Building a brand new car in a brand new factory, working with workers who have never built a car in their lives, is a recipe for impending disaster. Just think of the Hillman Imp and De Lorean. Anyway, we started with the Alfasud, created by former and unemployed Neapolitan pizza makers far in the south (hence the name 'Sud') of Italy, far from the Milanese headquarters of Alfa Romeo was built.
The technical design was by Rudi Hruska, Giugiaro designed the spacious, four-door body, independent suspension front and rear, disc brakes on all four wheels and a brand new four-cylinder boxer engine with a capacity of only 1.200 cm3. The asthmatic rattling engine was isolated from the passenger compartment by two bulkheads because of the noise. Unfortunately, the sound was so provocative that almost every driver drove with at least one window down so as not to miss anything from the engine. The four passengers sat on comfortable furniture. Remarkable was the operation of the heater blower by means of a lever on the steering wheel. And also there was the light on the dashboard. That went out when the engine had reached operating temperature and the signal was over Alfasud'Italian style ' to go pedaling… A well-thought-out car, which could be guided flawlessly with a firm gait over winding roads, even had no problems with it if a firm bump had to be taken in such a fast corner. A short time later, the sportier 2-door Ti version appeared, the engine capacity continued to 1,3 and even the 1,5 liter capacity, not to mention the five-speed gearbox. A little later, the world was introduced to the Sprint coupe and the station wagon called Giardinetta. Due to the wrong choice of the recycled can, such a Alfasud when exiting the factory gate. A flawless copy is therefore extremely rare today...