Just looking – Alfa Romeo Alfasud Ti
£15k for a rusty old Alfasud? Not a bit of it - this is about as clean as they come
Edit: Since this piece was written, the car appears to have been sold!
You’ve still got a few days left to pick up issue 223 of evo Magazine, and read our first drive review of the excellent new Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio.
That it’s so good to drive is something of a surprise. We’ve always been a bit disappointed with the 4C, and despite some high points over the years it’s been a while since Alfa has produced anything that truly wowed us.
Had evo existed when the Alfa Romeo Alfasud was new however, it’s likely we’d have rated it as highly as other motoring outlets did at the time.
It’s still seen as something of a benchmark for front-wheel drive handling, if not in the modern metrics of immediacy and grip, then more ethereal qualities like clever engineering and sublime steering feedback.
The story of the Sud’s conception is oft-repeated – in brief, it was Alfa’s response to a government policy to bring employment to poverty-stricken southern Italy – and its modern reputation is somewhat tainted by the substandard materials and poor quality control of the time.
But the product itself is regularly hailed as one of Alfa’s best – its first attempt at front-wheel drive, much like BMW’s with the MINI, was hugely successful, instilling Alfa values in a car of considerably lower cost and humbler origins than desirable 1960s cars like the Spider, Giulia GT models and others.
Arguably, some of the Sud’s magic wore off as Alfa updated it with chunky 1980s bumpers, larger light units and fatter tyres – features borne by this immaculate example on sale with KGF Classic Cars.
But quality too had improved (to a degree) by this point, so when Suds come up for sale these days they tend to be later examples.
Unlike the Giulia and many of Alfa’s later 90s sporting models, the Quadrifoglio badge was nowhere to be seen, with ‘Ti’ (Turismo internatzionale) chosen instead, as it had been on 1960s Giulia saloons.
On this 1984 car, Ti brings with it a 1351cc boxer engine with a two, twin-choke carb setup (enough for 86bhp and 105mph), a deeper front bumper and side skirts and a chunky black spoiler perched on the trailing edge of the rear hatch. It also wears the standard Speedline alloy wheels (14x5.5in) and 185/60 R14 Pirelli P6000s.
Its low mileage – only 28,625 – explains the condition of the entirely appropriate Rosso Alfa paintwork and a similarly pristine cabin, with only wear to the driver’s seat bolster apparent.
The Alfasud has only recently shaken off banger status and that makes the prices commanded by some cars hard to stomach – this particular car is £14,995 and even rough examples are now commanding strong money.
But as the company’s 1960s-and-earlier output gets further out of reach, its 1970s and 1980s stars are already following suit. In fact, now is probably the time to get on the 1990s Alfa bandwagon – after all, evo saw fit to include a GTV V6 in our very first Car of the Year test back in 1998. Could the Giulia make the eCoty 2016 shortlist?
> Find Alfasuds for sale through Classic and Performance Car
