Re: the unTransaxle DeDion Alfas

["John Hertzman" <johnhertzman@domain.elided>]

Andy Kress, citing both Tipler and d'Amico & Tabucchi, raises the question
whether the Alfa 6 had an engine-mounted gearbox (as he thought) or a
116-style transaxle (as both sources said, while showing contradictory
illustrations). I was about to say he had misread d'A.& T. but he hadn't, they
do indeed say that the cambio di velocita is "separato dal motore, in blocco
con il differenziale - -" but this is one more instance (of many) where they
are wrong, undoubtedly due to a production schedule for the book which did not
permit the careful scholarship of which they are both undoubtedly capable.
They don't include it in the Errata Corrige section either. Can't say about
Tipler, bought one of his books once and have never looked at another. I have
not been under an Alfa 6 but I do have an Alfa 6 differential with the long,
gearless nosepiece out in the garage and also have the shop manual for the
(front) ZF transmission, which is similar to the one used in the Montreal,
with probably different ratios.

The Alfa 6 flywheel, clutch, and gearbox (and sump) were the key to Hans
Milo's very neat 1973 GT Veloce V6 conversion which was seen at the Tennessee
convention; a complete car is (or was) in the Tom Zat collection, one of three
which were brought here for EPA/DOT certification, which it received; a second
was stolen in New York while being used as a company hack by ARI and has never
been seen since, and a third I understand was eventually crushed by ARDONA.

The DOT/EPA certification would not enable the legal importation of one,
should anyone wish to, as it was a US-spec tipo 11911, of which only the three
were built - or so I have been told.

If anyone is wondering why I have the Alfa 6 final drive in my parts pile, it
is because I once thought a nice project car would be a 105/115 engine and
front gearbox with a DeDion rear suspension and inboard brakes, 1900/2000
front suspension and drum brakes all around, and a backbone chassis- roughly a
technical, but not formal, scaled-down homage to the 6C 3000 CM, and also
conceptually comparable except for the frame layout to the Sportiva, each one
of the most interesting and promising cars from a critical turning-point in
the company's history, but that is another story and it isn't going to
happen.

John H.
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