![Alfa Romeo Tipo 159 Alfetta](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/Alfa_Romeo_Tipo_159_Alfetta.jpg)
The Alfa Romeo 158/159, also known as the ''Alfetta'' (''Little Alfa'' in Italian
), is a
Grand Prix
Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour
Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to:
Arts and entertainment ...
racing car produced by Italian manufacturer
Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis. The company was founded on 24 June 1910, in Milan, Italy. "Alfa" is an acronym of its founding name, "Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili." ...
. It is one of the most successful racing cars ever; the 158 and its derivative, the 159, took 47 wins from 54 Grands Prix entered.
It was originally developed for the pre-World War II
voiturette
A voiturette is a miniature automobile.
History
''Voiturette'' was first registered by Léon Bollée in 1895 to name his new motor tricycle. The term became so popular in the early years of the motor industry that it was used by many makers t ...
formula (1937) and has a 1.5-litre straight-8 supercharged engine. Following World War II, the car was eligible for the new
Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
introduced in 1947. In the hands of drivers such as
Nino Farina
Emilio Giuseppe Farina, also known as Giuseppe Antonio "Nino" Farina, (; 30 October 1906 – 30 June 1966) was an Italian racing driver and first official Formula One World Champion. He gained the title in 1950. He was the Italian Champion in ...
,
Juan Manuel Fangio
Juan Manuel Fangio (American Spanish: , ; 24 June 1911 – 17 July 1995), nicknamed ''El Chueco'' ("the bowlegged" or "bandy legged one") or ''El Maestro'' ("The Master" or "The Teacher"), was an Argentine racing car driver. He dominated t ...
and
Luigi Fagioli
Luigi Cristiano Fagioli (; 9 June 1898 – 20 June 1952), nicknamed "the Abruzzi robber", was an Italian motor racing driver. Having won his last race at 53 years old, Fagioli holds the record for the oldest Formula One driver to win a race, and ...
, it dominated the first two seasons of the World Championship of Drivers.
Overview
The first version of this successful racing car, the 158, was made during 1937/1938. The main responsibility for engineering was given to
Gioacchino Colombo Gioachino Colombo (1903–1988) was an Italian automobile engine designer. Colombo was born in Legnano. He began work as an apprentice to Vittorio Jano at Alfa Romeo.
In 1937, Colombo designed the 158 engine for the Alfetta and caught the attentio ...
.
The car's name refers to its 1.5-litre engine and eight cylinders.
The voiturette class was for racing cars with 1.5-litre engines, standing in the same relation to the top 'Grand Prix' formula (usually for 3-litre engines) as the
Formula Two
Formula Two (F2 or Formula 2) is a type of open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009–2012 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The name retur ...
does to Formula One today. Alfa's 3-litre racing cars in 1938 and 1939 were the
Tipo 308,
312 and
316.
The 158 debuted with the works
Alfa Corse
Alfa Corse is Alfa Romeo's factory racing team. Throughout the years, Alfa Corse has competed in various forms of motorsport, from Grand Prix motor racing to touring car racing.
Alfa Corse was officially formed in the beginning of 1938, after th ...
team at the
Coppa Ciano
The Coppa Ciano was an automobile race held in Italy. Originally referred to as Coppa Montenero or Circuito Montenero, the Coppa Ciano name was officially in use between 1927 and 1939.
History
During the years immediately following World War I se ...
Junior in August 1938 at
Livorno
Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...
, Italy, where
Emilio Villoresi
Emilio Villoresi (December 7, 1914 – June 20, 1939), also known with his nickname "Mimì" Villoresi, a was an Italian Grand Prix motor racing driver.
Emilio Villoresi was born in Milan, Lombardy. He was the younger brother of the Maserati dr ...
took the car's first victory. At that time the 1479.56 cc (58.0 x 70.0 mm) engine produced around at 7000 rpm.
with the help of a single-stage
Roots blower
The Roots-type blower is a
positive displacement lobe pump which operates by pumping a fluid with a pair of meshing lobes resembling a set of stretched gears. Fluid is trapped in pockets surrounding the lobes and carried from the intake si ...
. More success came at the
Coppa Acerbo
The Coppa Acerbo was an automobile race held in Italy, named after Tito Acerbo, the brother of Giacomo Acerbo, a prominent fascist politician. Following Italy's defeat in World War II, and the consequent demise of fascism, the race was renamed the ...
,
Coppa Ciano
The Coppa Ciano was an automobile race held in Italy. Originally referred to as Coppa Montenero or Circuito Montenero, the Coppa Ciano name was officially in use between 1927 and 1939.
History
During the years immediately following World War I se ...
and
Tripoli Grand Prix
The Tripoli Grand Prix (Italian: ''Gran Premio di Tripoli'') was a motor racing event first held in 1925 on a racing circuit outside Tripoli, the capital of what was then Italian Tripolitania, now Libya. It lasted until 1940.
Background
Motor ...
in May 1940.
Soon World War II stopped development of the car for six years. After the war the engine was developed further to push out in 1946.
In 1947, the Alfetta was put back into service. The new rules allowed 1500 cc supercharged and 4500 cc naturally aspirated engines. The 158 was modified again, this time to produce over and was denoted as Tipo 158/47. The car made a tragic debut in the 1948
Swiss Grand Prix
The Swiss Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix de Suisse, german: Großer Preis der Schweiz, it, Gran Premio di Svizzera), was the premier auto race of Switzerland. In its later years it was a Formula One race.
History
Bremgarten (1934–1939, 1947 ...
where
Achille Varzi
Achille Varzi (8 August 1904 – 1 July 1948) was an Italian Grand Prix driver.
Career
Born in Galliate, province of Novara (Piedmont), Achille Varzi was the son of a textile manufacturer. As a young man, he was a successful motorcycle ra ...
lost control of his car and was killed. Another loss for the team came in practice for the 1949
Buenos Aires Grand Prix Buenos Aires Grand Prix may refer to one of two former sporting events:
* Buenos Aires Grand Prix (motor racing), a former motor sport race
* Buenos Aires Grand Prix (tennis), a former Grand Prix tennis event which continues today as an ATP Wor ...
, where
Jean-Pierre Wimille
Jean-Pierre Wimille (26 February 1908 – 28 January 1949) was a Grand Prix motor racing driver and a member of the French Resistance during World War II.
Biography
Born in Paris, France to a father who loved motor sports and was employed as th ...
was killed in an accident (driving with
Simca-Gordini
Gordini () is a division of Renault Sport Technologies (Renault Sport). In the past, it was a sports car manufacturer and performance tuner, established in 1946 by Amédée Gordini (1899–1979), nicknamed "Le Sorcier" (The Sorcerer). Gordini be ...
).
In 1950, the 158 was eligible for the new World Championship of Drivers. The car won every race in which it competed during that first season of Formula One; it was incredible that a car which had originated in 1938 was so victorious, most likely because all the other constructors (as few as there were) had less money to build and develop their cars and the Alfa had so much development time. The Alfa Romeo team included talented drivers such as
Giuseppe "Nino" Farina and
Juan Manuel Fangio
Juan Manuel Fangio (American Spanish: , ; 24 June 1911 – 17 July 1995), nicknamed ''El Chueco'' ("the bowlegged" or "bandy legged one") or ''El Maestro'' ("The Master" or "The Teacher"), was an Argentine racing car driver. He dominated t ...
, the latter of whom later won the World Drivers' Championship five times.
At the end of
the 1950 season, a further updated version known as the 159 was produced, which was used for the
1951 season. This version had reworked rear suspension, the old swing axle was replaced with a De-Dion axle and the engine produced around at 9600 rpm. The 159 had top speed of and it weighed .
[Fiat Chrysler Automobiles EMEA Press]
Alfa Romeo GP Tipo 159 Alfetta at F1 British GP - Press Releases - Fiat Chrysler Automobiles EMEA Press
, accessdate: 11. July 2019 In order to achieve this power however, the simplistically designed engine was fitted with larger superchargers over time. This fact, combined with the rich mixture required to burn methanol in the engine resulted in extremely poor fuel economy - the 159 achieved , compared to the Talbot-Lagos of the time, which delivered .
The 1951 British Grand Prix at
Silverstone
Silverstone is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is about from Towcester on the former A43 main road, from the M1 motorway junction 15A and about from the M40 motorway junction 10, Northampton, Milton Keynes and B ...
was the first Formula One Grand Prix not won by an Alfa primarily because Fangio and Farina both had to stop twice simply to re-fuel their cars – and the Ferrari of
José Froilán González
José Froilán González (October 5, 1922 – June 15, 2013) was an Argentine racing driver, particularly notable for scoring Ferrari's first win in a Formula One World Championship race at the 1951 British Grand Prix. He made his Formula One ...
did better on fuel and would go on to win the race, with Fangio second. Still, the Alfa had the edge on performance and with wins in Switzerland, France and Spain, Fangio won his first of five championships that year. For their second-to-last World Championship race (until 1979), the
Italian Grand Prix
The Italian Grand Prix ( it, Gran Premio d'Italia) is the fifth oldest national Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix (after the French Grand Prix, the United States Grand Prix, the Spanish Grand Prix and the Russian Grand Prix), having been he ...
at
Monza
Monza (, ; lmo, label=Lombard language, Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po River, Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capit ...
, Alfa Romeo introduced a new evolution version known as the 159M, the "M" standing for Maggiorata ("enlarged").
After an unsuccessful bid by Alfa Romeo to obtain government assistance to meet development costs, the team announced their retirement from Grand Prix racing at the end of 1951 (leaving the development of the 2.5-litre
Alfa Romeo 160).
[Mike Lang, ''Grand Prix'', Volume 1, 1950 to 1965, Haynes Publishing Group, 1981, page 39] This, combined with problems for other Formula One teams lead to a decree by the
FIA
FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used.
Fia or FIA may also refer to: People
* Fia Backst ...
that all Grand Prix races counting towards the World Championship of Drivers in 1952 and 1953 would be for cars complying with
Formula Two
Formula Two (F2 or Formula 2) is a type of open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009–2012 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The name retur ...
rather than Formula One.
[
The car's last Grand Prix win came in 1953 at Merano Grand Prix, Italy.]
Race victories
Complete Formula One World Championship results
(key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
) (results in bold indicate pole position, results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
* The Constructors' Championship was not awarded until 1958.
Legacy
The 158/159 Alfetta remains one of the most successful cars in the history of Formula One, having won every race it entered in 1950, and winning 4 out of 7 races (with a podium in all of the other 3) in 1951.
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alfa Romeo 158 159 Alfetta
158/159 Alfetta
Grand Prix cars
Formula One championship-winning cars