TIPO 116 VELOCE
Several months have passed since the friends of Biscioni Piacenza, a club of passionate collectors of the House of Biscione, based in Emilia-Romagna, Italy invited me to attend their raduno celebrating an Alfa Romeo model of which little is said, but which in fact represented a real stylistic revolution for the brand, creating what can be defined as a real Gran Turismo: boasting enough space to confortably seat 4 people, a boot more than sufficient for takinf on long travels and the road holding performance worthy of a sports car - in short, Alfetta GT.
On this particular occasion we took a nice trip together with the Biscioni Piacenza enjoying the Italian scenry, in one of those relaxed drives, with the sole purpose of enjoying a few hours behinf the wheel of a real Alfa, stopping by a farmhouse or two just to enjoy the local cuisine specialities. However, to enliven the day, I was looking also for a more suggestive place, different from the usual ones, as beautiful as they all were in our countryside journey. One of those special places we like to call “Places To Take Your Alfa”.
We had the chance to access to the Mignano dam, thanks to the help of one of Biscioni Piacenza, located in Vernasca (the place where the famous Vernasca Silver Flag classic rally takes place every year) and managed by the “Consorzio di Bonifica di Piacenza” surely qualifies as a special place - we’re thankful for the availability and perfect organization allowing us and our Alfas to enter not only above the dam, but also in the spaces below, generally closed to the public.
Placing the cars above the Mignano dam is a significant sight, but perhaps it is even more so when we managed to line up 9 different Tipo 116 GTVs (one of which joined us from France) with the massive 64 meters wall of reinforced concrete behind them that act as a backdrop for a magnificent image.
The Alfetta GT was born in 1974, two years after the sedan with which it shared the mechanical base - born to replace the Giulia GT. It had to be a coupe with 4 comfortable seats and good habitability, capaable of counteracting the growing success of its rivals, BMW first and foremost.
The result of the collaboration between the Centro Stile Alfa Romeo and Giugiaro's Italdesign, the Alfetta GT was initially marketed with the 122 hp 1.8, and it was joined in 1976 by the 1.6 and 2.0 versions. For this model year the Alfatta GTV denomination was also officialy adopted.
There was no shortage of sporting successes, especially in rallies where the Alfetta GT achieved important results, with drivers of the caliber of Amilcare Balestrieri, who won the Elba Rally in 1975, or Jean Claude Andruet and Mauro Pregliasco, the Italian Group 2 champion.
With the second series, introduced in 1980, the Alfetta denomination disappeared, as well as the entry level 1.6 engine, and the model started to be known under the simple but evocative name of GTV.
It was at this time that the legendary V6 "Busso" of 2.5-liter, 12-valve and 160 bhp engine joined the 2.0 range. The variant adopting it was called GTV6 and is distinguished by the conspicuous bulge on the hood and other particular details, including specific wheels. "It's in fact a 200 HP engine" - said Giuseppe Busso, the father of the 2.5-liter V-six cylinder mounted under the hood of the Alfetta GTV6, implying that the engine had been deliberately limited to 160 HP to favour the accelaration at a low rpm number and a certain consumption limitation.
The Alfetta GT (and all the following derivates) has an incredible sleek, sporty, line extremely modern still today. It remained in production for a good 12 years, totaling 136.275 units produced until 1986. There are also some particular variants developed, such as the Turbodelta or the Grand Prix, created to celebrate the return of Alfa Romeo in F1, both of which deserve their own specieal feature.
To be continued…
