The 1973 Alfa Romeo Giulia Super 1.6 Tipo 105 is here as a representative of our family car class, but it could so easily have joined as a sports car, even in four-door Berlina guise. Much of the magical driving experience you can enjoy in the sportier members of the Alfa 105 family – the Giulia GT coupe and Duetto/Spider – applies in equal measure to the saloon.
So many pre-war Italian cars might have made it on to our Top 12 list: the Lancia Lambda for its pioneering unitary construction; the Fiat Topolino for how it democratised transport; or the Lancia Aprilia for its advanced engineering. Instead, it’s one of the greatest sports cars of all time that has exerted an irresistible pull on us: the Alfa Romeo 6C 1750. Those ‘6C’ alpha-numerals simply signify six cylinders, but in Alfa lore that represents something very special. While there had been Alfa straight-six engines before (the G1 of 1921 and the Merosi-designed RL of 1923), it was engineer Vittorio Jano, who joined Alfa Romeo in September 1923, who catapulted the format to the height of success with his 1.5-litre ‘six’. The new powerplant entered production as the 6C 1500 in 1927.
From the ashes of war arose a unique Alfa Romeo V12 engine. Its survival in an equally mysterious body is a saga unknown until now, as Karl Ludvigsen reveals Photography Spalluto Press.
What would a 1980s sports car have been like with radical carbonfibre construction, Alfa Romeo turbo power and racing push-rod suspension? We drive the one and only Michelotti Puraprototype to find out.
Alfa 12C a wartime mystery. After 80 years, a unique 1941 Alfa Romeo V12 racing prototype has emerged from oblivion. Born in the midst of the war, the story of the long-lost 12C Prototipo can now – finally – be told.
South African Alfasuds — GTA and Giardinetta rarities driven. The Alfasud was famously named after its southern Italian factory. But an even more southerly Alfa outpost in South Africa made some real oddities – like this ultra-rare GTA and Giardinetta pairing
M3 v GIULIA v 911 BMW’s new M3 Competition takes on both the current saloon car king, Alfa’s Giulia Quadrifoglio, and the sports coupe alternative, Porsche’s 992 Carrera. Adam Towler referees
With 404hp of power going through the front wheels, this AlfaWorks MiTo is a ferocious newcomer in Alfa Romeo racing. We meet its creator and try to tame it on track
