[alfa] RE: TZ1

["John Fielding" <johnf@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi All,

At this time of year I get a chance to catch up on some reading.  Recently a
member of the local public library donated a pile of 1900s car magazine to the
sales table.  Needless to say I am a soft touch for such things and I came
away a few $s lighter but with my boot full of intersting reading.

One of the magazines is a Thoroughbred & Classic Cars edition of August 1993
which coves a head to head between the Alfa Romeo TZ1 and the Porsche 550RS.
What the writier had to say was interesting.  He wroteth as follows:

"The Porsche 550RS is a 1954 version the TZ1 ten years later.  To drive these
two former winners now is a rare opportunity made possible due their imminent
appearance in Coy's July 14 auction at the Silverstone Historic race meeting.

The Alfa is all noise and bravado; the Porsche exudes Teutonic function and
reliability.  This feeling is enhanced by their recent histories.  The Alfa
had received a cosmetic restoration in its home country; its aluminium Zagato
panelwork gleams red and ripple free.  Its classic 1570cc Alfa twin-cam engine
spits and roars through its two twin-choke Webers.

You quickly realise the Alfa is extemely noisy - it would be really tiring on
a long rally - the scarcely padded aluminium shell echoing the roar of the
engine and unsilenced Webers.  It's a great roar though!

And Later:

Our Alfa Romeo Giulia Tubolare Zagato is another fine example of its kind.
While competition success was largely racked up by the dumpy Giulietta Sprint
Zagato (SZ), development of its successor was well under way - the first
prototype was built in 1960.  The distraction of mass production of other
models delayed its launch.  Assembly was hived off to the Delta company, owned
by Alfa dealers the Chizzola brothers of Udine and Carlo Chiti; in 1964 Delta
- renamed Autodelta - was all but absorbed by Alfa Romeo for race preparation
work.

The TZ's remarkably light tubular chassis - weighing just 88lbs - was designed
by Giuseppe Busso of Alfa; the beautifiul body with the trefoil-shaped Kamm
tail was developed by Zagato.  With 112HP in standard form from 1570cc, the
car was capable of 134mph, proving the wind-cheating quality of the body.  By
the end of the 1964 season, the factory cars could claim 160HP at 7,500rpm
thanks to the attention of the tuner Conrero.

Suspension used the well-established twin-wishbone and coil-spring front, but
departed from tradition at the rear with Alfa's first independent rear
suspension, using coil springs, lower wishbones and transverse upper radius
arms.  Disc brakes all round and a 5 speed gearbox brought it right up to
date.  Dry weight was 1,455lb.

The TZ was ready for launch in late 1963, and its first full season saw class
wins at Le Mans, Sebring, Tour de France, Tour de Corse, Targa Florio and
Nurburgring -  as well as an outright win in the Alpine Rally, thios last by
Frenchmen Jean Rolland and Gabriel Augias in this very car.

Rolland had been successful in the SZs (winning the Alpine Rally in one in
1963) and was a superlative road-racer; his achievement in winning the Alpine
Rally was quite exceptional, as the much of it was over loose-surface mountain
passes that must have put incredible strain on a car principally designed for
circuit racing".

So it seems the TZ1, as it is called in the magazine article, was a very
competitive tarmac and gravel stage rally car, also being adaptable to circuit
racing. The pictures of the engine (in full colour) seem to be a standard
twin-cam, the only difference I can see is the type of bolts holding the
normal cam cover down seem to be large Allen bolts.  The Webers have no intake
trumpets or air filters, must have been a problem on gravel stages?

John
Durban
South Africa
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