Альфа Ромео Спринт: История и Эволюция Купе

The Alfa Romeo Alfasud Sprint (later only Alfa Romeo Sprint) is a boxer engined coupé produced by the Italian manufacturer Alfa Romeo from 1976 to 1989, and based on the Alfa Romeo Alfasud. 116,552 units of the Alfasud Sprint and Sprint were built in total. The Sprint was sold in Europe, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.

The Alfasud Sprint was presented to the press in September 1976 in Baia Domizia (Caserta), and shown at the Turin Motor Show in November. Mated to the flat four was a five speed, all synchromesh gearbox. The interior was upholstered in dark brown Texalfa leatherette and tartan cloth. Options were limited to alloy wheels, a quartz clock and metallic paint. In May 1978 the Alfasud Sprint underwent its first updates, both cosmetic and technical. Engine choice was enlarged to two boxers, shared with the renewed Alfasud ti, a 1.3 (1,350 cc) and an 1.5 (1,490 cc);
Thanks to double twin choke carburetors (each choke feeding a single cylinder) and a higher compression ratio engine output increased to and , respectively for the 1.3 and 1.5.

In February 1983 Alfa Romeo updated all of its sports cars; the Sprint received a major facelift. Thereafter the Alfasud prefix and Veloce suffix were abandoned, and the car was known as Alfa Romeo Sprint; this also in view of the release of the Alfa Romeo 33, which a few months later replaced the Alfasud family hatchback. The Sprint initially kept the platform of the earlier Sprint with inboard brakes, but updated body details described below. This model was sold from 1983 in its markets & in Australia only until late 1984. It later received a platform upgrade, which was now the same as that of the Alfa Romeo 33; this entailed modified front suspension, brakes mounted in the wheels instead of inboard like on the Alfasud, and drum brakes at the rear end. Its engine was the 1,490 cc carburated boxer, revised to put out at 6,000 rpm; front brake discs were vented and the gearing shorter. In addition to the green bumper piping, also specific to the Quadrifoglio were a green instead of chrome scudetto in the front grille, a rear spoiler and 8 hole grey painted alloy wheels with metric Michelin TRX 190/55 tyres. Inside a three spoke leather covered steering wheel, green carpets and sport seats in black cloth with green embroidery. In November 1987 the Sprint was updated for the last time; the 1.3 variant was carried over, while the 1.5 engine was phased out and the 1.5 QV was superseded by the Sprint 1.7 Quadrifoglio Verde. The engine was directly derived from the 33 1.7 Quadrifoglio Verde,
The Sprint had no direct predecessor or successor. In more recent times it found an heir in the Alfa Romeo GT, a coupé derived from the Alfa Romeo 156 and 147 three generations newer than the Alfasud and Alfetta.

The long coupe has a very low profile and is representative of late 70s and 80s Italian car design. A year earlier than the Sprint but from the same drawing board, although with slightly different proportions, another classic 70s design was created the Volkswagen Golf. Until 1983 the Alfasud Sprint had stainless steel bumpers, restyling in 1983 brought plastic and lower bumpers, a different grille, and some other upgrades like Italspeed wheels with 8 circles and nonstandard Michelin 340 mm tyres. Depending on equipment, some Sprints had plastic side bumpers and rear spoiler (mainly Quadrifoglio Verde). The most common was the Zender pack add in, with lower bumpers and side skirts, sold mostly in the UK and a few other countries.

The Alfa Sprint is a 2+2, with two seats in front and two in the rear. The two front seats came in two versions, an ordinary version and sport version with elongated thigh bolsters. An uncommon feature is the ignition key, which is on the left side of the steering wheel (instead of the more common right). On the middle console there are a few switches for the front and rear fog lamps, the rear window defroster and rear window wiper. Next to this is an analog clock by Jaeger instruments; until 1983, after which it was replaced with a digital one. Underneath are the ventilation control levers, one for hot, a second one for cold air intake, and a third to distribute flow to upper or lower vents. The rear cargo area has a capacity of 425 litres (15 cubic feet), largely due to the high profile at the rear, and it has a leather cover to conceal items from view.

Initially the Sprint had disc brakes all around, the front ones being the inboard brake type. At the front there is independent MacPherson strut suspension, and at the rear a rigid axle with trailing beams and a Panhard rod. From 1984 all Sprints got the Alfa Romeo 33 floorpan and modified front suspension and front brakes (no longer of the inboard type). The rear end now had drum brakes. This is helpful when finding parts for 2nd generation Sprints, since 10 times more Alfa 33s were produced.

Model Years Displacement Bore × stroke Fuel system Peak power Peak torque Top speed Alfasud Sprint 1976–78 twin choke carburettor at 6,000 rpm Alfasud Sprint 1.3 1978–79 twin choke carburettor at 6,000 rpm at 3,500 rpm Alfasud Sprint Veloce 1.3 1979–83 2 twin choke carburettors at 5,800 rpm at 4,000 rpm Sprint 1.3 1983–87 Sprint 1.3 1987–89 Alfasud Sprint 1.5 1978–79 twin choke carburettor at 5,800 rpm at 3,500 rpm Alfasud Sprint Veloce 1.5 1979–83 2 twin choke carburettors at 5,800 rpm at 4,000 rpm Sprint 1.5 1983–87 Sprint 1.5 Quadrifoglio Verde 1983–87 at 6,000 rpm at 4,000 rpm Sprint 1.7 Quadrifoglio Verde 1987–89 2 twin choke carburettors at 6,000 rpm at 3,500 rpm Sprint 1.7 i. e. Quadrifoglio Verde 1987–89 fuel injection at 6,000 rpm

In 1982, Autodelta built the Sprint 6C as a prototype for a possible race car. The prototype was given a mid mounted, rear wheel drive, 2.5 L V6 engine from the GTV6 that made at 5600 rpm. The 6C also received new bumpers, a rear spoiler, widened wheel arches, and wider 205/50VR15 wheels. Autodelta built a second car with a reinforced chassis for the purpose of rallying, but neither car resulted in production.

Giocattolo Motori Pty. Ltd. in Caloundra in Queensland, Australia, produced a sports car using the Sprint as a base donor car for their Group B model. The Giocattolo Group B was developed by entrepreneur and car fanatic Paul Halstead along with Formula One engineer Barry Lock. The chassis and body along with parts of the front suspension and door handles, glass etc. was kept from the Sprint. The use of a donor car allowed Giocattolo to focus on the design and engineering as door hinges, locks and other items where already done for them. The original idea was to use the Alfa V6 as engine and was mid mounted in a few prototypes. The sourcing of the V6 engines proved too expensive and difficult hence the Giocattolo went on to produce the cars with the Holden 5.0 Walkinshaw group V8, as fitted to the VL Commodore group A cars, along with a ZF 5 DS 25 2 transaxle, giving them a power to weight ratio on par with a Mclaren F1. In total, 15 Giocattolo Group B cars were built from 1986 to 1989, including 3 prototypes. 14 of these cars remain, while one Build No. 007 was destroyed in a high speed crash at the Eastern Creek Raceway in February 2001, killing the driver, 29 year old Todd Wilkes.

Fabrica Italiana, LDA in Portugal built a road version of their race cars in 2011 to commemorate the 35th anniversary named Sprint Evoluzione 35. The car debuted at Autoclassico Oporto salon. One chassis is known, numbered #019. It had a full roll cage, road trimmed interior, race derived suspensions, 4 piston outboard vented brakes, LSD and 8 valve 1800cc engine with 180 hp at 7000rpm and 210Nm at 3800rpm. A production series was planned but no other cars are known.

The Alfa Sprint used to be a very popular racing car in the late 70s until 1983. Sprint Trofeo was a well known European GT competition in those years. Still, Alfa Sprints are being used in significant numbers as racing cars, mostly in historic cups or hill climbing races, its popularity mainly due to its good handling capabilities.