Vintage Italian Car | Alfa Romeo Alfasud TI | Drive In | 1974
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.ย. 2024
- 'Drive in' Presenter Richard Hudson Evans takes a look at the
'Sporty' Alfa Romeo Alfasud TI
First shown: 05/12/1974
If you would like to license a clip from this video please e mail:
archive@fremantlemedia.com
Quote: VT9868
![[LIVE] : ONE ลุมพินี 78 | คู่เอก "ปกรณ์ vs ฟาบิโอ"](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/LSOmgl0Th2c/mqdefault.jpg)
46 years later it still looks great 👍
The rasp of an Alfasud exhaust! Wonderful!
@MrTrull1 - Yeah, sounds a bit more sexy than the door-closing-sound at 01:03
@MrTrull1 I know some people disagree but i too love that rasp from the old little engines all carbs and points and no electrics and cats.
@mipmipmipmipmip that is the sound of a naturally aspirated engine breathing and sounding tiny but great!
Wonderful sound and not the lumpy odd firing order that you get with a Subaru flat 4.
@@MonkeyHunch1 yes i do too. My mk1 astra had that.
The door closes with that reinsuring Italian build guality
🤣
Italian cars have something about them when it comes to design, forward vision and designs that look great in whatever decade,
My first Alfa was a 1977 1.3TI in Arancia Capua. My mates called it the Flying Mango. Great little car, so much fun driving hard through long twisty roads. Ah, the memories.
Mine was a 1975 1193cc - red of course but not a Ti so it had a 4 speed -it still did over 90mph. It handled great especially on CN36 at 34psi front and 32psi rear.
I had one, it had dials everywhere, would rev forever and it smelt of oil and petrol - wonderful!
ahahaha
that's what i'm talking about..... ;->
I suppose : That's why their drivers were called "petrol heads" because of the constant fumes in the cabin
A lovely car from a lovely time. Comparing it to its successors, 33, 145, 147 or MiTo.... It is in another league.
That engine was just delicious. A flat four designed for that car and able to rev until next week.
The whole design was gorgeous.... Discs on all four wheels. Onboard at the front. These refinements were largely unheard of at this level. The Alfasud weighed almost nothing. Narrow tyres, unassisted steering. Even the "cooking" model felt lively back then. Alfa has now become a fat Fiat with a different grille and badge. The Alfasud was different. It was distilled genius.
Wow, couldn't have explained it better. So overlooked, this was indeed a sheer beauty, and a little roaring pussycat..Vrooaamm...😙
Brilliant cars in their time. I particularly liked the automatic weight reduction body system
1977 1.3 ti was my best car ever. Amazing handling and sounded like a baby Ferrari. The colour was 'Burnt Umber' which handily exactly matched red oxide primer (nowadays a matt finish is very fashionable - so I was very much ahead of the times).
The colour is probably "Bruno Cilento". like this one: www.bresciacar.it/scheda_IT_10-alfa-romeo-alfasud-prima-serie.html
If I had one I'd drive it through a tunnel all day long with the windows open to listen to the exhaust rasp))
Alfa Romeo always had a sporty sounding exhaust pipe! Great car to drive. Very tempermental 👍beast and fun car.
Did over 100k in mine in the early 80s. Robust little car (well the running gear was) bodywork aaaah...Economical too, driven carefully as an impoverished student, got 45mpg. Miss it to this day...
Man those flat-four engines sound amazing! Gruff, yet in the sexiest possible way.
Technologically years ahead of anything available at the time. It was the car the Leyland Allegro should have been A mate had a later 81' 1.5 model. Every drive out in it was fun. Even this early model was so perfect that Alfa had no need to fundamentally change it until it was replaced by the 33 in 83'. Gorgeous.
@P.O. You're right it took 7 mins, just 2 mins more. Although with the speed your going, you would actually arrive further in the Alfa than the POS aggro.
@P.O.Funny that you say English cars were of good quality. That's a comical piece there.
My dad had a Ford that rotted. My mate had a vauxhall that rotted. My uncle had 2 mini's that from inside, under your feet you could see the road. Thrown away and one was not even that old. I've even seen rotten Volkswagen beetle's (made of thin steel?). The problem is majorly of England. Crap weather with salt on winter roads is not healthy for cars, especially cars which ride low i.e. mini perfect example and a lot of Italian cars.
I was there and saw what i saw, but you can believe anything you want lad.
@P.O. Yes, but as i stated above, all cars rotted, mini's rotted just as fast as italian cars if not quicker. Even range rovers, rotted. Now, if a couple of years faster or less doesn't change in my opinion, they will all rot. Japanese cars rotted just as fast as Italian cars, now i doubt they were better engineered as they copied everything on their cars (in the 80's it was well known in england that they copied everything). English cars were badly engineered, everyone knows the reason why. English cars didn't export that well for that reason. Ford and Vauxhall in europe were German made, they rusted as well eventually.
Higher standards in construction came from all companies in the 90's, better paint, better construction, european laws that gave some parameters, especially on safety.
Italian cars (like for most nations) were made for the climate of their own country. As i stated above, it's the english harsh weather and salt on roads that made cars rust, whichever make, eventually did.
Lancia did what no other brand at the time, instead of making a much more resistent car just for england, said "bugger that", we won't sell there no more. It became antieconomical for them, since they didn't have a huge sales market there anyway. They still sold in the rest of europe, the only reason for the brand to go in a downfall was for being expensive Fiats.
@P.O. I'm sorry i think you looking at things not objectivly. I was quite clear in my conclusions and the motives of rust majorly in Britain.
Any car that goes through the British climate and salt on roads in winter will have those effects.
Many Italian 50-80's cars survive in Italy and elsewhere. If you can't get over that fact, i repeat fact. Then i cannot persuade you further.
All cars, i've seen range rovers, even rolls royces rust in the 80's, tanks rot in english weather. What more can i say?
The fact that cars which do not rot is due to galvanized steel, or other types of non rusting metal and particular paint which is more resistant. Those methods are used in the 90's automotive industry by practiclly the whole world. Cars in england in the 80's where full of putty, not sure now since i don't live there anymore. But i know my facts.
It is not for the design of mini's that they rotted, it's for the way cars where made before the 90's.
Cars that saw less of the winter and salt, stored in garages got less harm.
Tanks rot in Britain, just get over it.
@@322tor 😅🤣😂 Try and find any original 70's or 80's car that has spent its entire life in Scotland then, especially a coastal environment. I doubt you will find one, its the cool ambient temperature that allows moisture to stay in the seams and dark underside areas that makes them rot like a bare nail in acid. And when winter comes along the rot really accelerates. Though damp weather is not an excuse for excessive early rot, manufacturers understood for a long time the cause and effect of crap factory preperation, sealing and painting, this means you would think the English would be experts in corrosion control, they were not because they just accepted it. The Germans used a lot of cavity wax oil inside the box sections like sills and roof pillars this stopped the inner sections being attacked by moisture, which is why cars rot from the inside out. The Germans were not as sloppy at sealing between inner and outer wheel arch seams, unlike Ford who could not give a toss. It is also down to better metal preperation before paint is applied in the factory, if the factory is warm and humid with bare metal body shells expect recalls for rust in a year. The Germans and Swedes also dipped bodyshells in an anti corrosion inhibitor before paint, because they actually cared. So climate does accelarate rot, but the effects can be delayed by up to 7 to 10 years with the above mentioned. Taxi drivers used to like Austin Montegos in the UK, as they knew they were fundamentaly OK cars, but they knew factory corrosion protection was pish, so they injected them with waxoil and underseal to get the 6 or 7 years out of them without the taxi looking like a banger racer at 4 years old. Manufacturers do not want body work to last anyore than 10 to 15 years today, as they want you to buy a new one eventually. It is not actually good business practice to build tanks that last forever, you may have a loyal customer base but you will not be in business for long if your customers replace them every 20 years.
Great car, years ahead with competition but ..rusted still from showrooms!
It was the main reason though that I become an Alfista ! Currently I am maintaining an Alfa Romeo 156 GTA and love it.
The main rust problem was the idiotic way the chrome strip around the rear window was attached.
Nice, love these old reviews!
I love that the gauges are labeled in Italian, not these boring international English abbreviations we have nowadays
I loved the exhaust tones of these when you gave them some revs!
If you contextualize this car to 1974, you realize that it was simply exceptional...
"Some lady customers may be upset to find the ride rather abrupt." Try saying that in 2018.
:-)
I’M COMPLETELY TRIGGERED NOW!
Brave driving it in the rain and damp...
I am surprised it made it through the test without developing lacy body panels..
My Sud had a 1500cc engine and loved to rev and handled well.. A pity about the rust though ! My Ford XR2 afterwards was not as good.
Still looks great. Makes the Mito look like a mutant.
Yep , I bought a mito cloverleaf but it definitely wasn't like an alfa sud . Alfas used to be unreliable but fantastic drivers cars - mito had that the wrong way round . Now got a 50 year old giulia and things are in the right order .
@@andynixon2820 You must have been driving a different Mito to me.
4:12 - "A driver's car, that's rare enough these days".... Wonder what he would have said today.
Another drivers car... for gods sake, we have enough of those! :D
This was 1974, one year after the oil crisis started, and with a great emphasis on fuel efficiency. Powerful and sporty suddenly became unfashionable. Cars like this Alfasud TI really were a breath of fresh air back then.
Draviator Indeed, with all those horrible SUV and crossover shit, just awful. This hot hatch from 46 years ago is so much more desirable.
@@Martinello30 - 1000X this! 👍 👍 👍
I had a 1.5Ti which was wonderful late one evening I was chased by the Old Bill was flat out on a straight bit of A259 (did not know the old bill was behind me). Sounded wonderful. When we reached a 40 I slowed down and the blue lights appeared, I stopped got a serious telling off, told he thought I was doing twice the legal limit and was pulling away from them, then he let me off and wished me well.
Love the waggly vague looking gearshift.
What a gorgeous car love the sound I love these reviews pity it's not the complete episode every time please we wanna see complete episodes ❤️😊👍🏻
The interior is so cool looking
Very premium for it's time and obviously Italian. Very interesting.
I understand that British Leyland bench marked the Allegro against this and the Citroen GS (both launched in 1970, 3 years before the Allegro), yet they still went on and built the Allegro.!
Allegros didn't rust. BL did get that bit right.
@@karp6130 Yes, I think it was the poor corrosion resistance of the Ado16 that spurred them on to do better, shame they failed to grasp the importance of appealing styling and good driving experience and instead focussed on costing it against the Ford Escort, instead of recognising that the Ado16 carried a price premium over Ford, because it was in its day much much better.
My best friends brother had one and we went on holiday with it, the three of us. Fantastic car, love that sporty exhaust note.
like the look of these new alfasuds, cant wait to test drive one
I had one of these back in the day - an Alfasud L. It was fabulous to drive, but as others have said - rust, rust, rust. By the time mine was 6 years old, it had new wings and sills. I eventually traded if for a new VW Polo, which was a great car, but not in the same league as the Alfa. If only I could find one now!
MY FIRST CAR A 1.2 LUSSO WHEN I SCRAPPED IT THERE WAS NO RUSTAROUND REAR SCREEN NO RUSTY BOOT HINGES .ORIGINAL SILLS.IT DID NOT HELP FILLING BOX SECTIONS WITH LIQUID FOAM WHICH TURNED IT INTO A GIANT SPONGE. EVEN MY SISTERS 1975 SE WAS RUSTING AFTER A FEW MONTHS
i had 3 alfa suds a 4 door 1.2 liter bought in 1976 owned for 13 years next a1980 ti 1.5 litre until 1997 i also bought a1978 1.3 litre abought 1993 for myself as my wife used the other car every day in her job sold both to the one person who had the time to restore them they did like rust as we live right on the coast in n s w australia and we needed a larger car wish i still had one a great fun car to drive now very rare here .
Hey Ian , yes absolutely great fun to drive , did you ever drive yours thru the Royal National Park just south of Sutherland ? or you could enter at Waterfall
I had two back in the days ..nice memories …
These Alfas and Lancia were treated with rust prior leaving the factory.
Lol
bmwnasher 😀😀😀
I owned a black 1.5 ti back in the day only had 1st 3rd and 5th gear absolutely loved it so much fun 👍
I recall my stepfather having brochures around the house for some of the Alfa Romeo range in 1976 and he decided to buy a Datsun 120Y! Doh!
My cousin bought one. Very sporty, right up until we fell through the floor. The whole car just crumbled to the touch.
I completely agree,...... wonderful and particular exhaust sound !!!!!!!
I had one of these. My second car (first was a Mini Clubman). My Alfasud was that colour too!
Brilliant to see these old reviews, just like the one my Dad bought in 1975!
Brought a 5m when I was 19 brilliant car very reliable thrashed it for 2 years then brought a silver 2.0l guilietta no ford could beat it on the twisty stuff my mate had a ford rs 2000 couldnt keep up with the alfa, had lots of alfas in the 80s sadly they have lost there way now i drive a lotus exige now thats a modern day drivers car
@R A must admit I am a great driver
My fiat coupe was parked next to one of these alfasuds at an italian car show last month, together with my coupe there both sort after cars now going up in value
I love my Alfasud ti !
Indeed one of the best cars I owned. Shame Alfa 147 one of the worst. Hence would never buy an Alfa today. More to the point how refreshing to see a straight forward review as opposed to today’s top gear and amazon stuff.
But the 147 isn't a current model. The Giulietta is the equivalent to this i guess. We've had a Quadrifoglio Verde version from new and although have had several issues and poor service from the local dealer (moved to a different one who're much better) it's brilliant fun to drive, comfy, looks cool, well specc'd and different from the crowd. And in my experience any car can have issues....we've owned Toyotas that have been unreliable and a Skoda Octavia vRS needing a replacement engine at 60k!!
@@ghvtg my dealer was appauling and I would not waste my life with a fossil car anymore. If I had time and money as well as a garage I might keep a 70s Sud.
@@neilbrandon hardly think fossil fueled cars are wasting your life. That's a rather extreme statement. As it stands a non fossil fueled car for us isn't realistic...even Tesla's don't have sufficient range for the business driving my wife does. Be ok for me. I do have x2 older cars, one 70s ine 80s and both great fun😁
John Motson wants his coat back!
The Alfasud became notorious for its propensity to rust, notably because of an assembly process that combined inferior recycled steel, and the factory's Pomigliano d'Arco location just 15 kilometers from the Bay of Naples. In one instance, early Bodies in White, ready for painting, were left outside the assembly building, in the naturally salty air.[15] To inhibit rust, engineers called for filling all bodywork box-sections with synthetic foam, which was later discovered to hold moisture.
my first ever car. memories. 🤗
Very nice... we had one long long ago..! Was giving you a nice driving experience.. ! // Cypriot
I owned 2 ti’s back in the early 80’s really nice fun cars, lovely sounding engine but the rust was horrendous. When you go to jack the car up and the jack goes straight through the sill you know you’ve got serious rust problems 😳
Great car with one problem.....rust
You could always find one near a puddle of rain water, just a pile of brown dust left.
Checking online, this model is now rather hard to find due to so many having been junked due to rust issues, and a good example will fetch several thousand.
back to the days they used to make good car reviews and silly haircut was the norm
That thing is crazy loud from the factory! Sounds good, hard to imagine in this day and age of rather neutered cars
I had a 33 not a sud, but the gearchange was one of the best they'd tried? It felt like they used 2ft long knitting needles as links.
Agreed. I had a sud and a 33, gear change was rubbish when warm. Impossible when cold
If you listen really carefully you can hear it dissolving as he pauses for breath.
I had a 1979 Alfasud Ti in a lurid green colour seem to remember that was a 1.5 by then had the same forty exhaust and went like a rocket. I didn't keep it long, replaced it with a Dolomite Sprint. Sold it to a mate who wrote it off trying to do a handbrake turn with it not realising the handbrake operated on the front brakes.
I had one of these, in red just like this one, loved it
*Some of the lady customers maybe a little upset with the ride being rather abrupt.*
This is truth and you know it and we should still be allowed to say without getting a lawsuit for being sexist lol
Are you hungry? Or just offended and triggered? or whatever the PC lot say these days. BTW i will edit the original comment with quotation marks as it is what the guy say`s in the video clip.
Peace!
I thought as much lol. You lefties are stale and Gammon tastes great :)
Finally! A shiney car on this show!
I’m convinced it’s a major contribution to road safety.
Despite the well know issues, it was a fabulous spirited little car that could massage your nerve ends with it raspy exhaust and willing engine
Beautiful!😍😍
I always wanted one of these.
What I remember most, are the rusted A-pillars.
Italian cars are just great
These were such a good looking car, shame pretty much all of them have desolved !
Had a later face-lifted 1350cc one on a "Y" reg ...one of the most charismatic cars I've owned
Loved my Alfa. Great handling with inboard front disc brakes. However, a mate did some welding on it and found it hard to do because of the impurity in the steel used. Apparently the Italians bought cheap Soviet steel in exchange for technical support for the East European car industry in the 1970s.
Interesting story.
Alfasud's using Soviet steal is a myth.
@@robertvirabjans9377 'Steel'
Is it a myth Robert?
Well for 36 years I've believed that it was true!
Next you'll be saying that Father Christmas is a myth.
Is he?
👍❤️
‘Really all very good indeed’
this red set the trend for the 80s
I want one so much. My dream car ❤️
They should dump the Mito and build the 'Sud again but with modern techniques and tooling. The Boxer would probably need to be 1500 cm3 as modern regs would increase the car's weight, but I'm betting that modern technology would get the same consumption out of it as then.
Marcomanseckisax I think I read last week that production of the Mito is to stop imminently...along with the Panda. No mention of any replacement. I think Alfa are to become 'Executive' and real Sports cars and SUV. Leave the small cars to the FIAT badge.
Ok, thanks. I was thinking of Alfa making the hot hatchback version that Subaru fails to do with its (bigger) WRX-STI. The Mito was aimed straight at the (cooking) Mini, but didn't make an impact, I surmise. But I don't think the Abarth 500 does, either. Strange how BMW have invented themselves with the Mini an entire market. Maybe Subaru themselves will take up the idea of a Nuovo-Sud.
Funny really how people look back on old cars with rose tinted glasses
The old 1500 ti would be considered slow by modern standards. The 1700cc 16v from the 33 etc. was/is a great little unit
It just needed an alloy block. The production cast iron unit is just too heavy sat in the front. Despite some cleaver for it's time front end geometry
Alfa Seltzer generation but fun to drive and to listen. Fiat 128 Sport Coupé and later the 3P did the same (including rusting 😂) for less money.
Best feature the exhaust sound ....is musical
he should have said what i really found surprising however, was when you put your shopping in the boot,. the shopping went throu the boot floor, that may be a problem.
Alfasud: a class of its own....
It seems quite shocking by today's standards how much camera wobble was the norm when filming from another vehicle!
looks so nice
Alfa racing red is a must for the Ti.
So gorgeous!
Love the engine note
Always thought those were sweet little cars!
It would be nice to have one now 👍👍👍
I had one in the late 70's, fantastic car. Inevitably it rusted. Two main problems: using recycled Russian steel - a new concept but untried - and opening a new factory in an area with no experience of industry/building cars, with high unemployment and poor training and poor qualitycontrol.
They sold so many Sud's and an awful lot of people saw them fall apart. A real shame as they were brilliant.
Rootes tried that with the Imp
The famous deal "Andriopov" struck with the Russians: we het WWII junk you dug out of Stalingrad and we built you an auto plant - the Shiguli - later Lada factory in Togliatti. As always when politicians play business men - they forgot the little detail of the high brass content of old canons causing rust. poor bella macchina.
This recycled Russian steel myth is still being er.,recycled.
FIAT group, (Alfa, Lancia etc) only ever used steel from the Taranto steel mills down south. ILVA as it was known was THE biggest supplier of sheet steel to the European auto makers, not just FIAT group.
FIAT sold lots of tooling and machinery to the USSR and received oil and gas in return, not steel, the rouble was worthless as a hard currency.
The odd thing is no one really knows where the recycled Russian steel myth originated and, no sources are ever quoted.
Still, don't let the facts get in the way of a good story😉
Parents had one, lasted 3 years. Before Mum put the shopping through the boot floor. It soldiered on as a taxi for another 5 years...
I bet that was the last time that Sud shone like that. Great little cars but boy could they rust ...... you could hear it happening it was that quick.
I keep reading that, but could you *literally* hear the metal rusting? Serious question.
Joking - but they rotted at an alarming rate - most full of holes in about 5 years. Made using inferior steel from Russia got as part of a deal to sell the FIAT 124 assembly to the Russians. It didn't help that the unpainted assembled bodies had to be moved outside the factory to the painstshop - even if it was raining !
I read that this steel was not transported properly either, which made it deteriorate all the more
@@nuclearlad I had some proper rotters from this era but the Alfasud beat the lot - every time I closed a door you could hear rust flakes falling to the floor. The strut brace/ 2nd fire wall across the engine bay was essential as I reckon most would have just torn their own engine out of the front of the car were it not there
Gorgeous!
A flat 4?! Really I didn’t know they ever made those.
Still Is A Truly Beautifull Car To Look At. Always Loved The Alfasud, Even With The Restyle In 1981. Something About Those Suds That Were Such A Gorgeous Design. God, I Miss Intelligent Car Reviews Like This.! Motoring Reviews Degenerated Into Utter Crap.
gorgeous car..
imagine what that would sound like with a twin ansa :-)
I had an oval ansa on my sprint back in the day... loved it.
A truly great car in almost every respect for what it is/was, except for one thing, that's right................Rust !
Nice car, notorious for tinworm and the rampant rust though.
I had one.
It ate it's gearbox twice, the heater was colder than your breath, the brakes felt like they had mahogany pads and the seat material was something like tissue paper.
However, it went better than you'd expect with well set up carbs (mine came with two sets. Performance and economy)
There was also no rust at all on mine despite being eleven years old when I bought it.
The handling was OK but by the time I got mine I'd driven better handling cars so I wasn't as impressed as the first owners would be when it was initially released.
Quirky, characterful, unforgettable and enjoyable.
My girlfriend at the time had an early Golf and that was almost as enjoyable to drive but without the reliability hassles.
My first car...a RUST BUCKET...but sweet :-)
I owned an original Alfa Sud 1.5 ti,everything was great until the spare wheel fell out of the boot floor because of all the rust,other than that it was really really bad,but loved it.
That’s sooo cool
Someone didn't tighten the door hinges though. Look at the door drop when he opens it.
Even brand new cars looked 20 years old back then.
Awesome exhaust note. They just don't sound anything like that anymore😢