Alfasud rarity/quality

["Graham&Joan Hilder" <graham.joan@domain.elided>]

Greetings all,

I'm way behind in my Digest reading (must be spending too much time working
on Alfas!), but I've just been reading the letters about Alfasud rarity and
quality from a week or two ago, and would like to comment on these as
follows.

In Digest no.122, Dave J discussed the better rust-resistance of his 1983
Alfasud compared with his 1978 example, and proposed that this was not by
chance, but that the later cars really were better designed and built in
terms of rusting.  I think this is true to some small extent, as one can
certainly see a few areas where the design is less conducive to rust, but on
the whole I don't think that very much improvement was ever made in the
later cars. I say this because here in New Zealand we have a lot of the
last-of-the-line Alfasuds, namely the final saloons and TIs from 1983/84 and
the Sprint QVs from the later 1980s years, and unfortunately these cars rust
every bit as badly as did all the 105, 116 and earlier Sud cars before them.
There are plenty of late 80s Sud Sprints over here which are as every bit as
bad as the terrible lacework GTVs, Alfettas and 116 Giuliettas we used to
see around here (before they mostly disappeared).  I think Dave hit the nail
on the head when he wrote "Other possible explanations for differences
include the quality of life the car has enjoyed, since my '83 was low
mileage and garaged while my '78 appeared to have had a hard life, and a
younger car I looked at which had been owned by a Navy officer and parked in
seaports where it had rusted quickly."

Also in Digest no.122, Stefano discussed his project for shipping a very
early Sud Sprint from Milano to the US. Stefano, you described it as a 1974,
but are you sure it really is a Sud Sprint?  According to my books, the
first Sud Sprints were not released until the (northern) autumn of
1976.....I wonder if this correct or not?  Anyway, Stefano also wrote "I
would like to putt around in this and bring it to shows", and on this, well
Stefano I'm sure that if you can get your hands on an Alfasud of ANY type,
you'll soon find that you won't be wanting to putter around in it my
son..... no sir, you'll be we wanting to find the nearest twisty road with
no cops on it, wind down the windows, get the tach up near the orange zone,
and go BMW-teasing on every corner you can find.  And when you return from
that, you'll have such a big grin on your face that you'll go right back out
and do it again!   I do hope you can get hold of this 1974 AlfaSud, whether
it is a Sprint or not, as there can't be many '74 Suds of any type still
surviving.  If you can get it, and you have any queries, you can be sure
there'll be plenty of Sud-help available to you from non-US Digesters.

Next, in no.123, Nik wrote "They (AlfaSud) are very rarely seen on the roads
here (UK) now. When I first moved back in 1988, I used to see one on most
days. I only just thought about it now but I cannot remember the last one I
saw on the road.
Even at Alfa days, I wouldn't say they are very common and a good one always
gathers a crowd."
Well here in New Zealand we still see a fair number of AlfaSuds on the roads
and on the racetracks, although certainly the numbers on the roads are
reducing very quickly. Still plenty on the racetracks though!   On the
roads, we see a lot more daily-use Suds than we see 105s, Alfettas, 116
Giuliettas and 75s for example. Even though I'm a confirmed Sud fan, I don't
think this is because the Suds haven't rusted away as badly as the others,
but it's because there were just so many more Suds sold here to begin with.

Re Nik's query to Stefano, "Is this Sud......one of the "proper" Suds or one
of the later, slightly larger models? I don't remember a Sprint version
appearing until the later cars?", well I think there may be some confusion.
In referring to the later, slightly larger models, Nik is probably meaning
the Sud-derived Alfa 33, which is very popular over here but indeed might
not be considered a "proper" Sud by some of us Sud owners! (Mind you, there
are a lot of Alfa owners over here who wouldn't consider there to be any
such thing as a proper Sud - for them, nothing built in the south would be
regarded as any kind of proper Alfa!).
And regarding Nik's remark"...don't remember a Sprint version appearing
until the later cars", again there is confusion, as the Sprint first
appeared way back in 1976 or thereabouts, and continued right through until
some time in the late 1980s, with numerous styling and mechanical revisions
along the way of course.

And in no.125, Lex wrote "Regarding rarity of Alfasuds in general, I'm sure
the percentage of Alfasuds seen at Alfa Club meetings in New Zealand or
Australia would be higher than in Europe, the lack of salt on the roads
being a major factor". Yes well this should certainly help (although it
hasn't done much to help save many 105 and 116 Alfas, especially the
sedans), but I feel that another important factor would be the sheer weight
of numbers of Suds sold here to start with. They did cost less than other
Alfa Romeos and a lot more people could buy them, so given that the
propensity to rust is much the same for all these models, the chances are
that more Suds are likely to survive at the end of the day.

Finally, in no.130, Niall wrote "I've owned various Suds over the years. A
1979 1.5ti, a 1983 1350 and a 1985 1.5 Sprint. I agree with Dave that the
build quality was dramatically different between the first and the
subsequent models......The ti practically melted away before my eyes....The
later cars, although sporting occasional surface rust spots, showed nothing
like this propensity for decay (similar age, driving and storage
conditions)."
Well, again I have to say that here in NZ we see many bad examples of
final-years Sud TIs and saloons, and also of late-80s Sprints, so I really
don't think the factory made much effective improvement. A few improvements,
yes, but they didn't work very well (not over in NZ, anyway, and the
environment here is fairly easy on a car - temperate climate, no road-salt,
etc).

And Naill, you also remarked "It's true that they (AlfaSud) have become rare
over here (Ireland). It's many years since I've
seen one now. It would be really nice to get another one though!!"
Ah, you must come to NZ if you can! We still have plenty of Suds running
strong on the roads over here, and plenty racing too!   Always plenty of
good examples for sale as well!

Best regards to all,
Graham Hilder,
Paekakariki,
New Zealand.
(Right, no more emailing, but down to the garage now to work on the Alfas).
(1750 GTV, Alfetta GTV, 2x AlfaSud Sprint, 2x AlfaSud ti)

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