The Story Of Alfa Romeo’s Boxers
The compact flat-four Alfas created a whole new generation of Alfisti, over almost two decades of production. Here’s the story of this brilliant family of engines.
In September of 1967, The Italian government green-lighted Alfa Romeo’s project for its new compact family car, to be built in a brand-new factory near Naples, whose construction started on the 29th of April 1968.
Every nut and bolt in the Alfasud was new, designed under Austrian engineer Rudolf Hruska’s direction. The flat-four engine configuration was chosen to lower the center of gravity and the car’s bonnet line, thus improving handling and aerodynamic performance.
Although designed and tested from the outset as a 1500cc engine, the Alfa Romeo flat-four engine debuted in 1972 as a 1186cc engine fed by a single Solex 32mm carburetor to place the Alfasud at a comfortable distance from the Giulia in the Alfa range.
the first major evolutionary step for Alfa’s boxer came in 1976
