Alfa Romeostarted car production in southern Italy in the 1960s and 1970s, breaking out of its traditional Lombard fiefdom for the first time. Furthermore, in 1968, the Pomigliano d’Arco factory, located in the metropolitan area of Naples; the plant that would end up becoming the actual factory Giambattista Vico de Stellantis. It is there that one of the first compact cars in Europe began to be manufactured: the Alfa Romeo Alfasud, a revolutionary model from which emerged in 1971 a sports version called Sprint.
The Alfa Romeo Alfasud Sprint It was based on the sedan and presented a sporty design with a sharp silhouette, of great aesthetic beauty, which mixed styles and silhouettes to combine the dynamism of a coupé with the presence and interior space of a sedan. All this with the typical compact dimensions of sports cars of the time (4.02 meters long and 1.30 meters high). It should be noted that the sharp and angular lines of the Alfasud Sprint would be seen again in many later models of Alfa Romeo and other brands, coming out of the Italdesign studio.
As for the front of the Alfasud Sprint, it should be noted that it followed the same style as the Alfas of that time, with the two headlights on each side of the triangular grille that have defined the brand’s vehicles since the 1949 launch of the Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Villa d’Este.
The first generation of the Sprint was a complete success, since in its 13 years of commercial life a total of 116,552 units, manufactured in Pomigliano d’Arco and also in South Africa, where this sports car is a cult vehicle among collectors.
For its part, the Alfa Romeo Sprint second generation, already independent from Alfasud, took on a totally eighties air by adopting the black plastic in the decorative elements and in the side moldings that run along the contour of the vehicle. These changes made it possible for the Alfa Romeo Sprint to hold out solidly in the range until 1989.
The interior of the vehicle respected the traditional codes of the coupés, with a four-seater configuration (two in front and two in the rear) that could be conventional or sporty. The instrument panel featured a sports aesthetic, with round indicators and great depth, while the steering wheel stood out for its versatility, since levers came out of it with which functions such as the ventilation of the interior vents could be controlled. A very important point of this model is that it was one of the most spacious sports cars of its time by offering a trunk with 425 liters of capacity.
In the mechanical section, the Alfa Romeo Sprint equipped powerful mechanics but with low consumption. This model has not stopped evolving its features since its launch with a 4-cylinder Boxer engine arranged two by two, in a 180º V structure. Depending on the engines, the vehicle was equipped with simple or double carburation, even incorporating direct injection in its last years of marketing.
In 1972, its top-of-the-range version developed 76 horse power and achieved a top speed of 165 km/h. However, in 1989, the power rose to 118 horses and could reach 196 km/h. In order to have these features under control, Alfa Romeo offered two features on the Sprint that were very rare in the 1970s: the 5-speed manual gearbox and four-wheel disc brakes.
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Eddie is an Australian news reporter with over 9 years in the industry and has published on Forbes and tech crunch.