AUTODELTA HISTORY THE LOST SISTER OF FERRARI 1a part On March 5 1963, a collective enterprise named Auto-Delta was set up by partners Carlo Chiti and Lodovico Chizzola and registered at the Udine Chamber of Commerce. Chiti had gained his experience with Ferrari, while Chizzola was an Alfa Romeo dealer from Udine. Auto-Delta became Autodelta S.p.A. in November 1964 with the self-avowed aim of helping Alfa Romeo return to racing after the companys disappearance from motorsport at the beginning of the Fifties. Autodelta was set up in Feletto Umberto (Udine) because Chizzolas Alfa Romeo dealership was located in this town in Friuli. This was the setting for the first TZ (Tubolare Zagato) cars with truncated rear ends to help them slice more smoothly through the air. The Giulia TZ, designed in 1959 to replace the Giulietta SZ, was introduced in June 1962. At least 100 cars had to be built to qualify for Gran Turismo homologation. A total of 124 were built. The engine was a 112 bhp 1.6 unit. The cars dry weight was just 660 kg. Its top speed was 215 km/h. The car made its racing debut in Monza in November 1963 at the Coppa Fisa, when four Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ cars took the first four places in the prototypes category, driven by Lorenzo Bandini, Roberto Bussinello, Giancarlo Baghetti and Consalvo Sanesi. The car was homologated in the Gran Turismo category at the beginning of 1964 and scored a success in its category in the Sebring 24 hour race in Florida (the following year, it drove off with the first three places in its category) with Stoddard-Kaser, followed by more success, again in Gran Turismo up to 1600 cc, at the 48th Targa Florio with Bussinello-Todaro, third place overall in the 1000 kilometre Nurburgring race with Biscaldi-Furtmayr and at the Le Mans 24 Hour race with Bussinello-Deserti. The Giulia TZ was also successful in rallies: the French team Rolland-Augias did well overall in the Coupe des Alpes and Criterium des Cevennes and came second overall in the Tour de Corse and first in its category at the Tour de France. The Alfa Romeo Giulia Ti Super (Jolly Club) immediately revealed itself as a force to be reckoned with in rallies: De Adamich-Scarambone were successful in the Rally dei Fiori, with Cavallari-Munari at the first edition of the legendary S. Martino di Castrozza event. At the end of the year, Autodelta was transferred from Feletto Umberto (Udine) to Settimo Milanese to enable the company to work more closely with Alfa Romeo. In the meantime, the Balocco site had been set up as a test track for all racing cars and other vehicles. Balocco was the place where the bends and straights of the most important racing circuits in the world were prepared (most importantly the bends at Lesmo, sections of the circuits at Zolder, Zandvort, le Mans, etc). The area that has remained unchanged since the time when prototypes and standard production cars were tested still retains the name of Alfa Romeo mixed. You can still see the original Bella Luigina Farmstead and adjacent Autodelta workshop where racing versions of Alfa Romeos were taken for inspection. The lap time recording booth can still be seen on the track. 1965 was another bumper year and culminated in outright wins by the Giulia TZ at the Melbourne 6 Hour race with Roberto Bussinello and at the Giro dItalia with Andrea De Adamich and Franco Lini. The same year, the Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA was introduced at the Amsterdam Motor Show and then at the Geneva Motor Show. This was a converted, mainly racing version of the Alfa Romeo Giulia GT launched two years earlier. The letter A stands for alleggerita (lightened) because 205 kg was shaved off the weight of the standard production model through the use of light alloy outer panels fully riveted to the structure (without antinoise panels). The racing version weighed just 700 kg. It differs from the normal model in its twin ignition cylinder head (two spark plugs per cylinder). The car delivers a power output of 115 bhp at 6000 rpm for a top speed of more than 185 km/h on the road version that increases to 220 km/h for the racing version due to its higher power output of 170 bhp at 7500 rpm. This 1600 cc model won the European Makes Challenge for three years running, from 1966 to 1968, and the Drivers Challenge with Andrea De Adamich (1966 and 1967) and with Spartaco Dini (1968). Ignazio Giunti won the European Mountain championship in 1967. The GTA won innumerable successes during this three-year period, including wins abroad, in the US and in South America. The GTAs most prestigious accolades included 1st, 2nd and 4th places overall at the Nurburgring Six Hour race in 1967, and 1st and 2nd places overall in the Castle Rock-Colorado 250 Mile race. In 1966, the Giulia GTA won a major rally title: Arnaldo Cavallari and Dante Salvay went home with the Mitropa Cup. Again in 1966, Autodelta became an associate company of Alfa Romeo and Carlo Chiti became its director. From then on, Autodelta became Alfa Romeos competitive wing for racing and the development of new technologies. In 1967, a turbocharged GTA prototype was built to compete in Group 5 races. The engine, developed by Autodelta, combined two coaxial centrifugal compressors, each with one oil-driven turbine pressurised by an axial pump connected to the engine by a chain. One other distinctive feature of the engine was the fact that it was water-cooled directly into the fuel ports to reduce the temperature of the mixture in the combustion chamber. The cars power output was 220 bhp and during tests at Balocco, this GTA identified by the initials SA (sovraalimentata - supercharged) exceeded 240 km/h. The car won the Hockenheim 100 mile race driven by the German driver Dau. A 1300 cc aspirated version of the car was produced in 1968 to meet the needs of private drivers. The car, known as the GTA 1300 Junior Autodelta, was a no-holds-barred racing car that dominated its cylinder category for four years. Due to a specific points award system, the model succeeded in winning the outright European title in 1971 and 1972. The production run of the GTA 1300 Junior ran to 447 units. Racing versions prepared by Autodelta delivered a power output of 160 bhp at 8000 rpm. In 1970, the Dutchman Toine Hezemans won the title in an Alfa 1750 GT Am (Am stands for America), derived from the American version of the GT 1750 with Spica injection. The body came with broader wings to accommodate 13 inch wheels with a size 9 front channel and rear channel of up to 11. This car took on opposition such as BMW and Ford with significantly higher capacities but often managed to overcome its disadvantage to take the lead. The following year saw the arrival of the 2000 GT Am, a leading light in all races and often an outright winner. In 1970, the car surprised everyone to take the title at the Spa Francorchamps 24 Hour race, when it also won the Coupe du Roi for the best team. It went on to repeat its success for seven consecutive years to 1976. Some 40 units of the GT Am were built. .... Continue +MOTORE
Posted on: Sun, 21 Sep 2014 13:19:30 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015