Alfasud (Type 901) 1972-1989

My first Alfa Romeo was an Alfasud Sprint Green Cloverleaf in Black.  I have owned several Suds and aiming to buy an Alfasud for restoration in 2019, before prices started going up even more than they were already

I began searching but finding a nice Sud Green Cloverleaf was proving difficult.  The market had already started to turn in a fierce upward trend of pricing based largely on rarety, and the available cars seemed to be either pristine examples commanding very high prices, or completely rotten cars that would take a huge investment to restore.

Then Dave Armstrong, a well-known AROC Club Official and Sud owner, posted in the Alfa Romeo Driver magazine that a nearby member wanted to sell their Alfasud Ti now they had retired and were using the car less.  They were not far from Stockport and the car - whilst needing restoration of metalwork underneath - was relatively solid and was owned from new by the current owner.

I took the train from the South Coast up to Stockport and Dave met me at the station in his fabulous red Sud Green Cloverleaf, and drove me to meet Edwin and Hailey Whailey who bought the Sud from new.

They really were a fascinating couple who had used the Sud extensively for travelling to and from Germany regularly, benefitting from them fitting the long-ratio gearbox.  The car was obviously part of the family, and they wanted it to go to someone who would cherish it.

The car was as described: in need of some welding and tidying, but solid enough, and with a huge folder of receipts from every penny ever spent on the car.  I paid them their asking price and took ownership straight away, said our goodbyes to Hilary and Ed, and Dave led me off in an Alfasud convoy to the start of my journey home.

It began as a leisurely drive home from Stockport to Bournemouth, familiarising myself again with the joys of driving a Sud.

But it wasn't long before I was stretching her legs a little more and doing a great turn of speed with her engine revving beautifully and that long-range geabox absolutely superb for the longer journeys.  Ed and Hilary had said how great the car was for their trips to Germany, and I was experiencing was a great cruiser this particular one was.

Other than a few stops for a break and fuel, the car did just under 250 miles with no issues, and huge smiles.

It really was a delight to be back in a Sud after so many years, and I knew whatever it took I would get the car back to being a superb but everyday driver.  Not a mint car that lived in a garage, but a genuine, driveable Sud that I could enjoy at weekends and at shows.

The MOT was due to expire on the Alfasud in the middle of August 2019, and I planned to start some restoration work from that date.

But there was just enough time to take the Alfasud to show it at National Alfa Day at Bicester Heritage in early August 2019.

The car didn't need very much for the show or the journey - it had a new battery, a new front grille-badge and a few days of machine polishing to get her looking superb.  And I ordered a new set of number plates with the Wooley Garage details on them.  She was a credit to Ed and Hilary that she polished up so nicely and - no surprise - drove the 140 miles or so to Bicester with no issues at all.

She was parked alongside a black Sprint Green Cloverleaf (exactly like my first Alfa), and a host of other Alfasuds at National Alfa Day and she looked splendid - certainly not like a car that was about to have all the un-seen metalwork replaced! 

Before the car was sent off on the back of a trailer to be restored, I spent a beautiful September weekend driving around the New Forest and further afield, knowing I wouldn't drive the Sud again for possibly a year.

The car was going to my friend north of Edinburgh, to have new inner arches, valances, floor and much more and he is the best fabricator and welder I've met.  He built my Scuderia MiTo racing car so I've seen his work.

Little did we know that Covid and other things were about to hit us...

Covid hit the motor industry hard.  Particularly for small businesses when their work dried up for months on end.  And it hit the motorsport industry even harder - all motorsport was cancelled which put a stop to our MiTo racing adventures in 2020.

My Alfasud had travelled on the back of a recovery truck for 500 miles, but became a secondary focus for us all.

Almost no progress happened on the Sud during 2020 and much of 2021 whilst the fabrication business recovered.  

In all honesty, the Sud had more problems underneath than I had hoped.  Nothing terminal, but a lot of the metalwork was beyond repair and my restorer had to custom-fabricate a lot of metalwork that will never be seen but was absolutely necessary.

We also agreed that while the engine was out we should bring much of the mechanicals up to date with fresh new parts, including shocks and springs, brake pipes, discs and pads, wheel bearings, fuel lines plus all plugs, filters and leads.  I also went all-in on Powerflex Heritage bushes, buying the full set for Davie to fit with the car up on ramps.

Almost everything was sourced and provided by Ian and Joanne at Sudshop - highly recommended for anything for your Sud!

The plan is that the car will be done and have a fresh MOT by May 2024, and I am flying to Edinburgh to collect the Sud and take it to AROC's Scottish Italian Car Day then driving it home the length of the UK to Bournemouth!

It'll be a proper shake-down - probably more than it should have - but fun nonetheless!

So if you see my Alfasud - A398 NBV - at Scottish Italian Car Day in 2024, or at another AROC event including National Alfa Day 2024, do say hello!

You'll know that even if the paintwork isn't fully restored yet, everything else underneath will be!  The car will have gone through a complete restoration other than the exterior paintwork which may have to be a focus for 2024.

And you'll know that the Sud has done a fair few miles since the day I bought her.

The Alfasud was manufactured in Pomigliano d'Arco from 1971 to 1989, including the Sprint model.  The Sud was first shown at the Turin Motor Show in 1971 featuring the 1,186cc water-cooled Boxer engine.

In 1983 to remain competitive with other hot-hatches in the market, the final version of the Berlina, the Alfasud Ti, fitted a tuned 1,490cc engine developing 105 PS.  Named Quadrifoglio Verde (Green Cloverleaf), the sporty Sud delivered fabulous performance and handling in an Italian-styled package.

• 4-cylinder flat 1,490cc, 8-valve boxer engine
• 105 PS (104 bhp) at 6,000rpm
• 134 Nm torque at 4,000rpm
• Max speed 112mph
• 0-60mph in 10.2 seconds
• 5-speed gearbox
• Solid discs front and rear