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The first car desgned by the new Alfa Romeo was
the G1 in 1920, a large touring car. With some engine
modifications this became the G2 in 1921. In 1922 the RL series
cars, with 3000 six cylinder push-rod OHV engines, were
introduced, including the RLN (21/70hp) 'Normale', the RLT
(22/70hp) 'Turismo', RLS and RLSS (22/90hp).They were followed the
following year by the RM series models, a smaller version with
2000 four cylinder engines and RM, RMS 'Sport' and RMU 'Unificato'
versions (15/50hp an 15/55hp). In all the above cars, the first
number is the approximate horsepower, the second the approximate
top speed. These cars were the last designed by Merosi.
The first car
1920 saw production of the very first car with the Alfa Romeo
logo: the Torpedo 20-30 HP.
In 1923 Jano began working for Alfa Romeo, and
his first design was the successful formula 1 car, the P2.
Production cars soon followed, in 1927 began the production of the
6C 1500, designating a six cylinder 1500cc engine. Originally this
was a sohc producing 44bhp, but dohc versions soon took over.
These were both normally aspirated and supercharged, producing
around 54 and 76 bhp respectively. In 1929 bigger 1750 versions
were introduced, both in sohc (45bhp) and dohc (55bhp) form. Again
a supercharged version was also available, producing 85bhp.
In 1931 Alfa Romeo released the new 2.3 litre
supercharged straight eight engined 8C 2300. Three series were
produced from 1931 to 1934. The racing cars of this type were
known as Monza's after their first successes there. In 1934 the 6C
2300 was introduced. This was an all new design, unlike all Jano's
previous designs which were traceable back to the P2. Also in the
later 1930's were built the 8C 2900s, using detuned 2900 Monoposto
engines. These were some of the fastest production cars in their
day. Jano was replaced at
Alfa Romeo by Trevisan who developed the 6C 2300 into the 6C 2500.
This latter continued in production (in ever smaller volumes)
throughout the war, and afterwards. Production continued until in
1950 the new 1900 saloon was introduced. This car, designed by
Satta, was the first 'assembly-line' Alfa Romeo and was powered by
a four cylinder dohc 1900 engine with 80bhp or 93bhp with a
double-choke carburettor. Various other 1900s were produced,
including the 1900C Sprint, Berlina and 1900C Super Sprint. A
jeep-like vehicle, the 1900M, was also produced, mainly for the
military.
In 1954 appeared the first
Giulietta, again designed by Satta. First available was the
Giulietta Sprint with a 1290cc dohc engine, the Berlina (four door
saloon) and Spider (cabriolet) appearing in the following year.
The 1900 continued to be produced, and was revised to become the
2000 with a bored out engine and an extra 10bhp. The 2000 was
available as a Berlina and a Spider. The 2600 was introduced in
1962 in Berlina, Spider and Sprint variants as the 'large' Alfa
Romeo, and was actually the first production Alfa to use brake
discs.
1963 saw the replacement of the
Giulietta by the Giulia which used a 1570cc engine (larger version
of the 1290cc Giulietta engine). Numerous variants of this were
produced, some of the more famous being the Spider Duetto, the
Giulia GTV, the GTA race car, the GT Junior and the Giulia Super.
The 1750 Saloon, GTV and
Spider, in production from 1967, used a yet further enlargened
engine and a stretched chassis and replaced the 2600. The Montreal
World Exhibition in1967 also brought forth a new Alfa Romeo, the
Montreal. This was a 2+2 car and used a 2600 V8 engine.
1969 saw the introduction of
the Giulia 1600S saloon and the GT 1300 Junior Zagato and the
following year most of the Alfa range was revised. The 1750 was
replaced in 1971 by the 2000 (still directly derived from the
1290cc Giulietta engine!), available as a saloon, GTV and Spider
Veloce.
1972 was a year of
revolutionary change for Alfa Romeo with the introduction of the
Alfasud, the first front-wheel drive Alfa, designed by Rodolfo
Hruska and using a 1200 four cylinder horizontally opposed engine.
In the same year the Alfetta was introduced, the most significant
technical change being the move to a de Dion rear suspension and
rear mounted transaxle containing clutch, gearbox and
differential. This was joined in 1974 by the Alfetta GT, a coupe
design by Giugiaro.
In 1976 the first diesel
powered Alfa was introduced, the Giulia diesel. The Giulietta name
was revived in 1977 for an Alfetta based car with 1300 and 1600
engines. The Alfetta continued with the 2000. A new
top-of-the-range Alfa was introduced in 1979 in the shape of the
Alfa 6. This used an all new 2492cc V6 engine producing 160bhp and
a similar suspension layout to the Alfetta. A coupe version, the
GTV6 was also introduced.
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