Re: history of the V-6

[JHertzman@domain.elided]

In AD7-641 Danny Pham asks: "Does anyone out there know when the 91' 164L 3.0 
engine was developed? Was it ever used by Alfa to race? I heard it was 
developed in the 60s by Alfa but never put in production until the early 80s 
when it first appeared on the GTV6s. Did it initially have a timing chain and 
that w/Fiat financing, fuel injection and a belt was put on for production?"

The V-6 first appeared with the cogged belt and six single-choke Dellorto 
downdraft carburettors in the Alfa Six sedan in 1979. The books say that the 
design was done before the Alfettas (which were announced in 1971 and first 
delivered on the market in May 1972). The similarities and differences in the 
suspension and drive-train layout support the Six being an earlier design 
than the Alfetta, so "developed in the 60s" is almost certainly correct. Alfa 
had a long history of interest in larger, more prestigious cars but the 
relatively modest sales of the ironblock 2000 and the 2600 against the 
Giuliettas and Giulias was enough reason for the company to use its limited 
resources on the mainstream Giulias and Alfettas and the less expensive fwd 
boxers.

I don't believe it was ever used (or considered) as a competition engine; the 
Montreal engine and the four-cam two-liter V-8 of the 33 Stradale (and a wide 
range of other Autodelta engines) were available in the sixties and the V-6 
had no advantages on them; the two liter Stradale V8 was rated at 230 hp at 
8800 rpm, against the 160 at 5800 of the first production version of the six. 
There was the V-6 mid-engined Alfasud Sprint, presumably a prototype for a 
possible rally car, but the Alfetta rally cars of 1975 had three-liter V-8s.

I doubt that Fiat financing had anything to do with either the belt or the 
Bosch injection.

John H.
Raleigh, N.C.

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