[alfa] Supercharged Alfas

["Bob McKeown" <mcneon@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Michael Smith remarked thus about one engine note from the DVD:

"Particularly brutal is the sharp snapping sound of the Alfetta 158 (or is
it a 159?) with that two stage supercharged dope fuelled 1.5 8C engine."

Michael, I believe it's the 159. I had heard that unique sound before in the
1985 "Alfa at Monterey" video. In that clip, Fangio blips the throttle in
his championship-winning car to keep from fouling the plugs, then applies
several bursts of near-full throttle on track. It's absolutely intoxicating,
and the sound on that video is nowhere near DVD quality. I've seen the Alfa
VBD episode on Speed and look forward to seeing - and hearing - it in all
its glory on the DVD.

I had one live encounter with a supercharged Alfa. At the 1993 Baltimore
convention a fellow pulled up in front of the hotel with his '30s
supercharged Alfa on an open trailer. He fired it up to unload, and damn -
what a sound! "Brutal" is the perfect description.

Does anyone know what it is about these supercharged cars that makes the
sound so fierce?

Bob McKeown
Nashville
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