Alfa Sei. A very special car.

What will be found under the hood of the Alfa Sei to be found? Indeed, a six-cylinder engine. A V6 to be precise. 

In the XNUMXs, the brand Alfa Romeo sales successes with models such as the Giulia in various versions, a convertible named Spider and a coupe that became known as 'mailbox' and later as GTV. At the top of the segment wanted Alfa also sell cars and that is why the 2600 and the 2600 coupe were introduced. But there were no successors. The Giulia found its successor in the Alfetta, although both models were produced side by side for a number of years. A new factory was built in the south of Italy with government support and the Alfa Sud of the band. The name says it all, Sud is South. From that moment on, the models that were built in the other factories are called Alfa North. 

New top model

Above the Alfetta's they wanted a new top model with a six-cylinder engine and more luxury. It had to be a car that could compete with a BMW 525 or a Mercedes. But the oil crisis threw a spanner in the works. There would be too little potential for a thirsty six-cylinder. Therefore, the introduction was postponed. Finally, the car was ready for sale. It was early 1979 when the Alfa Sei entered the Dutch market. The price was high, from thirty-eight thousand guilders. And that was without the accessories that could be ordered, such as air conditioning, metallic paint and an automatic gearbox, alloy wheels and leather upholstery. 

The ANWB/Bovag price list of November 1980 stated prices as. Purchase Alfa Sei ƒ 42.990 and accessories: automatic ƒ 2.200, metallic paint ƒ 1.150, air conditioning fl 2.650, alloy wheels fl 1.150, and leather upholstery fl 2.100. But then you also had an extremely exclusive, very luxurious sedan from the brand Alfa Romeo. With a two and a half liter V6 under the hood, which was fed by six downdraft carburetors and had 160 DIN hp. The optional automatic gearbox had three forward gears. You would expect that there was nothing to improve on a car like this. It was and is an extremely rare car with a total production of only 12.070 units over all years.

Nothing to be desired, or right?

If you read it like this you should be a happy person if you have an original Alfa Sei would own. It seems as if there is nothing to be desired, but that is completely different for some people. In practice, the fuel consumption turns out to be much higher than the manufacturer's specification and over time the carburettors are of course partially or completely worn out. This makes the car extremely difficult to start and with an average consumption of one liter per five kilometers, a ride is no fun either. The piggy bank must first be used to see how much fuel can be purchased, which significantly reduces the range. And then there was the engine speed. At a speed of 120 kilometers per hour, the engine was running at about 3.950 revolutions per minute. And that had to change. 

super season

Owner Vincent's car had to become a super Sei. A superlative of the, in the eyes of the manufacturer of the Alfa Romeo Sei, already excellent car. It needed another faster engine and a modern automatic gearbox. The central door locking had to be changed. Belts had to be placed on the back seat and other shock absorbers had to be fitted under the car to adjust the handling. Of course modern tires were on the wish list, just like a modern radio and some other trifles such as a completely new leather interior. The fuel consumption had to be drastically reduced, as had the revs and in fact it had to be a car that would drive like a modern limousine with the 'looks' of a forty-year-old car. That was quite a challenge and Marco van Doorn van Alfaspecials was allowed to live it up.

What was changed?

The engine of the Alfa Sei would be replaced by the engine from a Alfa Romeo 164. It had twenty-four horsepower more, while the torque was also higher: 259 Newton meters instead of 219,6 Newton meters. That seems easy, but some adjustments had to be made. Of course, the six downdraft carburetors would be replaced by a modern injection system. Then the car would be easier to start and more economical and could run on unleaded petrol with an octane rating of 95.

The automatic three-speed gearbox had to be replaced by a modern four-speed version. That was not a straight forward job either. The central door locking of the Alfa Sei would be changed and seatbelts for the rear passengers would be required. The only easy part of the wish list was replacing the interior. Choose a large cow, paint it nice and red and you have a beautiful hide to cover all the seats and door panels. Incidentally, that work was outsourced because Marco is only concerned with technical matters. Even installing a modern radio was not easy, because the center console had to be completely adapted for this.

When the photos for this item were taken, owner Vincent owned the car for about a year and a half. The total conversion was carried out in 2008. No changes have been made at the latest. The only external difference from the original version is the beautiful badge on the tailgate. It was also made by Marco and very subtly the foreground and background of that badge are mirrored compared to the original badge. 

Engine and box off the shelf

It is indeed very simple. An engine from the Alfa 164. Only that car was no longer equipped with rear-wheel drive, but was Alfa Romeo, after building rear-wheel drive cars all these years, moved to the production of front-wheel drive cars. A horror for the purists, who therefore state that from then on there will be no real Alfaare more built. In the 164 the engine is mounted transversely while in the Sei it is longitudinally mounted under the hood. Therefore, the crankshaft had to be modified so that the other flywheel could be mounted on it. Furthermore, a different oil pump had to be mounted and of course a different oil pan. The 164's crankshaft pulley only has room for two belts while the Alfa Sei used three V strings. That is why Marco himself made a new one using the original pulley. 

The Sei's old engine had six carburettors and an electronic ignition. The engine of the 164 uses a Motronic injection system and therefore the wiring harness of the 164 has been adapted and placed in the Sei. Just like the computer or the Electronic Control Unit. The computer is placed inside the car.

Another fuel pump was also needed and it has been replaced by a second series pump from the Sei. They were in fact equipped with injection, unlike the cars of the first series. The throttle and air intake of that type were also used.

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Gear box

The original gearbox was a ZF 3 HP 22. Now a ZF 4 HP 22 gearbox was used. That seems a piece of cake. Replace one ZF container with the other. But it does not work like that. The bellhouse had to be shortened and it had to be reinforced at the bolt holes. A vending machine is equipped with a pump that pressurizes the vending machine liquid. The bellhouse was adapted to the four-speed pump and the input shaft was also adjusted.

There is also a switch in the housing of the box to recognize the position of the operating handle. How else do you know if you are in P, R, N or D mode? On the output shaft, an adjustment has been made to build in the kilometer sensor. After all, you want to have a properly working speedometer with such a perfect job and that is why the giver in the box was also adjusted.

Of course, another gearbox support was needed, and Marco made it himself. After shortening the drive shaft it also fit and the engine and the box could be hung in the car. Now the car could be finished further. All around red Koni's were mounted, rear load adjusters were added and the torsion suspension was lowered for better road holding. The camber was also slightly changed and Vincent was finally able to drive the car.

How's that going?

On the highway, the cars were still almost stopped and the road to Katwijk was closed. But to feel the differences, no Mille Miglia has to be taken.

First, Marco's Sei was taken in its basic version. The motor came to life with a few pumps with the right foot. He sounded a bit raw and smoothly picked up the automatic gearbox when accelerating. At the roundabout there was someone who did not know that you have to follow the arrows and after dodging this ghost driver we could get on the gas. Nice, very nice. We kept it short and drove back to test Vincent's car. 

Starting was indeed much easier. Just turn the key and keep the foot off the accelerator. What was also striking was the fact that the windows were not fogged at all. Smoothly switched on the automatic four-speed and we drove over some speed bumps. That was weird. Nothing rattled and rattled, not even windows loose in their guides.

Seductive car

At the roundabout another wrong-way driver came in from the wrong side, but the brakes were perfect for stopping the heavy car. What a wonderful car this was. Too bad the road was so short and we were soon back. Is it one Alfa Romeo? Not as far as comfort goes, because it's much more luxurious and quieter than anything I've ever considered Alfa have driven. But certainly in terms of performance. It is a wolf in beautiful clothes, a beautiful car that you can also drive very fast. A car with which you are guaranteed to commit the necessary speed violations because you do not notice it. A car that allows you to drive to the Mille Miglia in style while the air conditioning keeps the interior nice and cool. It is an extremely seductive car.

Text partly taken from Auto Motor Klassiek number 2 of 2010. Text and photography: Jacques van den Bergh

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