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The Alfa Romeo Gran Sport Quattroruote is a two-seater roadster made between 1965 and 1967 by Italian car 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." ...
and the coachbuilder Zagato
Zagato is an independent coachbuilding company and total design centre located northwest of Milan in Terrazzano, a small village near Rho, Lombardy, Italy. The company's premises occupies an area of 23,000 square metres (250,000 sq ft)- 11,000 of ...
. The car wears retro
Retro style is imitative or consciously derivative of lifestyles, trends, or art forms from history, including in music, modes, fashions, or attitudes. In popular culture, the "nostalgia cycle" is typically for the two decades that begin 20–30 ...
bodywork by Zagato, replicating the Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 Gran Sport Spider Zagato of the early 1930s, over then-modern Alfa Romeo Giulia
Alfa Romeo Giulia () is the name of three not directly related models by the Italian car manufacturer Alfa Romeo. The first is a line of sporty four-door compact executive cars (Type 105) produced from 1962 to 1978, the second is an updated, ma ...
mechanicals. Just 92 were made.
History
The Gran Sport was inspired by an article published by Italian car magazine ''Quattroruote
''Quattroruote'' (English: ''Four Wheels'') is an Italian automobile magazine established by the Marchigian entrepreneur Gianni Mazzocchi in February 1956. Among its regular features it includes information on used car prices.
History and profil ...
'', and was built in collaboration with Milanese coachbuilder Zagato.
The first prototype was introduced in April 1965 at a coachbuilders' motor show at the ''Museo Nazionale dell'Automobile
The Museo Nazionale dell'Automobile (The National Automobile Museum), founded by Carlo Biscaretti di Ruffia, is an automobile museum in Turin, northern Italy. The museum has a collection of almost 200 cars among eighty automobile brands representi ...
'' in Turin
Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...
, while the first production version was unveiled a year later, at the New York Auto Show
The New York International Auto Show is an annual auto show that is held in Manhattan in late March or early April. It is held at the Jacob Javits Convention Center. It usually opens on or just before Easter weekend and closes on the first Su ...
.
Alfa Romeo supplied a purpose-built bare chassis to Zagato, where the bodies were hand-built and the cars finished. Engine, gearbox and other mechanicals were from the 105-series Giulia TI. The vehicles were sold through Alfa Romeo's dealer network. Alfa Romeo produced 12 chassis in 1965, 52 in 1966, and 29 in 1967.
Specifications
The 1,570 cc '' Alfa Romeo Twin Cam''inline-four engine
A straight-four engine (also called an inline-four) is a four-cylinder piston engine where cylinders are arranged in a line along a common crankshaft.
The vast majority of automotive four-cylinder engines use a straight-four layout (with the ...
produced at 6,000 rpm, for a top speed of . Transmission, suspension and steering were all carried over from the Giulia: 5-speed gearbox
Propulsion transmission is the mode of transmitting and controlling propulsion power of a machine. The term ''transmission'' properly refers to the whole drivetrain, including clutch, gearbox, prop shaft (for rear-wheel drive vehicles), differe ...
, double wishbone suspension
A double wishbone suspension is an independent suspension design for automobiles using two (occasionally parallel) wishbone-shaped arms to locate the wheel. Each wishbone or arm has two mounting points to the chassis and one joint at the knuckle ...
at the front and a solid axle
Solid is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being liquid, gas, and plasma). The molecules in a solid are closely packed together and contain the least amount of kinetic energy. A solid is characterized by structura ...
at the rear, coil spring
A selection of conical coil springs
The most common type of spring is the coil spring, which is made out of a long piece of metal that is wound around itself.
Coil springs were in use in Roman times, evidence of this can be found in bronze Fib ...
s, and rack and pinion
A rack and pinion is a type of linear actuator that comprises a circular gear (the '' pinion'') engaging a linear gear (the ''rack''). Together, they convert rotational motion into linear motion. Rotating the pinion causes the rack to be driven ...
steering. On aesthetic grounds 15-inch knock-off wire wheel
Wire wheels, wire-spoked wheels, tension-spoked wheels, or "suspension" wheels are wheels whose rims connect to their hubs by wire spokes. Although these wires are generally stiffer than a typical wire rope, they function mechanically the sam ...
s and drum brake
A drum brake is a brake that uses friction caused by a set of shoes or pads that press outward against a rotating cylinder-shaped part called a brake drum.
The term ''drum brake'' usually means a brake in which shoes press on the inner surfac ...
s (front three-shoe and rear two-shoe) were fitted instead of the Giulia's steel wheels and four wheel disc brakes. The body was made of aluminium panels over a tubular framework, after Zagato's traditional construction method. The car was available in two versions: "Normale" and "Extra".
As a true roadster, the Gran Sport had removable side curtains and top. There was no boot lid, as a spare wheel was carried at the rear, and the luggage compartment was accessible from behind the seats.
References
Bibliography
* {{Alfa Romeo Post War Gran Sport Quattroruote Roadsters Cars introduced in 1965 Retro-style automobiles Rear-wheel-drive vehicles