automatics on the Alfa 6 and perhaps others?

[JHertzman@xxxxxxx]

Joe Cabibbo's note in 223 that Tom Zat's twin-turbo Alfa 6 is an automatic is
interesting, but no Zat car is necessarily stock. Looking for dates to relate
to those of the automatic Alfettas I went back to d'Amico-Tabucchi, where I
had previously checked the text for reference to an automatic (as I did with
the 75) without finding it in either place. I then happened to skim the fine
print in the specifications table for the 6, and there was "a richiesta cambio
automatico ZF a 3 velocita", which says it indeed was an option, as Keith
Walker had said in 220. But then I looked at the previous line describing the
standard transmission: "5 marce + rm, separato dal motore, in blocco con
differenziale (autobloccante al 25%) e collegato al scocca." So d'A-T is dead
wrong on the standard transmission, as the Alfa 6 was the only 116 car which
had the transmission on the motor.

That sent me doublechecking the specifications tables for the other 116s. All
the tables have the five speed in the rear, none mention an automatic option,
and the Alfetta 2000 is the only one with an in-text mention of an automatic
although the Milano certainly has one also.

Which diminishes the reliability of d'Amico-Tabucchi on that question, in my
eyes, and adds to the general question of its reliability as an authority on
any and all questions. Useful but not infallible. 

Zat's Alfa 6 is one of the three which Don Black tested for emissions
approval, which is how it came to be here; now that Don has emerged from the
back alleys he can, if he wishes, settle the Alfa 6 automatic question. He may
also know if there was an automatic 90, or for that matter an automatic
Giulietta Nuova.

One other question which is hidden in the murk of time is why the Alfa 6 had a
front transmission. If there was reason to believe that the complaints about
the shifting of the rear box could eventually be resolved they could have been
tackled then, giving the big sedan all the weight-distribution advantages of
the smaller ones. Or, this could have been a first step in a retrenchment
being considered which would have put the gearbox back in the front on the
GTV-6 or its successor. There has to be an interesting story somewhere back
there-

John H.

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