T.I., T.I. Super, and Super

[JHertzman@xxxxxxx]

In AD7-276 Don Suiter asks about an Alfa Romeo TI Super at an auction,
wondered if it is the same one which was in Denver for a couple years,
mentions that both were white, and asks for "anything related to this model of
Super.

The first thing to know is that these are all permutations of the boxy four-
door sedan which established Alfa as a prime contender in the ugly-is-chic
sweepstakes. 575,000 cars were built with this body, 71,000 of them Giulia
T.I.s, 504 of them Giulia T. I. Supers, and 124,000 of them Giulia Supers. The
remaining model terms were fairly simple; they split into 1300 and 1600
subsystems along with "T.I.", "Super" or "S" qualifiers. 

As for both of the ones he had met being white, all T.I.Supers were,
originally- Biancospino, Hawthorn White, just slightly warmer than the
Porcelain white, china white, biancco P.F. used on Spiders generally.

The cars were basic homologation specials, weighing 910 kg as opposed to 1000
kg for the basic Giulia T.I. and 1020 kg for the Sprint GT Veloce. Similarly
with the engine; The Duetto Veloce and GT Veloce had 109 CV, the Giulia Sprint
Specials had 112 CV and the T.I had 115, the same as the "street" version of
the GTA which had an identical listed top speed, 185 km/h. Odd numbers, if
d'A-T is correct the only difference between the T.I. and "customer" GTA
engines is the number of spark plugs.

As with the GTA, the number required built for homologation purposes was far
greater than the number needed for factory-supported racing needs. The
popularity of the T.I. Super is said to have led directly to the development
of the Giulia Super which was introduced in the same show season as the GTA,
the 1965 Geneva show for the Super and the 1965 Amsterdam and Geneva shows for
the  GTA. 

Lastly, the serial numbers game. The car is described as a 1964 Alfa Romeo TI
Super, Chassis #AR59133 with Eng. #005100187. The chassis number given would
be preceded by three giving family (105) and two giving the subset (09 in this
case) for a total of 105.09.59133 , and I can't find anything like that in
Fusi or D'Amico- Tabucch. Also did not find any 1600 engine numbers which
cointained the string 510.  Probably simple transcribing errors, slips of the
pen-

John H.

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