[alfa] RE: Alfetta 158/159

["John Fielding" <johnf@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi All,

As the owner of an Alfetta 159, the modern one not the 1939 vintage.

The Alfa Romeo 158 and later 159 race cars were never officially titled Alfetta's, this
was a name given to them by the spectators and the press.  Alfetta meaning literally
"small Alfa" or "baby Alfa" to distinguish them from the earlier bigger  3 litre race
cars.  The Italian spectators (the tifosi) were often making up special names or catch
phrases for its beloved Alfa Romeo team.

The story related by one digestee about how the cars were smuggled out of the factory and
hidden away from the germans is slightly incorrect.  The exodus occurred at night and the
"cheese factory" was a cave high up in the mountains were the local cheese was taken to be
matured after manufacture. The rear portion of the cave was "walled up" with stone to
simulate a natural face to conceal the Alfettas and despite many attempts by the germans
it was never discovered.   Nevertheless, it is is a romantic story and when hostilities
ceased and racing restarted in 1947, the Alfetta's swept all before them as they had prior
to the outbreak of war, winning every race entered.

The Germans had a grudge against the Alfa Romeo team for good reason.  The 1939 Tripoli
GP, the last GP before Italy entered the war, was run to a 1.5 litre formula.  Mercedes
Benz, at great expense, had developed a special 1.5 litre version of its racing car with
the strict purpose of beating the Italians to prove superior engineering.  In the event
the Alfetta's gave the germans a hiding and this did not go down well with the german high
ranking politicians, particularly Adolph Hitler.  Italy and Germany were thrown together
as unlikely allies at the outbreak of war and many people believe the german high ranking
politicians still bore a grudge against the humiliating defeat in the Tripoli GP only a
few months previously. Prior to the outbreak of WWII Germany had a pact with
Russia, when this finally broke down and Russia sided with Britain and the other
European countries, Germany had to find another ally pronto.  Mussolini was not
Hitlers first choice and it came to be a rather shaky alliance.

In the BBC documentary on the Alfa Romeo racing cars, one lady collector/owner of an
original 158 states that they were totally undefeated right up to 1949.  The downfall of
the 158 & 159 was its immense thirst, about 3 miles per gallon.

The 158 designation comes from Alfa's normal nomeclature, meaning a 1500 cc engine with 8
cylinders.  The engines had originally one supercharger, the 159 was a further development
after the war where two superchargers were fitted in series to boost the power.  The
thirst of the 158/9 was enormous.  Its final downfall was that it could not carry enough
fuel  to complete a full race distance, fitting larger tanks made it slow and easy prey
for the normally aspirated 4.5 litre race cars that Enzo Ferrari developed, that could run
a full race distance without refueling.  The new formula allowed either a 1.5 litre engine
supercharged or a 4.5 litre normally aspirated engine.  Ferrari was quick to see the
possibility of making a fuel efficient 4.5 litre engine that could run for longer
distances as it required less fuel.

On the occasion when Enzo Ferrari's cars finally beat the Alfettas, Enzo publicly
announced  with remorse "I have killed my beloved Alfettas" because Ferrari prior to WWII
was in charge of the AR team and was instrumental in their phenominal success, hence he
was well aware of its Achilles Heel.  Many people are of the opinion that Enzo Ferrari's
comment was sarcastic, who knows, it is lost in the mists of history.

John
Durban
South Africa
Alfetta 159i   (1985 vintage)
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