Re: V6 Production Numbers? redux

[JHertzman@domain.elided]

David Johnson is of course absolutely correct that my calling the Giulietta 
Nuova engines "sixes" was dead wrong- not a typo, more like a total 
disconnect. Yes, they are all fours. After I posted that post I found some 
other numbers that didn't add up, started a mea culpa correction, and decided 
it would be more reasonable to just go and soak my head.

David writes "I was also surprised to find that the Giulietta Nuova was so 
similar to the 75. I am assuming then that it was a transaxle car?" Indeed it 
was. The similarities in structure are fairly obvious in looking at photos of 
the engine bays. In some correspondence with Matthew Killick on the lineage 
of the several Alfetta variants Mat wrote "The Alfa 75/Milano was developed 
from the Giulietta.  When I parked my Giulietta alongside a 75, it was 
obvious that the doors were identical. Implicit from this is that the shell 
and substructure are also the same, they being jointly the most expensive and 
problematic structure to develop." I have not had the opportunity to park 
them side by side, but the photos bear him out.

It is hard to second-guess Alfa management with any certainty, but the 
company had put a great deal into developing the Alfetta platform and seems 
to have tried to use its investment in engineering and tooling both upscale 
and downscale with cosmetic differences and feature differences. The Alfetta 
Berlina, Giulietta Nuova, 90, and 75 all had 2510 mm wheelbases, and 
negligible differences in tracks; all of the fronts within 1360/1370 mm and 
all of the rears within 1350/1360 mm, the small differences presumably 
accounted for by tire sections and rim widths. The production periods also 
overlapped substantially;
Alfetta 1972-1985
Giulietta 1977-1985
Alfa 90 1984-1987
Alfa 75 1985-1992

The Giulietta Nuova was initially equipped with 165-13 tires and wheels, came 
initially with a choice of smaller engines and weighed less than any of the 
other Alfetta variants; I assumed that it was intended to be the economy 
model, but I understand that the specifications were quickly goosed upwards 
to the point of it becoming simply an Alfetta with different styling. The 
production numbers for the Giulietta were 50,890 for the 1.3, 187,064 for the 
1.6, 87,468 for the 1.8, and 5,240 for the 2.0 while the Alfetta 2000 had 
reached 178,828 units against 85,512 for the 1.6.

As far as bore, stroke, and displacement are concerned all of the two-liters 
were the 84 x 88.5 mm, 1962 cc category which extended from the 105 2000 
through the 164 Twin Spark; all of the 1.8 engines were the 80 x 88.5 mm, 
1779 cc units which were called 1750s in their 105/115 appearances and 
extended through the 75 Turbos; and all of the 1.6 engines were the 78 x 82 
mm, 1570 cc size which appeared originally in the Giulias. The 1.3 Giulietta 
Nuova however had a 80 x 67.5 mm, 1357 cc oversquare proportion very close to 
the 80mm bore and 66.2mm stroke used for the two liter version of the V6 
eight years later, quite different from the 74 x 75 mm, 1290 cc proportions 
of all the previous 1300s with the exception of the GTA 1300 Junior which had 
78 x 67.5 mm, 1290 cc proportions. 

David mentions "I don't believe the 1.3 was available in the UK, and this may 
be a continuation of Alfa's history of selling small-engined economy models 
in less well-developed countries.  They certainly sold a 1.0 or 1.1 Alfasud 
in Greece, for example, while the smallest UK 'Sud engine was 1.2 litres." 
The 1.0 or 1.1 Alfasud does not show up in either Fusi or d'Amico-Tabucchi; 
they both give 80 x 59 mm, 1186 cc as the initial proportion and go up from 
there, with no mention I could find of any smaller variant.

I apologize for the mistakes, taking small comfort from those in Fusi and 
d'Amico-Tabucchi. Just hope my tax return isn't audited-

John

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