He submitted this work on Alfa Romeo to make it available on the KTUD Web.
FOREWORD
Many years ago, Alfa Romeo Incorporated circulated a pamphlet of its
history. That work satisfied a need which has not really been filled
thereafter. About three years ago, the Directors of the Alfa Romeo
Owners Club expressed interest in publishing a brief history of the
marque. I began stringing together an historical overview in Note Brevi,
my monthly column in the club magazine. That series is the basis of this
work, published independently of both the club and Alfa Romeo.
Given the volume of excellent Alfa histories, the desire for another seems
curious. The reason for the club's need is tied to the flow of casual Alfa
owners through the club. New owners are interested in the marque
history, yet are unwilling to invest in one of the standard works on Alfa.
And many of those owners sell their Alfas before ever learning much
about the marque.
This booklet, then, is not for the budding Alfa scholar, but rather the
owner or intender who just wants to learn a bit about the history of Alfa
Romeo.
Copies may be purchased for $12.50 from Pat Braden at:
449 West Madison Avenue
Placentia, CA 92670
Copyright 1993 by Pat Braden.
The use of copyrighted names, including Alfa and Alfa Romeo, is for
information only and is not intended to suggest endorsement by or for a
product or service.
Chapter 1
The Beginnings
We are taught not to stereotype individuals, peoples or nations, yet I
have a very hard time not stereotyping the Italians. I lived in Naples
(Northern Italians will quickly point out that I really don't know
Italians) and left quite a large part of my heart there. The reason I
mention this is that the history of Alfa Romeo could only -- I am
convinced -- have happened in Italy. If I may play Jacques Barzun for
an introductory paragraph, I'd like to defend the premise.
Consider the irrepressible effervescence of the Italian: the force which
makes him break out in song while dining in a trattoria. I know of no
parallel in the American psyche, but I do find the same wonderful
exuberance in an Alfa. There is also a delicious genius for art, whether
graphic, musical or automotive: I have observed that, whenever he erupts
creatively, an Italian is quite likely to work a masterpiece. I also note a
tragic side to the Italian, reflected in countless feckless escapades: given
the choice, he is quite likely to choose wrong. All these elements,
exuberance, creativity and tragic idiocy, I find also in Alfa history. Alfa
is an Italian phenomenon.
So far as the automobile is concerned, Italy was a late starter. The idea
of a self-propelled vehicle dates back to Cugnot's carriage of 1769,
while Otto's four-stroke concept dates from 1876. The first internal
combustion engine issued from Karl Benz in 1885. The 1889 Benz
engine still used hot-tube ignition and an automatic inlet valve. An
adequate clutch or transmission was still several years away. In 1891, a
Peugeot made the first long-distance journey by an internal-combustion
vehicle from Beaulieu-Valentigney to Brest and return. By 1899, several
false starts, such as the surface carburetor, had given way to what is
essentially the modern engine, with a float-controlled fixed-jet carburetor
and mechanically-operated exhaust valve worked by a half-speed
camshaft driven by the crankshaft. Peugeot introduced electric ignition
in 1899 and in the same year, Renault introduced a shaft drive to a
rear-axle differential, eliminating the problems with belt or chain rear
drives.
Germans and French, but not an Italian in the bunch. Why did Italy enter
automotive production so late in the game? One reason is that the
country was occupied with political matters. Italy was trying furiously to
establish itself as a colonial power when the century changed. There was
plenty of internal strife: the first Emmanuel's successor was
assassinated in 1900 (Italophiles will tell you that Italy is still not
unified). There was also international strife: Italy suffered a stinging
defeat during its 1896 attempt to defeat Ethiopia. In 1911 Italy declared
war on Turkey, gaining Tripoli with the win. Italy's turmoil was great
enough to cause a large outflow of emigrants. It is fair to see Italy as
being basically disorganized during the whole era: one of the reasons
Italians were grateful to Mussolini was that he finally brought some
semblance of order to the country.
Indeed, at the turn of the century, Italy was so unable to develop its own
industry that it became a happy hunting ground for foreign firms. Italy
entered the modern industrial era both by copying designs and buying out
foreign firms, and that is precisely how the Italian automobile industry
got its start. Much of the Italian auto industry owes its start to deDion
Bouton, which was founded in 1883 and produced a famous 2000 rpm
engine in 1895. In 1899, Edoardo Bianchi founded a company to produce
cars powered by the DeDion single-cylinder engine. Bianchi's engineer
was Giuseppe Merosi. In the same year, Cesare Isotta and Vincenzo
Fraschini formed a partnership to import Renault and Mors cars. The first
Isotta-Fraschinis were thinly-disguised Renaults. F.I.A.T. (Fabbrica
Itailana Automobili Torino) was formed in a 1903 takeover of Ceirano,
which had been founded in 1901 to make cars under Renault license
using a deDion engine. (Ceirano assets included a race driver named
Vincenzo Lancia.) In a similar 1910 move, a group of Milanese
businessmen took over a factory set up to produce Darracq 4-cylinder
taxicabs. This group was called Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica
Automobili, or A.L.F.A.
A.L.F.A. hired Merosi from Bianchi, which was very much at the front
of automotive technology, and Merosi brought that attitude to A.L.F.A.
Even the first A.L.F.A., produced in 1910, featured
mechanically-operated intake valves, magneto ignition and an updraft
carburetor. Merosi's first cars for A.L.F.A. were powered by monobloc
engines (the iron head is cast integrally with the block) with an
aluminum crankcase and three main bearings. The crank was not
counterbalanced but the poured metal bearings were force-lubricated and
an oil line ran up the rod to provide lubricant to the wrist pins. Priming
cups helped get the cold engine started. A dry, multiple-disc clutch
transmitted power to a 4-speed sliding-gear transmission.
Alfa produced essentially three displacements of four-cylinder engines
before the Great War. The 24-hp model, of 4084 cc, was produced
between 1910 and 1920, and exceedingly long production period
considering the rate at which technology was advancing. This was a
relatively high-speed engine, giving between 42 and 49 hp at rev ranges
from 2200 to 2400 rpm over its life. The compression ratio was 4.15:1,
a reflection of the poor state of fuel technology. A smaller engine,
produced over the same time span, was called variously the 12, 15 and
15-20 hp. It displaced 2413 cc and gave 22-28 hp at speeds up to 2400
rpm. A sport model, the 40-60, was produced from 1913 to 1922. It
displaced just over 6 liters and offered speeds approaching 100 mph in
racing trim.
On all these Alfas, behind the transmission, there was a large flexible
cardan joint which connected to the driveshaft. The shaft was enclosed
in a tube which was rigidly bolted at its rear to the solid rear axle. At the
front, the tube connected to a yoke which embraced the cardan joint. This
yoke was actually the point at which forward motion from the wheels
was transmitted to the chassis. The torque tube surrounding the driveshaft
located the rear axle so the rear springs could be shackled at both ends.
Internal expanding rear brakes were used and grease cups provided
lubrication to critical joints.
The suspension technology of these early cars was very much derived
from the horse cart. The shock absorbers were alternating discs of steel
and hardwood clamped together to limit bounce, and ride smoothness
depended on the chassis flexing. The engine was bolted firmly to the
chassis to stiffen it. It was not until the introduction of independent front
suspensions that this scheme changed.
It's interesting to compare A.L.F.A.'s technology with its
contemporaries. By 1910, F.I.A.T. (under owners Agnelli and Biscaretti)
was already diversified with interests in ball bearings, shipbuilding and
marine engines. Its vehicles were conservatively engineered for the time,
but the S61 Fiat of 1911 used four valves per cylinder with a single
overhead camshaft. The multiple valves improved engine breathing and
the overhead camshaft eased valve maintenance (it did not appreciably
raise engine speed, which was a leisurely 1650 rpm). Fiat practice was
a curious combination of old and new, since most of their cars still used
chain rear drive. The advantage of chain drive is the same as the deDion
rear suspension of modern Alfettas: unsprung weight is low and there is
no torque reaction by the differential under acceleration. In comparison
to the Fiat and Itala sporting cars, the Alfas carried relatively small
engines: the S61 fiat displaced 10 liters and the 1908 Itala 12 liters.
chapter 2
KTUD Alfa Romeo main page!
KTUD complete index
Copyright March, 1996
This document or its parts can not be reproduced, quoted in any means. You can create a link freely, but please let me know about it.