're waiting, and customers are greeted in a mix of Italian and English.
The Italian connection is undeniably part of the Alfa charm, but these cars appeal to more than just Italian Americans. The Spider was one of the few sports car bright spots in the 1980s, so it left an imprint for many who grew up then. It's also just a fun, affordable, relatively modern roadster. And it's not so valuable that owners are dissuaded from upgrading or personalizing as they see fit. For someone who doesn't demand maintenance-free Japanese reliability, the Spider is a more characterful, collectible alternative to a used Mazda Miata.
THE SPECS
ENGINE: 2.0L DOHC I-4, 115-120 HP, 117-119 LB-FT
TRANSMISSION: 5-SPEED MANUAL
DRIVE: Rear-wheel
SUSPENSION, FRONT: CONTROL ARMS, COIL SPRINGS
SUSPENSION, REAR: LIVE AXLE, COIL SPRINGS
BRAKES: DISCS
WEIGHT: 2550 LB
THE INFO
YEARS PRODUCED
1983-1990
NUMBER PRODUCED
44,242
ORIGINAL PRICE
$13,495 (1985 Graduate); $23,950 (1990 Quadrifoglio)
VALUE TODAY
$6000-$14,000
WHY BUY?
An Alfa Spider represents a very affordable way to get the classic roadster experience. The Series 3 cars are the least expensive of the Spider iterations, and they're never going to be any cheaper. With an excellent, easy-to-use top; a roomy trunk; effective air-conditioning (if equipped); and a comfortable cabin (assuming you can deal with the long-arms/short-legs driving position), the Spider is a truly usable vintage roadster. The vocal engine, direct gearshift, and vivid steering provide a driving experience unlike a modern car. Steer clear of neglected examples, which can be hideously expensive to revive, and watch out for rust in the rocker panels, as well as weak second-gear synchros. From the March, 2011 issue of Automobile Magazine
By Joe Lorio
I just thought I would share pictures of the new interior in our '87 Spider Veloce. There were too many different shades of tan and I also wanted a tan top boot to match. So, a business I have used a number of times on Porsches and the Alfa did seats, door panels, carpet and boot. I also added the wood shift knob with the logo. It is all custom and not intended to be OEM. I think it came out ok and if the weather isn't too bad Saturday, we will bring it to the meeting. Happy New Year! Steve Sanford
TZ3 Corsa Marks Alfa Romeo’s Centennial
Zagato-built special that recalls famed TZ race cars unveiled at top European vintage-car festival.
The Alfa Romeo TZ3 Corsa was designed and built by Zagato as a modern version of the famous TZ race cars that are now valued collector cars.(Photo: Wouter Melissen)
Alfa Romeo and coach-builder Zagato have collaborated many times in the past. More often than not, the result was a high performance machine that worked as well on the road as on the track.
In that light, it is only fitting that Zagato should build a special competition car around Alfa Romeo mechanicals to celebrate the manufacturer's 100th anniversary in 2010.
The car was actually commissioned by a German enthusiast who already owns a very impressive collection of Zagato-bodied Alfa Romeos. The inspiration for the new project came from the Alfa Romeo TZ and TZ2 in the collection. These early 1960s competition cars feature a purpose-built tubular space-frame chassis and a Zagato-designed and built body, and the TZ name is short for Tubulare Zagato.
technology, it instead uses a carbon-fiber monocoque, although there are enough tubular elements in the chassis to justify the name. Like many modern racing cars, the TZ3 is fitted with independent suspension and push-rod actuated shock absorbers all around.
The engine used for the TZ3 Corsa is an earlier version of the quad-cam V8 found in Alfa Romeo's 8C Competizione. Originally used in the Maserati GT and Spyder models, the engine displaces just over 4.2 liters. In its current trim, the all-alloy V8 is good for a hefty 420 horsepower, transferred to the rear wheels through a sequential six-speed gearbox. Pirelli has provided custom slick tires to fit the 18-inch wheels.
The lightweight mechanical package is clothed in a carefully crafted aluminum body. The design has clearly been inspired by the earlier TZ with its low profile, long nose and cut-off tail. The paint used for the car is identical to the red found on the original. Also typically TZ is the blacked-out tail section.
To honor Alfa Romeo, the car is emblazoned with big stickers of the company's badge on its nose and sides, as well as Autodelta badges on the A-panels.
Zagato's Alfa Romeos were always very light and at 1,870 pounds, the TZ3 Corsa is no exception. It is built as a racing car and equipped with only the bare necessities. The owner has no intention to enter the car in top-level racing and instead plans to use his new Zagato Alfa Romeo mostly for track-day purposes. For now, the car remains a one-off, although interested parties could always approach Zagato if they want their own TZ3.
The Alfa Romeo TZ3 Corsa was officially unveiled at the recent 2010 Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este. A day later, during the Concorso d'Eleganza at the nearby Villa Erba, it received the Design Award for the best concept car or prototype picked by public referendum.
For a 12-photo gallery, see Alfa Romeo TZ3.
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Marelli, Brembo are among key Italian suppliers to the Alfa Romeo MiTo
Recent stories on this subject
Italian suppliers contribute substantial content to the Alfa Romeo's entry-level car, the MiTo hatchback, which was launched at the British auto show in 2008.
Magneti Marelli provides the telematics system, the exhaust system and the rear lamps and fog lamps while MTA, an electronics components specialist, supplies the power distribution box, radiator cap and battery terminals.
Brembo S.p.A. supplies brake components while trim specialists Saturno contributes the sun visors.
Fiat Powertrain Technologies (FPT) builds the MiTo's engines. Two gasoline and one diesel engine were available from launch, each mated to a six-speed manual transmission.
The diesel lowers particulate emissions by 80 percent and CO2 emissions by 20 percent compared with FPT's previous-generation powerplants. The turbocharged gasoline engine reduces fuel consumption by 30 percent compared with the previous-generation design.
The MiTo's 1.4-liter non-turbocharged gasoline engine was designed to meet new Italian laws, which limit the weight-to-power ratio of vehicles for drivers who have just passed their driving tests.
Important non-Italian MiTo suppliers include TRW Automotive, which delivers the electric powered steering (EPS) mechanical gear. This fully electric system eliminates the need for hydraulic fluid, along with the associated hardware demands and problems of leakage. It is estimated that EPS saves automakers about 190,000 liters of hydraulic fluid for every 100,000 vehicles produced. It also helps reduce fuel consumption.
BATZ Automotive Systems supplies the pedal box. By replacing steel with plastic parts, the Spanish supplier has achieved a weight reduction of 1.25kg per vehicle. In addition, the "snap-fit" union design has removed the need for screwing and welding, making the assembly process easier.
Alfa Romeo builds the MiTo in Turin. The car's name, MiTo, is a composite of Milan - where the car was designed - and Torino (Turin).
Speaking in June 2008, the then-Alfa Romeo CEO Luca De Meo said MiTo production was targeted at between 70,000 and 80,000 units per year but later the company announced reduced production in the wake of the economic downturn.
MiTo prices start at 10,745 pounds (12,147 euros) in the UK.
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